One limitation of the PiT Count methodology is that it may not capture the cultural or spiritual dimensions of Aboriginal homelessness. While we recommend using COH’s definition of homelessness to guide your PiT Count, this definition may not reflect Aboriginal worldviews on homelessness, particularly because it does not reference cultural loss or colonial history. Aboriginal understandings of homelessness will also differ by community because each community has it’s own unique history and understanding of home, place, belonging, shelter, and land.
From an Aboriginal worldview “homelessness” is a combination of inter-related issues including:
Source: Thurston & Mason, 2010. |
Aboriginal scholars in North America and Australia have emphasized that Aboriginal homelessness should be understood in relation to the colonial disruption of centuries of social, spiritual, physical, cultural, and economic relationships with landscapes believed to be the source of creation (see Christensen, 2013; Bullchild, 1985). Many indigenous scholars and elders suggest that the physical and psychological displacement caused by colonial settlement has resulted in a spiritual rootlessness and homelessness for many Aboriginal communities around the world, and that history is reflected in the absence of adequate housing for many Aboriginal people. Menzies (2005) suggests that current definitions of homelessness mistakenly emphasize physical shelter over other factors. Instead, Menzies (2005) recommends that Aboriginal homelessness is better understood as “the resultant condition of individuals being displaced from critical community social structures and lacking in stable housing” (p. 8).
Given the cultural variability of definitions of homelessness, developing greater cultural competency will assist count organizers in appreciating the varied understandings of homelessness that diverse community members may have. PiT Count organizers should also recognize the inherent limitations of the place-based definition of homelessness that the PiT Count methodology requires.