Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Indigenous Peoples in Canada have poorer health outcomes than the general population because of the racism, inequity, discrimination, and oppression inherent in our policies, systems, and structures. Indigenous Peoples have strong ancient healing traditions, but these were suppressed and outlawed by Canadian governments until the 1950s. There is now a cultural revitalization happening, including of traditional medicines, which support Indigenous health and healing. In some parts of Canada, Indigenous healers and medical doctors are even learning how to work together for the sake of the patient. In Manitoba, for example, there is the Pine Falls Hospital which has regular medical exam rooms, but it also has a traditional ceremony room and traditional foods and herbs. This is a huge win after many years of advocacy on the part of nearby Indigenous communities to be able to access traditional medicines once more. Still, discrimination and cross-cultural misunderstandings linger. This project proposes to run a training series for hospital staff on relevant history (e.g., the impacts of colonization, Residential Schools, the Sixties Scoop, the Millennial Scoop) and Indigenous culture (e.g., visiting Elders, learning about traditional medicines). The expectations are to 1. build cross-cultural relationships with the hospital and the larger community, 2. reduce discrimination so Indigenous people feel safer accessing the hospital, ultimately improving health outcomes, 3. develop a curriculum and model for doing the same training in other parts of Canada, 4. document traditional medicine knowledge for the future generations to come, 5. share what we learn widely in many different platforms. This project was initiated by the Turtle Lodge Council of Indigenous Elders who have a vision of peaceful, sustainable, and healthy communities far into the future.