Indigenous

‘This is a place of healing’: The power of a sweat-lodge ceremony

Once a custom practised mainly by the Lakota Indigenous tribes, sweat lodges are growing in popularity in British Columbia, cropping up on many rural properties and Indigenous lands as group gatherings and tourists promise to return now that the pandemic is receding.

Challenging oppressive maternity health care in Canada

Improving health care must begin by recognizing the interconnected webs of colonization woven into all health-care systems in Canada. A good place to start would be at the beginning – with maternity care and birth.

Ontario’s position on midwifery puts rural and Indigenous communities at risk

For the Ford government, midwives' demands for equitable pay are unacceptable. But instead of using tax dollars to fight midwives in court, Ford should recognize gender-based inequities, address the pay gap and invest in rural and northern midwifery programs.

Inuit communities bracing for return of RSV in babies

Health advocates are raising alarm that infants in Nunavut, and especially Inuit infants, face grave risks as a potent respiratory virus – deadlier than COVID-19 and influenza – re-emerges after a one-year hiatus. Health officials now fear serious outbreaks in Canada’s North.

‘We had to find our way in the dark’: Physician helps remote Sioux Lookout First Nations navigate through pandemic

Lloyd Douglas worked as part of the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority to protect Indigenous communities in northern Ontario from COVID-19. We're profiling him as a Pillar of the Pandemic.

Palliative care doctor bridges health-care worlds

Michael Anderson, a doctor of Mohawk and English-Canadian ancestry, is drawing on Indigenous knowledge to not only improve palliative care – but also discover his culture and himself.

Decolonizing the swab

To many Indigenous peoples, a swab represents colonial Euro-Canadian medicine. It represents colonialism itself. So how do we as physicians decolonize the swab?

In Toronto, she’s an infectious disease specialist. In the North, she’s Dr. Balloon

Anna Banerji is a pediatrician, an infectious disease specialist and the founder of the Indigenous Health Conference. We're profiling her as a Pillars of the Pandemic honouree.

On this Orange Shirt Day, don’t nitpick the facts. Accept the outrage and anger.

For Orange Shirt Day, do not be tempted to nitpick facts, debate terminology or look for a silver lining. We must drop the disingenuous arguments and accept our collective history – and our present.

Why Peter Bryce’s legacy still matters today

Physician John O'Connor received an award honouring the legacy of Peter Bryce, a government doctor who sounded the alarm over the high death toll in residential schools. Who has the courage to be the next?

In the spirit of reconciliation and cultural safety, our health laws must change

In the spirit of reconciliation and to address racial injustice in health care, we need to be advocates to amend current health laws to create culturally safe environments.

A call to action: An approach to patient transfers for rural and remote communities in Canada

‘We reach them where they are:’ Mobile healing team delivers culturally based care

Jane Harrison is one of the unsung heroes of the pandemic who, along with her team at Anishnawbe Health Toronto, is caring for vulnerable communities in the Greater Toronto Area.

COVID-19 death highlights dangers of birth evacuation policy in Indigenous communities

The death of Silatik Qavvik is the result of Health Canada’s birth evacuation policy and an appalling lack of government-funded maternity care in rural and remote Indigenous communities.  

Addressing racism in Indigenous health – Moving beyond systemic reassurance

Reassurances from different levels of governments create the illusion that systemic racism is being addressed despite the lack of tangible results.

Culture and COVID-19 reponses

‘Defund the police, resource our communites:’ A call for structural change

‘We do not want you anymore’: Sixties Scoop survivor still searching for home

I am a Sixties Scoop survivor, a Bill C-31 status Anishnaabe woman and a daughter of a Saulteaux mother and a Cree father.

Yes, this is the right time to “call out” elected officials and demand progressive policy

Canada’s plan to eliminate tuberculosis in Inuit communities: Will it be enough?