Evan Adams, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority, presented at the 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges.
Case Study: Indigenous Communities and Higher Education
1. One Story of Indigenous Education
2015 International Conference on Health Promoting
Universities/Colleges
Wednesday, June 24th, 2015
Evan Adams, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Officer
First Nations Health Authority
West Vancouver, BC
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14. Knowledge is a
sacred cow, & my
problem will be
how we can milk
her while keeping
clear of her horns.
~Albert Szent-Györgyi,
"Teaching & Expanding
Knowledge," Science, 4
December 1964
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17. The Report of the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal Peoples (1996) concluded:
“Aboriginal people are at the bottom of
almost every available index of
socioeconomic well-being, whether [they]
are measuring educational levels,
employment opportunities, housing
conditions, per capita incomes or any of
the other conditions that give non-
Aboriginal Canadians one of the highest
standards of living in the world.”
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19. CONTEXT- Agreements
• Leadership Accord (2005)
• The New Relationship (2005)
• The Transformative Change Accord (TCA) (2005)
One of the purposes of the TCA is to bring together
the 3 parties to achieve goals of closing the social
& economic gap between First Nations & other
British Columbians over the next 10 years.
20. The Challenge
The difference in health
outcomes between First
Nations & other British
Columbians is unacceptable
& unsustainable.
22. It starts with me… • BC First Nations
Perspective on Wellness
• Mind-Body-Spirit
• We are connected to our
environment & to each
other
• We protect the health of the
body, health of the spirit,
mental health, & our
emotional well-being
First Nations Health Authority
23. What makes you well?
If you ask people what makes
them well:
Beauty
Love
Opportunity
Work
Family
Art
Safety
Knowledge
Fairness
Recreation
Certainty
24. At the First Nations Health Authority,
Governance is a Key Element
Outcomes of Governance Work:
o Effective & accountable
First Nations, in full partnership
with BC & Canada
o Culturally-responsive system
o First Nations health care needs &
priorities met
o Better First Nations health
outcomes
27. Dr. Camara Jones: Undoing Racism
"...the gardener notices that the red flowers
flourish while the pink flowers languish, but
has forgotten her original decision to separate
the seeds into the two types of soil (one rich,
one poor). Instead, she proclaims "I was right
to prefer red over pink!".
Nisgaa mask - Eyes open - The Louvre – collected (& separated) in the 18th/early-19th century
Eyes closed – Canadian Museum of Civilization.
Reunited in 1975. Blind mask fits over the one with eyes.
William Duncan, the missionary who established Metlakatla, British Columbia, offered the sighted stone mask for sale in 1878.
“Eyes Open” was collected from the missionary by Alphonse Pinart & donated to the Musée de l'Homme in 1881.
“Eyes Closed” was collected in 1879 by Israel Wood Powell, deputy commissioner of Indian Affairs for BC.
Israel Powell.
Although he recorded acquiring the mask at Kitkatla, Powell did not visit the village that year. In view of the confusion in his records, it is probable that he acquired it in another community. One possibility is that both masks originated in Lax Kw'alaams (Port Simpson).
2 solitudes
Where is the respect and honor between us?
Her mother said, “The Creator gave me children to raise, I didn’t like the idea of someone else doing it for me.”
“We had nothing to do, nothing to do but help the people.”
“Oh, maybe she thought you were there to help…”
Indigenous peoples often form non-dominant groups of society.
We used to own everything, & now own next to nothing.
Have the worst health, the worst poverty, & the worst housing of any ethnic group in the country. This is not a coincidence. The pressures on our territories impoverished us…
Just like our poverty marks our bodies, it affects our homes & environments, our minds, our mood, our hope, peace…
Equality in health is equality. We want equality.
My parents met in residential school.
I think they were together for a reason…
Certainly, us, their children, benefited from their disparate upbringing…
We have strong links to our territories, our surroundings & our natural resources.
My father – I was rich.
We WOKE UP early.
I drove the boat.
EVERYONE wants to sleep in and lie with their loved one…
Sacred places. Cultural uniqueness. Remote areas that are prime targets for resource development. Real estate. Canada.
Trees & water; their fish, animal & plant resources; their remoteness, or closeness to suburban/urban areas.
Can you live here? Thrive here? Learn here?
Jei jei.
I left.
“Someone’s going to die!”
+ the role of Aboriginal men
“I didn’t raise you up to be a foot soldier in the white man’s army.”
What are you training me for?
I lied.
THIS… is where I worked, for 12 years…
To fill an empty space with my humanity, my stories, my personhood.
Where you live and learn and work, can be a sacred place, or it can be a hell-hole, or it can make you more than you ever dreamed you can be…
Most beautiful Elder woman in the world.
I would pray to capture those beautiful Elder women every day. I would pray that I could meet my aspirations. I was trying to capture the spirit of my ancestors, and it was holy work, not the egocentric shallow posturing that many think acting is.
Delivering a baby.
I traded the stage for this – the halls of academia. The halls of the chance at academia.
I decided to throw my hat in the ring. At UBC and Calgary.
-Dr. Allan Jones: being a physician is a chance of a lifetime too.
Medical students have difficulty discussing bridging the gap between us & them – between caregivers & clients/patients. They’re naïve, & they’re distracting by learning to obtain the medical history, physical exam, diagnosis & treating…
Learning breast exams…
I’M IN CHARGE OF THIS?
The complete picture
On March 17, 2005, the BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN), First Nations Summit (FNS), & Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) signed the Leadership Accord
Immediately following the signing of the Leadership Accord, the FNLC entered into discussions with Premier Gordon Campbell to address the Province’s unresolved obligations in the face of Supreme Court of Canada decisions on Aboriginal Title & Rights This initiative resulted
The Transformative Change Accord was signed on behalf of Canada by Prime Minister Martin, Premier Campbell for BC, & members of the FNLC for First Nations in BC at the November 2005 First Ministers’ Meeting in Kelowna.
No one left behind.
The BC Tripartite Framework Agreement provides that, at a minimum, the IHP must include the following elements: s. slide #6 above.
How can you create healthy, inclusive campuses?
Experiential learning?
Healthy student initiatives?
No one left behind.
As an aside…
Back to my work.
“We know you think you‘re in charge…”
Who’s in charge of you? Who’s in charge of them? We can always be better partners in the care of others.
How are we doing?
Dr. Jones believes we must "set things right" in the garden
WHOLE CAMPUS WHOLE STUDENT
Let me be clear:
You are the gardeners.
How is your garden?
How are your flowers growing? All your flowers?
Let’s make things right in the garden.
… that at the end of her long life, full of hard work and excellence, in what she thought were her final moments, she was thinking of others…
The intention of all this training and preparation and hard work is not to be fancy professionals, but to become extraordinary human beings – to be the best human being possible that you can be – a human being that your ancestors would applaud when it’s time for you to come home.