This is the second story (or might have been the first one, I can’t remember) that sparked my interest in learning more about discrimination and racism in health care and how this happens. While I’m not an emergency room nurse, and never have been, I still find it disheartening that this still happens in today’s world. It’s disgusting and discouraging. It wasn’t even a health care professional that discovered this man dead in the waiting room chairs, it was a visitor.
His death was so easily preventable, if only someone had actually assessed him or even spoken to him to find out why he was there, instead of just making erroneous assumptions.
It is especially discouraging to hear that this happened in an area that services a large population of Indigenous people. Is this assumption so ingrained in our system that this can happen, and continues to happen? Unfortunately, this is a story that continues to happen even today.
Geary, A. (2017, September 18). Ignored to death: Brian Sinclair’s death caused by racism, inquest inadequate, group says. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-brian-sinclair-report-1.4295996
This document, In plain sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination in BC health care is an important document that all health care providers in BC should read, and should be expanded for use in the rest of Canada. There is a content warning at the beginning that the document may contain subjects that could trigger an emotional response in people, as well as some resources for people so affected.
This is a message of hope, in that this has happened and continues to happen, but there are things that can be done to educate and inform all health care professionals.
I also like the way the introduction discusses ‘willful ignorance’. This concept is prevalent through our society today. There is so much available out there to listen to, to hear, and try to understand, that there is really no excuse to not be educated about Indigenous issues and context.
This report is a right step – if only it could be more emphasized in main stream health care and with all health care professionals. Making it easier to find and more pronounced on the bc gov website would be a further step forward.
White-Hill, E., & desLibris – Documents. (2021). In plain sight: Addressing indigenous-specific racism and discrimination in B.C. health care. Camosun College
This article was published in the International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship and has some insights that are directly linked to our course material. It discusses the unique needs of Indigenous nursing students. It directly links themes from pedagogy and the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to help identify the challenges and rewards of working with Indigenous nursing students to promote more Indigenous nurses into the profession. This is an excellent article that I used heavily in my paper.
The image above, I took from a CBC News report discussing the theme of my paper – to help heal the poor relationship between the health care system and Indigenous people, more Indigenous nurses and understanding of Indigenous health issues is required in health care.
Lane, A., & Petrovic, K. (2018). Educating aboriginal nursing students: Responding to the truth and reconciliation report. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, (1) doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2017-0064
The city of Vancouver has various documents that outline many of the resources and services that can be found in Vancouver. From Parks and Recreation to City Council to Housing to Businesses, there is a wide gamut of information available. This booklet was developed by the city of Vancouver for new immigrants and people new to Canada.
While I don’t know the second author, Jane Henderson, I am familiar with Kori Wilson. Kori is an Indigenous lawyer living on the Musqeum reserve in Vancouver. She has a wealth of knowledge about many things Indigenous, the colonizer history in British Columbia and Canada and has family members who are residential school survivors. She knows what she is talking about, and I am glad that she authored this booklet with the City of Vancouver, so it is imbued with her Indigenous perspective. It is informative, though I’m not sure how the information is received by newcomers to BC. It is a pdf document buried on the City of Vancouver website, and is not immediately apparent when looking at the website. It should be featured more prominently on the website and be easier to access. You have to have a certain amount of knowledge to be able to research (in English) and find the document on the website. There is also the literacy factor that requires a certain level of reading and comprehension, again in English, to understand the information presented. There is a great ‘myths vs facts’ section, but again, if it’s not accessible on the website, the information gets lost.
It is an interesting read, for sure!
Wilson, K., & Henderson, J. (2013, March 3). First peoples: A guide for newcomers. Vancouver.Ca. https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/First-Peoples-A-Guide-for-Newcomers.pdf
Art Processors is an Australian creative technology company that focuses on enhancing visitor experiences in museums and galleries alike. Of the several projects that they showcase on their “Our Work” page on their website, three are Indigenous based: “WA Museum Boola Bardip”, “Josh Muir: What’s on Your Mind?”, and “Awaken”. In boasting that their “work strives to create a harmony between people, place, content and technology”, Art Processors incorporates the holistic approach of Indigenous knowledge and understanding, meanwhile building it with digital technology.
In this TED talk, Carolyn Roberts talks about some of the Indigenous history, culture, and how to move forward in Reconciliation.
Roberts discusses the history of her family and how her three sisters and her mom went to residential schools. Her mom is unable to speak any of the languages from where she is from as she was unable to practice her language. Her mother became so shut down that she has never hugged anyone in her life. This made me extremely sad because the residential school robbed her from everything and anything. Even though residential schools are not in session today, Roberts talks about how Indigenous children are still being taken from their families. I did not want to believe it to be true but it is happening TODAY. Indigenous children are being taken from their families and put into the FOSTER CARE system and being placed into non-Indigenous homes. Roberts was put into foster care once she was born. She states that “60% of the children in foster care are Indigenous children” (TED, 2018, 6:52). Wow. Indigenous children are STILL being taken from their families. Roberts also states that “50% of Indigenous people living on reserves live in poverty [and that] 60 reservations across Canada live in boil water advisory, some have been for over 20 years” (TED, 2018, 7:54).
Roberts tells us a story about a coyote searching for his bone needle. An owl comes down to help the coyote. Owl goes in the sky to see if he can find this bone needle but can’t. Owl asks coyote, who was searching near the fire, where he had it last and he points to the bushes which was away from where he was searching. Coyote was searching by the fire because that is the only place that the fire was providing him light to see. Roberts then says, “as Canadians, what we see by the fire are the effects of our colonial system and the effects we see are the alcoholism, the drug abuse, and all that the colonial system has done to our people. We are starting to see a little more language come back but that is the easy thing that we can see by the fire. What’s going to take courage and time is to look over by the bone needle by the bushes there is a thousand piece puzzle that is made up of all that has happened in order to get to where we are today, of what we see the effects of. If I were to go over to this puzzle and take just one piece of the puzzle out. That one small piece would be the residential school system. There are 999 other pieces to this puzzle that we still need to learn about, and that we still need to educate about in order to be able to move forward in Reconciliation” (TED, 2018, 10:30). This made so much sense and it makes me want to discover what else am I unaware of. It is time to get more educated about the other 999 pieces of this puzzle.
Reference
TED. (2018, March 20). Reconciliation in your community [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x0gIYhnCPA
This resource provides the Indigenous history for many parts of the city of Burnaby. Students often learn about the history of their province in a wide scope but there are limited resources available for their local environment. Growing up and now teaching in Burnaby, it was very interesting learning about the history of my city in a different lens and seeing how the land of each of the different regions in Burnaby was used. Hopefully this type of resource becomes more popular with the other cities as it would be very interesting to learn about the history of those areas as well!
The University of Saskatchewan held a conference around Indigenization and Open Educational Resources (OER) in 2018. Kory Wilson was the keynote speaker and discussed Indigenizing and opening the academy through the actioning of reconciliation.
Are you a nonindigenous educator? If so, do you wonder what role you play in Indigenization? Are you concerned about authenticity? Kory sheds light on how nonindigenous educators can take action. I found this video worthwhile to watch and Kory’s passion made the hour fly by. Here are a few take always about taking action (GMCTL UofS, 2018):
We need to know and understand the truth about Indigenoushistory, even though it’s difficult.
Know our own family history and how it relates to Indigenous history.
But what do we do with the knowledge about Indigenous history? We must do something with the information we’ve learned. We need to make sure our research will make change.
Humility. Open heart and mind. Honest. Transparent Ask genuine questions. Authentic. Accountable.
Distribute power, empower others.
We can have a university degree in Indigenous studies but it doesn’t mean we are an expert. We need authentic, lived experiences.
Providing space – Give space for nonindigenous people to learn. Allow Indigenous people to share their authentic lived experiences.
We are stronger together, diversity of voices and opinions. More voices = more inclusion.
Listen more, speak less. Ask the community what they want. Avoid dictating and telling what Indigenous people have to do.
Start by asking yourself: why am I engaged in this? What are my strengths and weaknesses? What are my limitations?
Indigenization is about relationship building and this takes time.
Give up the romantic version of Indigenous people.
Reference:
GMCTL UofS. (2018, May 28). TLT 2018 –Keynote speaker Kory Wilson – Becoming an ally: Moving beyond bias and privilege [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpYIhLXZ72k
