Join us virtually on Wednesday, February 18th, 2026, from 12:00–2:00 PM (PT), for an Indigenous Speakers Series session featuring Dr. Evan Tlesla Adams, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Public Health, First Nations Health Authority, host of The Conversation docuseries, and a member of the Tla’amin Nation. Learn about his journey in storytelling, medicine, and health-system transformation, which has shaped his vision for thriving Indigenous futures.
Topic | Frybread Power: The Significance of Indigenous Empowerment, Pride & Resilience
Date: Wednesday, February 18th, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM (PT)
Live Stream & Recording | Register to receive the webcast link or access to the recording after the event.
All REDI events are open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Evan Tlesla Adams, MPH, D.Litt. (VIU), Hon. F (DC), D.Litt. (TRU) | Tla’amin Nation
- Proud Partner & Father
- Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Public Health, First Nations Health Authority
- Assessment Lead, The National Circle for Indigenous Medical Education
- Acting Associate Dean, Indigenous Health, SFU School of Medicine
- Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Faculty, School of Population and Public Health, UBC Faculty of Medicine
- Host – The Conversation Docuseries
- 2024–25 Canadian Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
- Deputy Chief Medical Officer, First Nations & Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada, Indigenous Services Canada (2020–23)
- Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority (2014–20)
- Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Aboriginal Health, BC Ministry of Health (2012–14)
- TD Insurance Spotlight on Achievement Award, Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine, The College of Family Physicians of Canada
- King Charles III Coronation Medal | Contributing to and leading Indigenous public health and amplifying Indigenous voices (2024)
- Indspire Award, Health | Indspire – Indigenous Education, Canada’s Future (2014)
- Gemini Award for Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series (2011)
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance – Smoke Signals (1999)
- Best Actor – American Indian Film Festival (1999)
- Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Film – First Americans in the Arts (1999)
Dr. Evan Tlesla Adams’ bio
Evan Tlesla Adams is a Coast Salish physician and actor from the Tla’amin First Nation near Powell River, B.C. He is perhaps best known for his role as Thomas Builds-the-Fire in the Miramax film Smoke Signals.
Dr. Adams completed his Doctor of Medicine at the University of Calgary and a residency in the Aboriginal Family Practice program at UBC in Vancouver. He holds a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Adams served as the Deputy Provincial Health Officer for B.C. (2012–2014), the Chief Medical Officer of the First Nations Health Authority (2014–2020), and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Indigenous Services Canada (2020–2023).
He was a Harkness Fellow (2024–25) at the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, and is currently the Assessment Lead for the National Circle for Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME) in Canada. On a personal note, Evan is married to Allan, and they have six children.
Description
Written by Derek K Thompson – Čaabať Bookwilla | Suhiltun , Director, Indigenous Engagement
Dr. Evan Adams is a household name in Indian country, and his alias Thomas Builds-The-Fire captured our collective attention and imagination with his catchphrase, “Hey Victor!” This simple phrase reignited deeper conversations in our communities about who we are and where we come from, about storytelling, memory, reconciliation, and the irony and sincerity of our relationships to one another as Indigenous peoples. Evan and his extraordinary determination are an equal measure of inspiration and admiration for First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Indigenous peoples to take up the call to come to terms with each other, to heal with each other, to hold each other up, and to anchor our identities to a meaningful purpose.
Dr. Adams has been instrumental in creating and leading processes of transformative change in health systems and related services for Indigenous peoples. He has been key in advising leadership in B.C., across Canada, and around the world on how to prioritise and advance Indigenous health and related services. Evan is instrumental in leading The Conversation, an empowering docuseries where substance use survivors, their families, and their friends engage in raw and emotive conversations about their lives, addiction, and how they found a pathway to healing.
We are honoured and thrilled to welcome Dr. Evan Adams to the Indigenous Speakers Series for this inspiring and insightful conversation. We’ll talk about his life and the pride he has for his family and community, and his career that has emboldened us as Indigenous people to define the significance of empowerment, pride, and resilience. We will talk about what he’s currently doing and what he has planned for the future, and what his past has meant to him in an era of telling our many truths and reconciling the many relationships in our lives, as Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.
Moderator
Derek K Thompson – Čaabať Bookwilla | Suhiltun, Director, Indigenous Engagement
What Will I Learn?
You will learn from a unique perspective on what it means to lead transformative change in relation to health systems transformation in the context of truth and reconciliation.
Continue Learning
“The time to make things happen is now. The time to seek out our individual and shared power is now.”
Discover more about REDI’s Indigenous Speakers Series here
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