Events

Recording: Diagnosing Truth, Healing and Conciliation Inside BC Health Care Systems with Dr. Danièle Behn Smith

Thank you for joining us on Monday, October 17, 2022 from 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (PST), for “Diagnosing Truth, Healing and Conciliation Inside BC Health Care Systems” with Dr. Danièle Behn Smith, Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Indigenous Health. In this second session of the Indigenous Speaker Series, we listened to Dr. Behn Smith’s unique perspective on how health and academic systems can best approach the work in relation to the processes of Truth and Reconciliation.

Thanks for joining us on Monday, October 17, 2022 from 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (PST), for “Diagnosing Truth, Healing and Conciliation Inside BC Health Care Systems” This virtual event is part of the Indigenous Speakers Series.

Watch the Recording

Dr. Danièle Behn Smith, Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Indigenous Health (Bio)

Dr. Danièle Behn Smith has been working to support Indigenous health in the Office of the Provincial Health Officer since 2015. Dr. Behn Smith works alongside Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer. Dr. Behn Smith provides independent advice and support to the Ministry of Health on Indigenous health issues. In support of the ministry’s strategic agenda, Dr. Behn Smith works in meaningful partnership with Indigenous collectives, communities and organizations to advance wellness and disrupt colonial practices and policies.
Dr. Behn Smith is Eh Cho Dene (Big Animal People) of the Fort Nelson First Nation in B.C. with French Canadian/Métis roots in the Red River Valley. Since getting her Doctor of Medicine from McMaster University and completing residencies at the universities of Ottawa and Manitoba, Dr. Behn Smith’s career has spanned the country and the globe.
She has practiced rural medicine in remote and First Nations communities across Canada. She was a board director for the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada, the director of education for the University of Alberta’s Indigenous Health Initiatives Program and the site director of the University of British Columbia’s Aboriginal Family practice residency. Since 2014, she has transitioned to a functional medicine practice. Functional medicine is a complex systems biology approach to family practice that resonates with Indigenous approaches to health and healing. Dr. Behn Smith was also the host of “Medicine Woman”, a 13-episode television series which explored traditional healing practices in ten countries on six continents.

Moderator

Derek K Thompson – Thlaapkiituup, Indigenous Advisor

Description

Dr. Danièle Behn Smith has been working to support Indigenous health in the Office of the Provincial Health Officer since 2015. She works alongside Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, and provides independent advice and support to the Ministry of Health on Indigenous health issues. In support of the ministry’s strategic agenda she works in meaningful partnership with Indigenous – First Nations, Inuit, Métis – collectives, communities and organizations to advance wellness and disrupt colonial practices and policies.

Coupled with her impressive career as a physician and advisor, Danièle has been a strong advocate to strengthen our identity and purpose as Indigenous peoples. She possesses a unique ability to truly walk in both worlds as a proud and dignified Indigenous woman and as a health professional. Dr. Behn Smith continues to inspire us all in our efforts to be radical and ingenious as we disrupt colonial systems all in an effort to improve our rightful place in this province and country.

In recent decades, federal and provincial governments have mandated a range of formal commissions to identify the need and urgency for health organizations, and other systems, to reconcile, adjust and create an appropriate and just response to better serve the unique needs of Indigenous peoples. In general, this work is intended to come to terms with an individual and shared commitment to redress the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canadians. All of the associated reports, action plans, legislation, and frameworks are currently being implemented across British Columbia with a vigor not seen in any other era to correct the relationship between those Indigenous – BC First Nations peoples who are from here and those who arrived here as colonial settlers.

This timely and relevant conversation will consider what’s been done and what still needs to be done to truly come to terms with the truths of the past and present, healing with each other, and creating appropriate frameworks for conciliation and reconciliation. Dr. Behn Smith’s unique perspective will offer insight into how health and academic systems can best approach the work in relation to the processes of Truth and Reconciliation.

Topic: Diagnosing Truth, Healing and Conciliation Inside BC Health Care Systems

Date: Monday, October 17, 2022

Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm PDT

What Will I Learn?

You will learn about the unique perspectives of how to best approach the work in relation to the processes 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.”

Learn more about REDI’s Indigenous Initiatives here

Discover more about REDI’s Indigenous Initiatives Speakers Series here

Find REDI’s Indigenous-Specific Resources here

In Honor and Gratitude for All Children of Indian Residential School Survivors

The truth can be elusive as much as it can be right in front of us. The truth can be all together liberating or controlling. The truth has a way to either stifle or reveal our resolve to come to terms with our ego. The truth can sometimes feel like an impediment, especially when we’re the obstacle. The truth in an instant can alter our lives like an earthquake or much like a quiet warm sunny day. The truth has roots as deep as ancient forests and as shallow as a tumbleweed. The truth, in its many forms, anchors our misgivings and sets us on a course to a truer sense of self-confidence. It is a necessary standard in this era of telling the truth about the many historical and present-day wrongs to be truthful, compassionate and dignified.

On Wednesday, September 21^st, we were fortunate to host Omeasoo Wāhpāsiw, Dorothy Burn, April White, Jenny Gardipy, Darren Thompson, Jacob Hamilton, Nicki McCarthy, and Charles Nelson. Each of these great good people showed us all how to be truthful, compassionate and dignified. Despite the difficulties of their past, they also demonstrated an individual and shared resilience, a deep humility and a wry sense of humor about the human condition. It is a rare opportunity to witness people in a state of vulnerability and doubt, and rarer still to see people express with such openness in a very public setting.

For your courage, poise and many truths we offer our most sincere gratitude to all of you for participating in the first session of the Indigenous Speakers Series for this 2022 – 2023 academic year – We Are Children of Indian Residential School Survivors: Awakening Our Spirits, Our Purpose & Our Confidence. THANK YOU – Omeasoo, Dorothy, April, Jenny, Darren, Jacob, Nicki, and Charles.

If you have missed this important session, we invite you to watch the recording.

Derek Thompson – Thlaapkiituup
Indigenous Advisor

Learn More about this Session

Watch the Recording

UBC Faculty of Medicine 2022 Commemorative Event for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Orange Shirt Day

Recording: We Are Children of Indian Residential School Survivors: Awakening Our Spirits, Our Purpose & Our Confidence

Thank you for joining us on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 from 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm (PST), for “We Are Children of Indian Residential School Survivors: Awakening Our Spirits, Our Purpose & Our Confidence”, the first session in this year’s Indigenous Speakers’ series. This event brought together a panel of Indigenous people who are children of Indian residential school survivors to acknowledge the importance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and to think about ways to heal, to figure it out, to come to terms with each other, and to give permission for the Indigenous people to also grow, learn and prosper.

Thank you for joining us on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 from 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm (PST), for this important session “We Are Children of Indian Residential School Survivors: Awakening Our Spirits, Our Purpose & Our Confidence” This virtual event is presented by the Indigenous Speakers Series.

Watch the Recording

Read a Thank You Message by Derek Thompson

Speakers

April White

April is from the Coast Salish community of the Snuneymuxw First Nation uniquely located centrally on Vancouver Island, and she has lineage amongst the Nuuchahnulth people on the west coast. She has worked with children and youth in the local school district in Nanaimo for approximately 15 years, and has dedicated her lifelong community service to the broader First Nations communities in the areas of sports and recreation all in an effort to strengthen culture, identity and belonging for young people. April has three daughters and is a proud grandmother to three granddaughters and two grandsons, and is a child and granddaughter of Indian residential school survivors.

Jake Hamilton

My name is Jacob Hamilton – Kwiispiisiis and I was born in Victoria, BC, 1970, and my parents are Karen Johnson and Ron Hamilton – Haayuups. My ancestral name, Kwiispiisiis, means He goes back and forth between two villages giving feasts, and I have deep ancestral roots in the Nisga’a Village of New Aiyansh and the Hupacasath First Nation. My late mother was a survivor of the Edmonton Indian residential school between 1955 and 1963 when she was only six years old.

I am a proud father of two talented and beautiful sons, Johnson and Jayden Hamilton, and I strive to be the best Dad I can be.

Charles Nelson

Lhlalyam, Hereditary Chief Charles Nelson, is from the Nuxalk people, who are located in the Bella Coola area of Central Coast of BC. The translation for his chief name is “Copper Constellation in the Sky.”

Lhlalyam – Charles Nelson who has been a father for 23 year years, descends from the late Jessie Nelson and the late Robert Moody. His mother was an Indian Residential School survivor and his father was an Indian Day School survivor. Jessie’s parent’s were the late Katie Nelson and the late Dan Nelson Sr. Lhlalyam – Charles Nelson’s grandparents on his father’s side were the late Charlie Moody, and the late Kitty Moody.

In his professional career, Lhlalyam – Charles Nelson worked a combined 12+ years in management and administration in the health, wellness, and social programming fields for indigenous communities and non-profit organizations. Currently, he is employed as a Health Director for Lytton Nation and as an Indigenous Project Coordinator for the Nanaimo Canadian Mental Health Association.

In closing, Lhlalyam – Charles Nelson has a passion in designing and creating systems plus building capacity. He continues to support his passion through opportunities with his career path and with his traditional family role.

Jenny Gardipy

Jenny Gardipy is a mother of six and Kokom (grandmother in Cree) of four. She is from Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation in Treaty 6 Territory. Jenny is currently a third-year PhD candidate in the Indigenous Studies Department at the University of Saskatchewan. Jenny graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 2011 with a Master’s degree in Public Health. Jenny strongly believes that Indigenous peoples have the capacity and knowledge to make healthy changes in their communities. Jenny’s mother went blind when I was 13-years old and witnessed the lack of health services that many in the disabled community face. Jenny’s late father survived Indian Residential School and believes her late father’s humble and Nêhiyaw (Cree) ways of being continue to be her foundation. Jenny would like her research to contribute to positive health outcomes for Indigenous people.

Darren Thompson

Chuuchuub – Darren Webster Thompson is from the Ditidaht First Nation located on the west coast of Vancouver Island. His parents are Maude (Shaw) and Charlie Thompson. His paternal grandparents were Ida (Modeste) and Webster Thompson and his maternal grandparents were Irene (Larsen) and Micha Shaw. His paternal great grandparents were Mary (Chester) and George Thompson from Ditidaht, and Mabel (Good) and Elwood Modeste from Cowichan Tribes. His maternal great grandfather was David Shaw from Kitimaat, and Walter Larsen from Bella Bella. Darren has lineage that extends into Nuuchahnulth, Coast Salish, Haisla, and Heiltsuk cultures.

Nicki Love McCarthy

kʷissuuqƛ queer, non-hetero- normative, Transgender hereditary commoner. (They, them, she, her)
Current Regional Coordinator at Nuu-chahnulth Tribal Council. Nicki is from Hesquiaht and Yu?łu Pił?ath. For the past 30 years, they/she have led creatively with cultural best practices focusing on a new economy of the redistribution of knowledge, networks, and compassion.
Nicki has been the National Emcee, and educator for Truth and Reconciliation Canada. They/she has been at the forefront of Indigenous mental health leadership throughout Canada and is a published researcher who has lectured at universities throughout North America. Nicki is a storyteller who brings traditions into the modern world and is a master carver of precontact tools.

Dorothy Burn

ʔukʷaqiłs yac̓asʔutł. (My name is Step Up) My English name is Dorothy Burn.

I am Ditidaht with strong roots in Tla-o-qui-aht, both are nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

My biological parents attended the Alberni Indian Residential School (AIRS), as did each of my maternal and paternal grandparents. I am a child of residential school Survivors. “I” am a survivor.

Having been raised by my maternal grandparents in a small, semi-remote village located at Nitinaht Lake on the west coast of Vancouver Island, I was blessed with a strong upbringing in our culture, language, and traditions which are very important to me, and of which I continue to be involved in and strive to be an example of for our future generations.

After graduating high school in 1997 , I went on to attend Nicola Valley Institute of Technology to study and obtain Diplomas in Natural Resources. However, I went on to a career in the service industry, first in hospitality then as a Health Care Assistant, which is my current profession.

My hobbies include making regalia, general crafts, cooking (which I love to do), reading, and making specialty cakes.

I am very happily married and have a very quirky dog named Sarge. I endeavour to work hard and live healthily – mentally, physically, and spiritually, as well as to live life to the fullest while caring for those that I love.

Omeasoo Wāhpāsiw

Omeasoo Wahpasiw is a nehiyaw iskwew from Treaty 6 territory living on Algonquin Anishinaabe territory currently known as Ottawa, Ontario. Omeasoo teaches in the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies and the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, at Carleton University. Her research touches on the pedagogy of the built and natural environments of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island. Omeasoo received her PhD in 2016 from the University of Saskatchewan, birthed Miyo Kesikaw that same week, and began her academic career at the University of Prince Edward Island and Mi’kma’ki in 2018.

Moderators

Derek K Thompson – Thlaapkiituup, Indigenous Advisor
Namaste Marsden – Masemtxoxw, Director, Indigenous Engagement

Description

From one generation to the next we inexplicably inherit all that is both good and bad from those that came before us. Many survivors of the Indian residential school experience in Canada passed on the torch of hope and determination but they also passed on an inferno of unresolved trauma and grief. Many survivors were robbed of their formative childhood and consequently of the necessary skill sets to raise children. The children and grandchildren of survivors were robbed of all of the dignity and grace of our Ancestors, and all that they bring into the world that make us unique, bright and confident. As one generation comes to terms with the past, how then do current descendants come to terms with the present? And how do our families and communities come together to create a future built on truth, forgiveness and acceptance?

This timely and relevant session will consider these and other important questions within the context of telling the truth and reconciling for the future. We are bringing together a panel of Indigenous people who are children of Indian residential school survivors to acknowledge the importance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and to think about ways to heal, to figure it out, to come to terms with each other, and to give permission to our children and grandchildren to also grow, learn and prosper.

2022 will mark the 2^nd annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This important day is an opportunity for all Canadians and British Columbians to think about the continuing legacy of the Indian residential school experience in Canada as well as the broader impact of colonialism, oppression, assimilation, and racism against Indigenous – First Nations, Inuit and Métis – peoples. It’s a chance to enrich our individual and collective understanding of the past and to create a new chapter in our shared history that is founded on the principles of respect, truth, reconciliation, and redress.

Topic: We Are Children of Indian Residential School Survivors: Awakening Our Spirits, Our Purpose & Our Confidence

Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Time: 12:00 – 3:30 pm PDT

What Will I Learn?

You will learn about the context of truth, reconciliation and redress between generations of people affected by the Indian residential school experience in Canada.

Continue Learning

“The time to make things happen is now. The time to seek out our individual and shared power is now.”

Learn more about REDI’s Indigenous Initiatives here

Discover more about REDI’s Indigenous Initiatives Speakers Series here

Find REDI’s Indigenous-Specific Resources here

Parts Known & Unknown: Exploring the Borders of Truth, Reconciliation and Redress

Every Child Matters

Parts Known & Unknown: Exploring the Borders of Truth, Reconciliation and Redress

W. Kamau Bell joined Anthony Bourdain in Kenya in what was to be the final season of the CNN series, Parts Unknown. Kamau has roots in Kenya and this was his first time travelling to the motherlands of his people, and he stated something that I thought was interesting. He said something like, “coming to Kenya, you know, it’s nice to have a diasporic-kind-of-connection, even though I did not come from Kenya, but I have roots in Kenya, and even if that frame that the connection was built through was colonialism.”

It made me think about what it would be like for someone like myself to travel to the ancestral homes of my people. Well, this is my home. Certainly, more than it is your home, and in this era of truth and reconciliation, it is now both my home as much as it is your home. I come from no other place in the world than from right here, diitiidʔaaʔtx̣ – Ditidaht, we are the Nuuchahnulth and the seas for miles of shoreline and all of the land on the western side of our Vancouver Island home, from Point No Point in the south to Brooks Peninsula in the north, is Nuuchahnulth territory, our haahuulthii.

In the conclusion of that episode with W. Kamau Bell in Parts Unknown, Tony narrates an epilogue, “Who gets to tell the stories? This is a question asked often. The answer in this case, for better or for worse, is I do, at least this time out. I do my best, I look, I listen, but in the end, I know it’s my story. Not Kamau’s, not Kenya’s, or Kenyans’. Those stories are yet to be heard.”

It’s important for colonial settlers, and for new settlers, to Canada to consider who you are and where you come from, and what it means to live in British Columbia, and to think about your own frame of reference as being truly Canadian, even if that frame that the connection was built through was colonialism. The context, the narrative, the history, the good or bad of it, the story of what it means to be Canadian is apart and a part of your individual and shared story as a British Columbian, as a Canadian, as an unwelcomed or welcomed colonial settler, and as a new settler. The stories that have yet to be heard, and are now starting in some ways to be told, is our story, my story, of what it means to be diitiidʔaaʔtx̣, to be Nuuchahnulth, to be First Nations, to be Indigenous, and to also be Canadian in this country and in this province.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a unique opportunity to bridge the divide of our individual and collective stories, our distinct and shared experiences, and our united effort to right and write a new history chaptered with the stories of a sincere determination to tell the truths of the past, to reaffirm and renew our commitments to reconcile all things oppressive, racist and insufferable, and to create an honest and just redress for all Indigenous – First Nations, Inuit, Métis – peoples. It would be momentous to proclaim someday that we all come from a country in which the frame that the connection was built through was equality, acceptance and compassion.

It’s fair to ask, “What will you do between October 1^st, 2022 and September 29^th, 2023, to recognize your part in this history, this story, and what will you actively do to shift the narrative?” We’re at an urgent time in our country’s history to thoughtfully and actively explore all parts known and unknown in our ongoing journey to come to terms with each other and with our past, and with the present day. I look forward to the work ahead this year, and I’ll look forward to us hearing each other’s stories next year and in the many years to come.

With Respect,

Derek Thompson – Thlaapkiituup
Indigenous Initiatives Advisor, Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Continue Learning

“The time to make things happen is now. The time to seek out our individual and shared power is now.”

Read the Message from the Indigenous Initiatives Advisor, Derek Thompson – Thlaapkiituup, here

Discover REDI’s Indigenous-Specific Resources here

Kristallnacht commemoration

EDI Champions and Allies Series: Dr. Oyèdélé

Meet a UBC faculty who is creating an impact

Continue reading “EDI Champions and Allies Series: Dr. Oyèdélé”

REDI Empower Hour: Snapshots of our Ancestors with Derek Thompson – Thlaapkiituup

Join us for the September 15th REDI Empower Hour.

Continue reading “REDI Empower Hour: Snapshots of our Ancestors with Derek Thompson – Thlaapkiituup”

Message from the Indigenous Initiatives Advisor

“Come out and fight! It is a good day to die. Thank you for making me a human being. Thank you for helping me to become a warrior. Thank you for my victories, and for my defeats. Thank you for my vision, and for the blindness in which I saw further. You make all things and direct them in their ways, Oh Grandfather. And now you have decided that the human beings will soon walk a road that leads nowhere. I am going to die now. Unless death wants to fight! And I ask you for the last time – to grant me my own power to make things happen.”

Chief Dan George in his starring role as ‘Old Lodge Skins’ from the movie Little Big Man (1970), in which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe

The time to make things happen is now. The time to seek out our individual and shared power is now. We may have been set on a journey that has led to nowhere, and we may have experienced many defeats and blinding pain. We’re on a new journey now and the passage we are charting will ensure a collective victory for all of our people. There will be plenty of room in our canoe for healing, growth and the recognition of our language, identity and being. We all come from epic and eternal forebears anchored in the balance between the present and the past, and it is this genetic code that lives in every one of us both as proud human beings and as mighty warriors. Let us direct each other to all that is good and whole, strong and resilient, and determined and dignified. Let us once again reach the highest levels of self-respect and collective nobility with a resilience that meets every adversity with endurance and grace. Let us be the New Ancestors that seek out and grant a new power in which we all succeed, we all know happiness, and we all know the true worth of our spirit.

The UBC Faculty of Medicine along with the Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) proclaims to uphold a unified response and commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. This new and exciting position is a signal that the tenets of oppression and assimilation will no longer have the ability to perpetuate racism and discrimination against Indigenous peoples. The work ahead is both timely and relevant, and will challenge all of us to be brave in our efforts to set a new course of achievement that sets right the relationship between Canada and Indigenous people.

This work concerns addressing issues of racism and discrimination against Indigenous people in Canada. This work also defines an approach to establish the importance of Cultural Safety and Humility. The work ahead will guide how we can adapt to better respond to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Indigenous people are important to Canada, and how Canada relates to them defines its sense of justice, purpose and redress. There is urgency at all levels within health systems to open the door to Indigenous participation in the reconciliation of Cultural Safety and Humility, and this journey will begin with the UBC Faculty of Medicine.

Involving Indigenous peoples’ participation is an expression of wanting to arrive at the truth of racism and discrimination, and to create the processes that bring together Cultural Safety and Humility as a legitimate standard. Health systems that make and implement policy based on active participation of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples can be expected to ensure an enduring legacy of transformative change. This change must reflect our best intentions as Canadians, and these standards must reflect our best principles as health service providers.

We must challenge the status quo in an effort to understand what we don’t know about our self and our Canadian history. We must be brave and we must create a community of empathy, an intensity of ingenuity, and an honest redress that is simultaneously meaningful and enduring – as Indigenous peoples and as Canadians.

With Respect,

Derek Thompson – Thlaapkiituup
Indigenous Initiatives Advisor, Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Faculty of Medicine
University of British Columbia
Vancouver Campus, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm – Musqueam Territory

derek.thompson@ubc.ca

indigenousinitiatives.advisor@ubc.ca

I respectfully acknowledge the magnificent territories in which I work, and will make every effort to uphold the sovereignty of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm – Musqueam, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh – Squamish and səlilwətaɬ – Tsleil-Waututh Nations. The Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion values all First Nations, Métis and Inuit people for their many contributions to the richness of our province. This acknowledgement is expressed in gratitude for the opportunity to work across the UBC Faculty of Medicine in an effort to reciprocate the commitments made to Indigenous peoples for a better and just future.