Spiritual harm is health issue number one

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It was a plan that worked, perhaps even better than expected.

When Gitxsan Hereditary Chief Barbara Clifton was asked by Native Women's Association of Canada President Marilyn Buffalo to oversee the three-day consultation conference where NWAC delegates would prepare their organization's contribution to the planning of the Aboriginal Health Institute, Clifton made sure that many traditional healers and chiefs would be present to give their point of view. It was a move that caused more than a bit of friction with Native health care providers who have been trained in the western, scientific tradition and objected to the focus on traditional, non-scientific approaches.

But, bit by bit over the course of the weekend, the two sides moved closer together.

More than 100 Native women and men in Edmonton from March 5 to 7. The weekend began with a federal government employee explaining the history of the health institute. From there, delegates were welcomed to advise the association on what points of view it should be adding to the process.

Health Canada has budgeted $20 million over the next four years to establish and run the institute. Monique Charron, the director of Health Canada's Medical Services Branch's Program, Policy and Transfer Secretariat, said Health Minister Allan Rock has committed a continuing annual funding pot of $5 million per year beyond the initial four years.

"The federal government had heard for years that there was a need to build capacity in Aboriginal health in a number of areas," Charron told the delegates. "In 1997, the National Forum on Health released a report in which it supported an Aboriginal health institute. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal People supported the idea of an institute that would work within other mainstream institutions to build capacity in Aboriginal health. Some parameters were set, but it really gave a lot of the ownership of what the idea was to Aboriginal people. It recommended that the institute would conduct health research focused on the needs of Aboriginal people, gather information on culturally appropriate medicines, support training of Aboriginal health workers and serve as a support system for workers in Aboriginal communities."

Each of the five national Aboriginal organizations has representation on the joint steering committee that has been charged with making the institute a reality. Each of those groups was asked to provide input into what the institute should look like.

NWAC decided to look beyond the standard program-oriented approaches. Barbara Clifton told Windspeaker that the Native Women's Association strategy was to present traditional Aboriginal values as a strength, not an impediment to science-based health care.

"What we wanted to do was come with a strength. The strength is spiritual," she said.

Marilyn Buffalo said traditional healing and western medicine both have roles to play in the healing process that Indigenous peoples need to go through. Part of the harm done to Indigenous cultures has been the way that European systems have discounted them and treated them as backwards or inferior.

"I decided that since that's an area that's always neglected, that's an area we should concentrate on," she said. "Every one of those players understood traditional knowledge. Along with that comes the key element of respect."

The planning process will continue with meetings in Ottawa later this month. The institute is expected to open next spring.