Incorporating Indigenous Perspectives at INMHA
Message from the Scientific Director, Dr. Samuel Weiss

CIHR-INMHA and its Institute Advisory Board (IAB) work together to maximize the benefits of INMHA’s operations and community impact. In 2020, our commitment to improving the health and wellness of all Canadians is more solid and more informed than ever, thanks to our learnings from the previous year.

One specific learning comes to mind when setting our sights ahead to 2020 — our most recent face-to-face IAB meeting, which was held in Prince George, BC in fall 2019. Although all our meetings are valuable, our time here was in large part dedicated to listening to and engaging with local Indigenous Peoples. I know I can speak for the entire team when I say it was an enlightening and transformative experience that we will take with us into every interaction, funding opportunity and operational decision we make as an institute.

I want to extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the people who inspired us at this remarkable meeting. In particular, thank you to:

  • Henry Harder, who graciously hosted us and guided us through a discussion of potential research and knowledge translation activities related to Indigenous mental wellness.
  • Elder Darlene McIntosh for opening our meeting and for providing us with a history of the land on which we had gathered.
  • Stephanie Erickson, our guest speaker and Masters of Education in Counselling candidate at UNBC who shared with us her work on revitalizing Indigenous ways of being and healing, while incorporating global therapeutic techniques to transcend intergenerational trauma.
  • Kym Gouchie, for sharing her incredible talent for storytelling and song with us, and for joining us around the table at dinner.

I wasn’t the only one who felt that our time in Prince George was more than just a meeting, and it was all thanks to these people who took the time to share their work and their stories with us. I look forward to our next face-to-face meeting of the IAB, to be held this spring in Vancouver, BC.

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