The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at UBC released this report to summarize the first Indigenous Women’s health-related dialogue held on November 30, 2021. The dialogue was presented by the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in collaboration with the UBC Learning Circle, Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health, and First Nations House of Learning.
Close to 1,000 health professionals, community members, researchers, and learners tuned in to absorb the wisdom and insights offered by the sixteen Indigenous women panelists. These women convened to share their perspectives on the one-year anniversary of the release of the In Plain Sight report, which illuminated the unjust treatment of Indigenous women in B.C.’s healthcare system and associated inequitable outcomes, and included clear recommendations for necessary change.
The participants of the Dialogue lent their support to those recommendations, calling on governments to expedite action, and to:
- Invest in Indigenous women-centered health and wellness services
- Create proper structures of accountability through measurement and reporting
- Implement mandatory education for health workers in Indigenous cultural safety and anti-racism
- Support more opportunities for Indigenous women and other gender diverse persons to dialogue and collaborate on Indigenous women’s health and leadership
For too long, Indigenous women have borne too much of the burden of anti-Indigenous racism. With the problem unmasked, the solutions clearly articulated, and Indigenous women now occupying more space in healthcare leadership – the time is now to restore respect for the wellbeing and dignity of our women and matriarchs – as leaders, as caregivers and care navigators, and as patients. The Centre will continue to closely monitor the progress on this issue, lending voice in support of future dialogues, quality improvement, and point-of-care change efforts led by Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQIA+ persons.
