"First Nations' perspectives on health and health care as delivered by doctors, nurses, and Canada's former Indian hospital system form a significant part of Canada's medical history, as well as a part of First Nations people's personal histories. Oral histories collected in Alberta and British Columbia suggest that First Nations people who experienced the Nanaimo and Charles Camsell Indian hospitals between 1945 and 1965 perceive the value of their experiences to be reflected in their survivance, a concept recalled through narratives emphasizing both humour and pain, as well as past and present personal resilience"--abstract.