This text is part of the special Acfas Congress notebook
From health to early childhood, Indigenous initiatives are multiplying in various areas. Documented by science, they will be highlighted during the conference Mino Pimatiziwin: public policies and well-being of indigenous populations at the next edition of the Acfas congress.
In the early 2000s, the Anishinabe people of Val-d’Or rarely went to the doctor. As a last resort, they went to the emergency room, remembers Édith Cloutier, general director of the Val-d’Or Native Friendship Center for 35 years. We only need to think about the indigenous residential schools or, more recently, the allegations of abuse by police officers in Val-d’Or in 2015 and the death of Joyce Echaquan in a hospital in Joliette in 2020. In short, distrust of institutions Canadian health is still very present, to the detriment, very often, of health.
“There are gaps in physical and mental health, diabetes rates, suicide, which have been there for decades,” observes M.me Cloutier. Despite the availability of services, Aboriginal people were invisible. »
Like the 122 indigenous friendship centers in the country, that of Val-d’Or aims to improve the quality of life and to be a cultural hub for the 60% of members of the First Nations and the Inuit people residing in cities in Quebec. In the mining municipality, the friendship center notably set up an early childhood center, built social housing, offered a job market integration program and an indigenous community legal service. Finding a solution to the lack of access to health services was therefore self-evident for the establishment. About fifteen years ago, he created the Mino Pimatisi8in initiative, whose name Anishinaabemowin means “to keep one’s balance”.
With a few budgetary envelopes, a health clinic opened its doors thanks to “borrowing” medical personnel – a nurse, a social worker and a doctor – from the Quebec health network, says Mme Cloutier. “We are establishing, by and for Indigenous people, services that meet their needs and are culturally safe,” she explains.
“It’s long-term work, but it produces results,” says M.me Cloutier. We approach health and well-being in its entirety, with the mental, the spiritual, the physical, in an approach of cultural security and a transformative aim. »
The care offered at the clinic is therefore part of a more holistic vision of humanity, where physical and mental health, conventional and traditional medicine intertwine. Thus, at the friendship center, it is also possible to do traditional ceremonies, healing in the forest, group interventions through talking circles or to receive advice on traditional plant-based medicine.
A team of researchers from the DIALOG Network (Indigenous Peoples Research and Knowledge Network) is currently examining the data collected in recent years. This is to document the reduction in health gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. What is certain is that the First Nations are no longer invisible within this clinic. The formula is also being emulated elsewhere in the province, with the opening of similar establishments in cities such as Montreal, Joliette, Trois-Rivières and La Tuque.
Science, a key to better policies
In addition to the health clinic in Val-d’Or, various indigenous initiatives will be presented during the conference. The event will take place on May 13 and 14 in virtual mode at the Acfas congress. Such a conference is organized by the DIALOG Network. Several researchers will give an overview of their work carried out in collaboration with friendship centers and indigenous organizations throughout Quebec, from Lac-Simon to Uashat mak Mani-utenam. The projects explore possible solutions for domestic violence, participatory action research in partnership with First Nations caregivers and even governance regarding child support services.
This sharing of knowledge during the conference allows various communities to be aware of what is happening elsewhere in the territory, explains Carole Lévesque, full professor at the National Institute of Scientific Research and co-responsible for the conference. The latter hopes that the event will help debunk stubborn myths. For example, most First Nations and Inuit people do not live on remote reserves, but in cities. Communities, far from being passive, are extremely dynamic in implementing actions and solutions to contemporary challenges. For meme Lévesque, scientific projects, which are added to existing initiatives, also make it possible to build bridges that can improve public policies.
“The services offered to Quebecers in general do not necessarily meet expectations or indigenous ways of thinking,” she says. New bodies of information would therefore be dedicated to feeding into public policies intended for indigenous populations, but also defined by them. »
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