IMM 24, 30, and 34: Introduction to Indigenous Health Flashcards
What is the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) document?
- respect and recognition of the human rights of Indigenous peoples
- BC Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was passed as law in Nov 2019
- BC first province to make it law in 2019 – acts as the framework for reconciliation
- right to be actively involved in developing and determining health and social programmes affecting them and, as far as possible, to administer such programmes through their own institutions
What is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action (TRC Calls to Action) document?
Calls to Action to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation
- call upon all levels of government to increase the number of Aboriginal professionals working in the healthcare field, ensure the retention of Aboriginal healthcare providers in Aboriginal communities, provide cultural competency training for all healthcare professionals
- call upon medical and nursing schools in Canada to require all students to take a course dealing with Aboriginal health issues, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, and Indigenous teachings and practices – this will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism
What is the In Plain Sight document?
summary report addressing Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination in BC health care
What is a negative lens?
negative way of viewing an issue, focussing on deficiency, disadvantage, or negative stereotypes
- not the same as being pessimistic or censoring ideas
Why does terminology matter?
- history of relationships between Canada and Indigenous has been paternalistic or damaging
- term for a group may have been imposed by colonizers and not selected by population
- should not deter dialogue and discussions that need to be had between patient and pharmacist
What does the term Indigenous mean?
encompass a variety of Aboriginal groups
- frequently used in international context
- used broadly for the first people of a land before colonizers
What does the term native mean?
general term referring to a person who originated from that land
- does NOT refer to any specific ethnicity – NOT distinct
- Native American most commonly used in the United States
- Aboriginal or Indigenous preferred to Native
What does the term Aboriginal mean?
peoples who first lived in an area before
colonizers
- used after 1982, when the Canadian Constitution defined the term
- includes 3 groups: Inuit, First Nations, Metis
Who are First Nations?
historically lived in North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, below the Arctic
Who are Inuit?
historically lived along the coastal edge and on the islands of Canada’s far north
Who are Metis?
descend from the historical joining of First Nations members and Europeans
What does the term First Nations mean?
refer to Indigenous peoples, who are neither Métis nor Inuit
- does not have a legal definition
- ‘First Nations’ (plural) refers to ethnicity of First Nations peoples
- ‘First Nation’ (singular) refers to a single band/community/cultural group (ie. Haida Nation, Musqueam Nation)
What does the term Inuit mean?
- in Canada, Inuk (singular) or Inuit (plural) is the preferred term for the indigenous people of the Arctic
- in United States, Eskimo is still used for indigenous people of Alaska – common usage has been discouraged by the Inuit because it is derived from a derogatory word meaning ‘eaters of raw meat’
What does the term Metis mean?
- originally used to refer to the descendants of early 18th and 19th century French or Scottish fur traders and Indigenous women in mid-west
- today, refers to people of a specific ancestry of mixed geneology
- legal context, refers to descendants of specific historic communities
What is the Indian Act?
Canadian federal law governing status, bands, and reserve land
- aim of the legislation is to do away with the tribal system and assimilate the Indian people in all respects with the other inhabitants of the Dominion as speedily as they are fit to change
What is the purpose of status vs. non-status?
legal identity, as registered under the 1876 Indian Act on the Indian Register, enables various benefits
What are the criteria for being ‘status’?
- criteria has changed several times including ancestry, marriage, education
- eligibility determined through ancestry, not blood
Why might someone be non-status?
- do not meet criteria for registration
- has chosen not to register
- has voluntarily relinquished status
Status
- use of ‘status’ Indian definition is largely seen as a government initiative to systematically remove Indian identity
- losing status originally meant they lost membership in their Band, could not access resources on Reserves, access funding, etc
- ie. originally, people would lose “status” for things like: woman marrying a non-status man, obtaining a university degree or becoming a professional (pharmacist, lawyer, etc.), joining the armed forces
What is biopiracy?
the appropriation of Indigenous knowledge and biodiversity to gain exclusive use through intellectual property rights without benefits for Indigenous nation
- global health consequences of biopiracy include lack of access to medicines, failure to compensate for valuable traditional knowledge, and depletion of biodiversity resources that are needed by indigenous communities for their own ethnomedicine
and health care - mainstream awareness of Indigenous traditional medicine is growing, leading to non-Indigenous entrepreneurs or ‘bio-prospectors’
What is the Indian Act?
part of a long history of assimilation policies that intended to terminate the cultural, social, economic, and political distinctiveness of Aboriginal peoples by absorbing them into mainstream Canadian life and values
- government created and controlled the reserve system – band council system
- not allowed to leave the reserve without a written pass
- had authority to remove children from their homes and send them to residential schools
- denied the right to vote
- illegal to hire lawyers
- forbidden from speaking their languages and practicing traditional religions
What is a settlement?
lands set aside for Metis communities that are governed by land claims or self-government agreements
Some scholars estimate that by 1900 Indigenous populations had declined by upwards of 93%. What is the main cause of this drastic decline?
introduction of disease
- prior to European arrival, diseases such as smallpox, measles, and yellow fever did not exist in Canada
- having never been exposed to these illnesses, Indigenous peoples did not have the antibodies needed to ward off infection
First Nations children face unique challenges in accessing services due to responsibilities being shared by federal, provincial/territorial, and First Nation governments. Jordan’s Principle is essential to ensuring First Nations children get the services they need when they need them. To implement Jordan’s Principle, what did the Government of Canada commit to?
- resolve situations where governments and departments cannot agree about who should pay for services and supports to meet the needs of a First Nations child
- cover the costs of public services and ensure substantive equity for all First Nations children and youth
- facilitate access to all services and supports for all First Nations children without delay or disruption
