Time to fly

It was difficult to leave the beautiful city of Albuquerque, New Mexico without having time to fully explore its sights and surroundings. I guess the volcanoes, skiing, and visit to the nearby historic town of San Juan will have to wait until next time.

But I have to say my positive experiences at the conference far overshadowed to lack of spare time. I think my first time promoting NAHO at a conference was very successful, and I am very grateful I had the opportunity to do so. Another rewarding experience was meeting so many wonderful people who worked in similar fields.

Although I may not return to Albuquerque any time soon, I will take forward valuable knowledge from various sessions I attended, and use feedback from delegates across Canada and the U.S. as additional motivation to work towards the health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis individual, families, and communities.

Adolescent health

I have to admit leading a session on adolescent health with a table of Canadians and Americans with various backgrounds in epidemiology, research, public health, and recreation was not an easy task. Fortunately, that’s where my background in journalism and communications came into play.

In my former job reporting community sports in Northwest Territories and Nunavut, a good part of my event coverage revolved around high school athletes. I have heard countless stories about the health concerns facing today’s youth, and the positive influence sports can have to help them make healthy choices.

I’d also like to think I’m not that far away from my own adolescence to feel that I can still understand and relate to the health issues of this demographic today.

It was easy to pinpoint the big health issues that Aboriginal teenagers face. Health concerns such as physical inactivity, diabetes, substance abuse, and mental health were resonant in the various communities we worked in. It was great to be able to speak to NAHO’s various research, publications and programs that addressed many of these concerns, including the Healthy Living Web site and the Honouring Life Network.

What was also inspiring, however, was that for every health concern we talked about, everyone could speak to a different initiative they or their community was actively involved in. Whether it was health education sessions in schools, recreation programs that integrated traditional activities, or specific health promotion activities, it is obvious that there are a lot of good people doing good things for their communities.

In fact, this was one of the things that inspired me in my job as sports editor up North. For as many athletes I interviewed, I probably interviewed just as many recreation coordinators, tournament organizers, coaches, volunteers, etc. who gave countless hours to benefit our youth. This conference brought a similar feeling as I was surrounded by so many people who dedicated their lives to the health of our children.

And that’s good news. With the growing rate of Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth population, these kinds of roles are as important as ever to address the health of our children.

An evening of Indigenous culture

After leading sessions, meeting conference delegates and promoting NAHO’s various resources, it was great to relax for dinner and a demonstration of traditional Native American dances. A Navaho Elder shared stories, drummed and sang as his grandchildren performed a series of traditional dances including Butterfly Dance, Eagle Dance, Hoop Dance, Swan Dance, and more.

It was an amazing experience, as well as a privilege to get a glimpse of another culture’s traditions. It was also endearing to see children with such a keen interest in learning and performing skilled cultural dances.

It is these kinds of opportunities that allow children to not only spend invaluable time with their Elders, but give them a chance to carry forward important traditions and culture to their own children.

Traditional healer panel

Today I had an opportunity to moderate my first conference session. A Traditional Health Panel was held three amazing speakers: Dr Karen Hill, Alexandra Darnay and Louise McDonald.

Dr. Karen Hill is a Mohawk Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in Canada. She works as Lead Physician with the Six Nations Family Health Team, and Director of the Aboriginal Students Health Science Office at McMaster University.

Alexandra Darnay is a member of Garden River First Nation, Ontario in Canada. She is Program Director for the Aboriginal Health Research Networks Secretariat and a Sessional Instructor at McMaster University. She is a published author and worked as a research assistance for three documentaries, including Jidwa:doh – Let’s Become Again, Onkwanistenhsera – Mothers of our Nation, and Dish with One Spoon.

Louise McDonald is from the Kaniekehaka Nation at Akwesasne upstate New York. She advocates for native women’s voice and has restored coming of age ceremonies on her reservation for youth. She is also an Intervention/Prevention Councillor in local schools.

It was truly a privilege to moderate this session and listen to these passionate speakers share their knowledge and experiences in traditional healing practices and midwifery. They made very strong cases for retaining local indigenous knowledge and revival of healthy traditional practices of health, and demonstrated the importance to educate health care workers and provide traditional teaching on maternal child health.

Getting to know you

It was a good thing I took an hour to walk through Albuquerque’s Old Town just before dinner yesterday. I had a feeling it would be my only spare time until my departure on Sunday.

Today was incredibly busy, but equally rewarding. The Indigenous Child Health conference coincided with the final day of the Indigenous Women’s Health conference, held in the same location. This made for a lot of traffic in the main area around NAHO’s booth.

There are so many interesting people at this conference. It was amazing to see how well-known the organization is across the border, though there are many Canadians at the conference as well. NAHO products and publications literally flew off the table, and it didn’t take long before I had to restock the table with more copies of the Journal of Aboriginal Health, Our Healthy Journey, midwifery resources, and other post cards and pamphlets.

Many voices into one song

As my plane hovered above Albuquerque, New Mexico just before landing, I could not help but draw a comparison to flying in Canada’s Arctic region. While both very different geographic landscapes of sand versus tundra, the feeling of isolation in midst of a large desert was very reminiscent to my days of living up North.

Today I landed on the traditional territories of Albuquerque’s sovereign nations to attend the 3rd International Meeting on Indigenous Child Health: Many Voices Into One Song March 6-8. Approximately 300 child health providers and researchers who work with indigenous children and families have gathered to take part in professional development and meet colleagues in a similar field.

During the conference, I will be promoting the National Aboriginal Health Organization’s resources and publications. I will also be the moderator for a Tradition Healer Panel and a session on Healthy Communities, and lead a roundtable discussion on Adolescent Health.