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.
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