Indigenous Health, Northern Health (NH) and the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH) present a new video called Building Respectful Relationships in COVID Times.
This video is intended to encourage vaccination uptake and show that the vaccination clinic space is designed to be safe and inclusive for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. Using the example of the mass vaccination clinic in Prince George as a model for culturally sensitive care, the video details the collaborative partnership between Northern Health, the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), the Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC), the Prince George Native Friendship Centre, and other Indigenous organizations helping with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Dr. Margo Greenwood, Northern Health’s Vice President, Indigenous Health, and Academic Leader for the NCCIH, is the executive producer of this project.
The six-minute video features Dr. Evan Adams from the Tla’amin First Nation in BC. Dr. Adams is Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Public Health, Indigenous Services Canada. Dr. Adams works to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that the health system is safe and accessible for Indigenous people across the country.
“Sometimes people mistrust the medical community because of racism or racist experiences that they’ve had in the past,” Dr. Adams says. “We have lots of people, including chiefs and scientists and doctors, who are Indigenous [and have been] watching over the process to make sure that everything is fine.”
“We have to work hand in hand. Even if we have different ideas and different ways, different teachings, we have to embrace each other, to support each other,” says Bertha Cardinal, Cultural Advisor with the Prince George Native Friendship Centre.
Written and directed by Renae Morriseau, the video includes inspiring words shared in Dakelh by Lheidli T’enneh elder Edie Frederick, and music performed Kym Gouchie, who has ancestral roots in the Lheidli T’enneh, Cree, and Secwépemc Nations.
The video, released in 2021, is available to watch on the Indigenous Health website, the NCCIH website, and YouTube.