We gratefully acknowledge the help of Knowledge Keeper Gwendolyn Point as well as the AFN in reviewing and approving this text.
In addition to the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and Health Canada, the FEHNCY team includes researchers from the following universities:
- University of Ottawa
- Université de Montréal
- McGill University
- Université Laval (Québec)
We are grateful for the privilege to live and work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the following nations:
- Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation
- Kanien’kehá:ka Nation
- Huron-Wendat Nation
- Nation Innue
- Atikamekw Nation
- Maliseet Nation
- W8banaki Nation
Why does the FEHNCY project have a Territorial Acknowledgement?
Indigenous peoples are the original caretakers of the lands and waters of the country that we call Canada. Despite being a wealthy country, due to years of racist government policies, Indigenous children suffer from higher rates of illnesses such as tuberculosis, obesity, diabetes, and middle ear infections, as well as higher exposure to environmental contaminants.
The FEHNCY project hopes to help correct this imbalance by working with First Nations to improve the health and living environments of First Nations children and youth. We dedicate ourselves to ensuring safe and respectful research practices. We strive to work together with community partners towards a healthier future for all First Nations families.
Our Commitment
- As researchers and educators, we commit to teaching future generations of students about the historical and on-going injustices that Indigenous people face.
- We commit to conducting research that will help close the gaps in health measures between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
- We acknowledge the horrific and unethical nutritional experiments that were conducted on Indigenous children in residential schools in Canada in the 1940-50s (1). We cannot change this dark chapter of history, but we commit to reconciliation by partnering with Indigenous communities to ensure that all research that we are associated with is conducted in a safe, respectful and collaborative manner.
(1) Mosby, I. 2013. Administering colonial science: Nutrition research and human biomedical experimentation in Aboriginal communities and residential schools, 1942–1952. Histoire sociale/Social history, 46, 145-172.
The FEHNCY Project and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action
Residential schools are a horrific legacy of colonization where more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forcibly sent for over 125 years to have their cultural identity stripped from them. Thousands never returned home and the discovery of unmarked mass graves at some of these schools continues to inflict intergenerational trauma. As Indigenous people and allies, as parents, brothers and sisters, we strongly urge that all levels of government accelerate their responses to the TRC’s 94 Calls to Action.
The FEHNCY project aims to address several of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, specifically:
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Health
#18. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to acknowledge that the current state of Aboriginal health in Canada is a direct result of previous Canadian government policies, including residential schools, and to recognize and implement the health-care rights of Aboriginal people as identified in international law, constitutional law, and under the Treaties.
#19. We call upon the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal peoples, to establish measurable goals to identify and close the gaps in health outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities, and to publish annual progress reports and assess long-term trends. Such efforts would focus on indicators such as: infant mortality, maternal health, suicide, mental health, addictions, life expectancy, birth rates, infant and child health issues, chronic diseases, illness and injury incidence, and the availability of appropriate health services.
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National Council for Reconciliation
#55. We call upon all levels of government to provide annual reports or any current data requested by the National Council for Reconciliation so that it can report on the progress towards reconciliation. The reports or data would include, but not be limited to:
iii. The educational and income attainments of Aboriginal peoples in Canada compared with non-Aboriginal people.
iv. Progress on closing the gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in a number of health indicators such as: infant mortality, maternal health, suicide, mental health, addictions, life expectancy, birth rates, infant and child health issues, chronic diseases, illness and injury incidence, and the availability of appropriate health services.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) also serves as a roadmap to guide our research:
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Article 24(1): Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services.
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Article 29(1): Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources, States shall establish and implement assistance programmes for indigenous peoples for such conservation and protection, without discrimination.
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Article 29(3): States shall also take effective measures to ensure, as needed, that programmes for monitoring, maintaining and restoring the health of indigenous peoples, as developed and implemented by the peoples affected by such materials, are duly implemented.
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