Author: Aleeza Cheema
Paul Edward Farmer – a renowned medical anthropologist in the States, spoke of global health equity as “the idea that something so precious as health might be viewed as a right.” While we all agree with this sentiment, and perhaps forthrightly advocate for it in our spaces, we know that there are structural flaws in the healthcare system that prevent accessibility to quality and timely healthcare — that require large-scale actionable changes. This is especially true for the demographics that continue to bear the brunt of environmental and historical disadvantages.
There is a long and gruelling history of health injustice for Indigenous People in Canada. Historians may debate on the inception point – however, the generally accepted narrative is that issues arose (partly) because of the British colonization of Canada. To provide a simplistic explanation, the British rule pervaded across Canada – not only did they outnumber the Indigenous, they also forcefully seized their land. Such terrors were legalized through legislatures such as The Indian Act (1867) which allowed relevant bodies to “remove” Indigenous people from their land for industrial purposes without their consent. This forced the Indigenous into rural, and fairly inhabitable areas that lacked proper shelter, safe drinking water, food and other essential resources. Poor living conditions coupled with political tyranny, mass violence and forced assimilation (through residential schools and forced conversions to Christianity) led to alarmingly high rates of suicide, depression & anxiety, and physical health problems such as increased mortality, substance abuse, diabetes and hypertension.
Amid the colonial rule – land that was wrongfully seized, and the innocents who were wronged, abused, tortured and killed in a power battle, was created an epidemic of poor mental health, shelter insecurity, and decades of intergenerational trauma. From large-scale events like the establishment of residential schools to “kill the Indian” in young Indigenous children to harassment, brutality and violence on an individual level, the Indigenous people carried a burden of additional problems while already trying to survive in an inhabitable social and geographical climate. It is intuitive to think that when continually faced withsurvival challenges, it is hard to build resilience and recover, even when provided with the right resources. These health disparities exist to this day because a) they were not addressed or acknowledged to the extent that they needed to be, and b) there was no provision of trauma-informed, culturally sensitive healthcare services to Indigenous people in rural areas. Indigenous people still face discrimination and prejudice in the health sector, and only 31.1% have access to a regular doctor, not to speak of access to specialized care. There still is a lack of access to clean drinking water, which gives rise to water-borne diseases.
The sad trajectory of health disparities faced by the Indigenous has many social determinants – geographical location, family history & past trauma, SES, and provision of resources. Perhaps with some compassion, some education, and some actionable plans from the government front, we can hope to ameliorate some of these. We can strive to amplify Indigenous voices, include their narratives in fables of history, and let them lead their healing. For as Timothy Tyson said, “If there is to be reconciliation, first there must be truth.”
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