Centering Indigenous voices in the culture of medicine
June 20, 2024
Every session of the Faculty of Medicine’s Indigenous Speaker Series opens with a song. Seated in his study, surrounded by books and carvings, Derek K. Thompson – Thlaapkiituup welcomes guest speakers from Indigenous communities across B.C. and Canada with a song of greeting sung to the rhythm of a traditional circular drum.
Launched in 2021 from the Faculty’s Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the Indigenous Speakers Series is an online platform to begin, continue and advance the conversation about telling the truth and reconciling for the future.
Each session in the series approaches truth and reconciliation from a different angle — in the form of conversations and panel discussions with Indigenous academics, writers, scientists, artists and Survivors of the Indian Residential School system and their families on topics ranging from First Nations health governance and the importance of culturally safe care to the living legacy of the harms stemming from residential schools.
With more than 20 sessions now available to stream, the Indigenous Speakers Series has drawn upwards of 4,300 viewers from across Canada and around the world — creating important opportunities for Indigenous people to share their expertise and stories, and for non-Indigenous people to listen, observe and to open themselves up to honest conversations.
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