Fighting colonialism through art

22 January 2025

A group of pharmacy staff from Northern Health sitting around a table, smiling and showing their art during a Secret Pocket workshop.

Northern Health pharmacy staff were inspired during a Secret Pocket workshop.

 

In The Secret Pocket, Peggy Janicki from the Dakelh Nation community of Nak’azdli shares her mother’s story of courage and resilience. Peggy’s mother, Mary McKinnon, was a survivor of Lejac Indian Residential School near Fraser Lake. At only four years old, she and other girls sewed hidden pockets into their clothes — hiding apples, carrots and bread to share with younger children. Their quiet acts of care and resourcefulness enabled them to survive the residential school’s inadequate food rations and other harsh conditions.

This powerful story reminds us of the importance of honouring traditions, fostering healing and building a future rooted in respect and self-determination.

Inspired by stories like Mary’s, researchers and Indigenous community members and organizations in what’s known as northern British Columbia are working together to shape more inclusive, culturally safe healthcare environments. At the Health Arts Research Centre (HARC), a team of community advisors, researchers and trainees use anti-colonial, community-informed, social sciences and humanities approaches to develop diverse arts-based, anti-colonial training for health professionals.

“Health and wellbeing have always been both an art and a science,” says Dr. Sarah de Leeuw, HARC research director and a researcher in the UBC Northern Medical Program at the University of Northern British Columbia. “The arts has had an undervalued role in combating colonial systems of oppression, especially in health conversations. But art has profound potential to encourage new thinking on these issues.”

Many programs and projects have been driven through collaborations with the University of Northern British Columbia, Northern Health, Carrier Sekani Family Services, Central Interior Native Health Society, First Nations Health Authority, National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, Prince George Nechako Aboriginal Employment and Training Association, Two Rivers Gallery, and BC Cancer.

Dr. Sarah de Leeuw

Dr. Sarah de Leeuw

Michael Smith Health Research BC supported this work through matched funding for Dr. Sarah de Leeuw, in partnership with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Through these collaborations, the HARC team created a reflective colouring book (illustrated by Wet’suwet’en youth Walker MacKinlay), an arts-based subscription box (filled with gifts made by Indigenous people), Indigenous youth summer camps, workshops and an Indigenous-led website. Informed by Indigenous community members from Kitsumkalum to Nakazdli, from Lower Post to Skidegate, these learning resources and opportunities honour traditional knowledge, support reconciliation, strengthen cultural identity, enhance understanding and authentically reflect Indigenous voices and priorities.

The Secret Pocket workshop

The Secret Pocket workshop embodies the true spirit of truth and reconciliation — it was brought to life through the shared efforts and understandings of both Dakelh women and settlers.

The workshop helps health professionals, trainees, educators and staff in northern BC reflect on their biases and learn how to connect respectfully with Indigenous patients and colleagues. The workshop includes Indigenous storytelling and creative activities, such as bookmaking, drawing, crafting and performance.

Colourful drawing of two birds
Image by artist Sean Robinson, student at the University of Northern BC

Northern Health pharmacy teams in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek have attended Secret Pocket workshops. They were inspired to rethink their practice.

“The workshop helped me realize that reconciliation starts with learning and understanding the history, current challenges and perspectives,” says Andrew Lowe, regional pharmacy operations lead at Northern Health. “This builds bridges and improves communication.”

Andrew collaborated with the Nawican Friendship Centre to add an Indigenous medicines display in the pharmacy waiting area at Dawson Creek and District Hospital. He invited Elder Stan Fraser from Attahakoop First Nation, and cultural advisor at the Nawican Bergeron Youth and Cultural Centre, to perform a smudging ceremony to cleanse the space and staff offices.

“I wanted to ensure that Indigenous patients feel safe in our pharmacy and show that we appreciate and support the use of complementary traditional medicines,” says Andrew. “[Inviting Elder Fraser] was a great opportunity to ask questions about the meaning of the smudging ceremony and a valuable experience for the pharmacy team.”

 

H.E.A.L. Healthcare website

Colourful drawing of dragonfly, bird, and flower
Image by artist Cynthia Nault, Two-Spirit Anishnaabekwe, Wolverine Clan, from Opwaaganisiniing (Red Rock Indian Band)

Hearts-based Education and Anti-colonial Learning (H.E.A.L.) Healthcare is an online, interactive site. Artists, writers, activists and those with lived experience created diverse, arts-based materials addressing various oppressive behaviors and attitudes in health systems.

X’staam Hana’ax (Nicole Halbauer), Tsimshian knowledge keeper from Kitsumkalum territory and research manager for the H.E.A.L. Healthcare project, notes that cultural safety training often asks participants to use external knowledge and tools to make themselves better. But arts-based approaches such as H.E.A.L. Healthcare encourage people to look inward to uncover biases and open themselves to truth.

“Our goal is to transform the hearts and minds of health providers, learners, educators and administrators,” says X’staam Hana’ax. “We want to change the face of medicine.”

X’staam Hana’ax is optimistic about the potential of programs like H.E.A.L. Healthcare to reverse decades of systemic racism in healthcare.

“I would be told my braids were unprofessional and my traditional earrings were tacky. And if I wanted to succeed, I’d better get a proper, stylish haircut and learn how to wear nylons and heels and a suit and show up looking professional to succeed in the healthcare world,” recalls X’staam Hana’ax. “I’m excited that Sarah and the team have created this space and resources, so that my children and my grandchildren aren’t facing the same biases.”

Action starts with you

Fighting anti-Indigenous racism in our health systems is everyone’s responsibility. Be part of the healing journey. Take action with resources developed by the team:

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