Episódios
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How the Talking Stick program is helping to fill crucial gaps by allowing quick and anonymous access to a safe place, providing emotional support, while empowering Indigenous voices, and creating jobs for Indigenous people.
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"There are reports of nine and ten year olds doing crystal meth on purpose. This has been going on quite a while now."
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"If we took control of our own health, and if we took control of our programs, our services, our funding and redistributed the way we see fit and works with our people, our health outcomes for our people would be much better."
Carol Hopkins is thrilled to be joined on this important episode on First Nations health transformation by two experts, Loretta Nootchai and John Scherebnyj.
Loretta is a Health Transformation Project Manager with the Anishinabek Nation.
John is President of White Rock Consulting, and has decades of experience in finance and management in the health sector, with a particular focus with First Nations.
They are helping lead the health transformation that has been ongoing in the Anishinabek Nation since 2016, with the aim to gain greater control over their health and wellness, consistent with the inherent right to self-determination.
For more on the work of Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website at www.thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
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Dr Andrea Sereda is Carol Hopkin's guest discussing safer opioid supply, addiction and recovery on this episode of Mino Bimaadiziwin.
Dr Sereda is the lead physician at the London, Ontario Intercommunity Health Centre’s Health Outreach program and she is the founding physician for Safer Opioid Supply, which provides pharmaceutical grade opioids to people dependent on unregulated street fentanyl. In her work, Dr. Sereda focuses on caring for people who use drugs, people deprived of housing, women in the survival sex trade, as well as medical street outreach and care in non-traditional settings such as shelters and jails.
Her program, Safer Opioid Supply, is a Health Canada recognized and funded, Substance Use and Addiction Program.
It is considered a pillar of the Federal government’s approach to the overdose crisis.
To learn more about safer supply, please visit the National Safer Supply Community of Practice website at https://www.nss-aps.ca/
For more on the work of Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website at www.thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
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Carol is thrilled to be joined by Gilbert Whiteduck and
Jamie Carle for another in our series of discussions about successful Indigenous Treatment Centres and what lessons they provide. Gilbert and Jamie are the Program and Services Team Lead and Nurse, respectively, delivering harm reduction programing at Wanaki Centre, located in the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community next to the town of Maniwaki, Quebec. Under their leadership, Wanaki was granted Accreditation of Exemplary Status in the Qmentum program of Accreditation Canada, an impressive achievement. The Wanaki Center provides an important wellness program that supports First Nation and Inuit people to discover the strengths they carry and learn how to balance life's challenges, seeking to heal from alcohol and substance addiction.
The center first opened its doors in 1991 with the mission to provide
programming for substance abuse and to promote the physical,
mental, spiritual and emotional well-being for First Nations and Inuit
populations. The wellness services are provided over a 4-week
period in French and English on a rotational basis.
Gilbert Whiteduck is Anishinabek from the Kitigan Zibi First Nation. He has served as chief of his community. He holds a bachelor of social work, a bachelor and masters of education, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa. He is currently completing an Indigenous law certificate from University of Ottawa. He has worked as a clinical coordinator, residential counselor and now as the program and services team lead at the Wanaki Centre.
Jamie Carle is a nurse from the Kitigan Zibi. Jamie has been a nurse for over ten years in her community and is passionate about Indigenous health. Her work has included acute care palliative care, community care, maternal and child health, midwifery and she now works in treatment of substance abuse.
.For more on the work of Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website at www.thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation
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What role does Virtual Treatment play in drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation? A fire four-and-a-half years ago at the Native Horizons Treatment Centre in the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation meant they had to find that out well before COVID made virtual care a widespread reality. Their Executive Director, Wanda Smith, joins host Carol Hopkins for a discussion on what she and her team have learned in those years, including what differences virtual outreach treatment services have made to programming and clients, are there
innovations arising from virtual treatment delivery, and how have connections to culture been facilitated through virtual services?
For 35 years Wanda Smith has been the Executive Director for Native Horizons Treatment Centre. Her career in the field of First Nations addictions has spanned 45 years in various positions from Community Youth Counsellor, to Native Addictions Program Teaching Master at Northern College in Timmins, to Executive Director for White Buffalo Youth Treatment Centre, Sturgeon Lake, Saskatchewan.
Native Horizons focuses on healing individuals, families and
communities challenged by substance use and the related mental
health issues for over thirty years. It does this with virtual and
Residential, culturally-centered services in a nurturing, home-like
atmosphere, ideal for long-lasting healthy lifestyles.
For more on the work of Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website at www.thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
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Host Carol Hopkins is very happy to be joined by Theresa Crow-Spreading-His-Wings and Sandra Malcolm from the Native Addictions Council of Manitoba, for a lively and fascinating discussion about the addictions workforce, specifically the certification in addictions core competencies and the investment their organization is making in their workforce. They also talk about the role of treatment centers in addressing the opioid and meth addiction crisis faced by many First Nations and the importance of traditional knowledge and ceremony in that.
This conversation is part of a series of conversations highlighting the good work of First Nations treatment centres in offering quality services.
Theresa is the Executive Director of NACM. She is a Blackfoot First Nations woman from the Blood Tribe in Treaty 7 Territory in Standoff, Alberta. Theresa grew up in the Child Welfare System, as part of the 60’s scoop and the heart-work of her healing journey has been anchored in being a mother of two adult children and two grandchildren. Theresa moved to Winnipeg in 2004 where she has been serving the inner-city community, as an advocate for adults, youth and families that are struggling with addictions, poverty and mental wellbeing.
Sandra Malcolm is the Program Coordinator at NACM. Sandra’s background is in nursing and specialization in mental health and addiction. She obtained extensive experience working in a variety of addiction treatment centers, health sectors, and with marginalized individuals struggling with addictions and mental health challenges.
For more on the work of Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website at www.thunderbirdpf.org You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
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Host Carol Hopkins is thrilled to be joined by Deb Dell and Karen Main in a conversation highlighting the quality of addictions services for First Nations youth, how they know there is quality, what that looks like and their processes for facilitating continuous improvements.
Karen and Deb both work with YSAC, a network of 10 First Nation Youth Residential Treatment Centres across Canada, offering holistic, culturally grounded addiction services that are centred in First Nations ways of knowing and being.
For 27 years Debra Dell has been working at the Y-S-A-C and at its member centres. She is a founding member and currently the organizations Executive Director. She focuses on research and practises quality, as well as human resource training and competency work. She has a dual masters in counselling psychology and adult education and a doctorate in distance education. She is a first generation settler from Scotland who works in Treaty Six territory in Saskatchewan.
Karen Main is Associate Director for the Y-S-A-C where her focus is providing support to their ten centres in accreditation, board governance and life promotion training programs. She spent 15 years as Executive Director of Leading Thunderbird Lodge – part of the Y-S-A-C network.She is a proud member of the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation in southern Saskatchewan.
***And related to this conversation, please take a moment to take part in The Standards Council of Canada and the Mental Health and Substance Use Standardization Collaborative, questionnaire related to mental health and substance use from the perspective of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis.
The questionnaire can be accessed through the following link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VCMHZQL
Mahihkan Management has been contracted to create awareness among First Nations, Inuit, and Metis knowledge holders, and mental health and substance use experts, and allied professionals to gather
information about mental health and substance use services. This information will be used to inform a report on standardization of Mental Health and Substance Use Health services and other future work.
Please complete the survey before June 30th. Further engagement sessions will take place in the fall.
For more on the work of Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website at www.thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
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We're thrilled to have Dawna Prosper on the podcast.
She is Executive Director of the Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Counseling Association and a proud member of the Eskasoni First Nation of Cape Breton. Since 1971 NACADA has run addiction prevention and treatment programs in First Nations communities across Atlantic Canada. It has been accredited for the last thirteen years. In this conversation with Thunderbird Partnership Foundation CEO Carol Hopkins, Dawna describes both the challenges and benefits that come with accreditation in terms of funding, empowerment of staff, workload, and services delivered to clients. They also discuss the challenges of funding in terms of keeping staff by paying competitive wages, and the importance of cultural practices in treatment.
For more on the work of Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website at www.thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
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"In our communities we need to do more ceremony. Those ones that are lost, they can come to the ceremony, the doorway is not closed to anyone. If they need that help from ceremony, they are welcome."
Elder Hector Copegog, spiritual teacher, ceremonial chief and healer is our guest in this second conversation on managing grief through ceremony. In this powerful talk, Carol and Hector discuss how ceremony can honour lost family members through the use of fire, food, tobacco and language as a way of connecting with those lost spirits. This can be especially powerful now, coming out of COVID, where people died without funerals being held. Wes says having a ceremony on the year anniversary, or two year anniversary of a death is a strong way to connect to those we lost and in managing our grief as individuals, families and communities.
Hector is a fourth degree Midewiwin, or spiritual advisor and traditional healer and a spiritual consultant with the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle.
He has decades of experience practicing traditional ceremony and culture as part of the process of loss and healing. And he is a proud member of the Beausoleil First Nation in Ontario.
For more on the work of Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website at www.thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
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"Whatever you are suffering with, don't give up. Hang in there. There's a lot of people who've suffered. Just look back at the history of our peoples, the things we've survived and come through. Don't give up. There is help and you will find your way."
We're thrilled to have Wes Whetung on the podcast for this episode on the importance of ceremony and culture to manage grief, loss and many other challenges First Nations people are facing today.
This conversation was sparked by the recent Thunderbird Survey on Grief and Loss Among First Nations People. And the number one thing respondents to the survey wanted was to better understand grief and loss through the lense of culture. Which is why we turned to Wes. He is a ceremony maker, Knowledge Keeper, teacher, and helper. He originates from the First Nation community of Curve Lake Ontario and resides in the community of Mississauga number 8.
His training is extensive, but he says his most valuable skills are derived from the Sacred Teachings, and ceremonial healing practises of the Anishinabe Midewin.
He has actively supported the Three Fires Society Midewin Lodge for over 40 years. And is currently working with Indigenous inmates at the Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst, Ontario.
In this smart and thoughtful conversation, Wes and Carol talk about the historical impact of the loss of land, language, identity among First Nations people, caused by Residential Schools and other forms of systemic racism.
They discuss how a connection to culture helps us to move through grief and the experiences of loss. And the remedy through ceremony. What works best and what resources are available.
This conversation was sparked by the recent Thunderbird Survey on Grief and Loss among First Nations People. And the number one thing respondents to the survey wanted was to better understand grief and loss through the lense of culture.
For more on the work of Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website at www.thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by Thunderbird and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
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"When they come in they are broken, they are so broken. That's why we use so much compassion at work and with what we do every day. And we tell them we're proud of them every single day. And that's when they start to regain that hope, is when we tell them 'You're one day sober and I'm proud of you.'"
We're thrilled to have Barbara Michel-Ballantyne on the podcast, talking about a successful land based and traditional knowledge treatment program that has helped her First Nations Saskatchewan community overcome a devastating crystal meth addiction epidemic.
She is the manager at Camp Hope, the Montreal Lake Child and Family Agency where she is Director for the Land Based Crystal Meth Rehab Centre.
She has close to twenty years of First Nations Child and Family services experience, focused around mental health, addictions and recovery.
Camp Hope is a Land Based Therapeutic program, a family oriented facility located in a remote area of Montreal Lake Cree Nation in Treaty Six territory in Saskatchewan, that has helped hundreds of families with children to access recovery services.
For more on the work of Thunderbird, please visit our website at thunderbirdpf.org You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions and the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.
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As we continue our series on harm reduction, we are thrilled to be joined by three guests who are leading an incredible effort in drug harm reduction with their organization, "Fire with Fire," a response in eight First Nations communities in Treaty 1 territory in southeastern Manitoba to substance misuse causing harm and overdose.
"Fire with Fire" responds to individual needs of community members with the support of peer mentors who form quick response teams in each of the communities served.
The main purpose of the peer mentors is to educate, support and train those in community toward more helpful health outcomes in dealing with opioid and meth addiction.
Our guests are:
Allen Contois is Project Coordinator of Fire with Fire and a proud member of the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation
Tahl East is Fire With Fire mental wellness programs manager and developer. She was born in Jerusalem and is an ally of First Nations across Turtle Island.
And Helene San Pedro is the Tribal Health Educator for Harm Reduction for the Southeast Resource Development Council and a settler to Treaty 1 territory from the Philippines.
For more on the work of Thunderbird, please visit our website at thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions and the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.
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We're thrilled to be joined today by Audra Stonefish for this smart, thoughtful conversation about the importance of harm reduction with Thunderbird Partnership Foundation CEO, Carol Hopkins.
Audra is the Cultural Harm Reduction Outreach Supervisor for Chippewas of the Thames First Nation located in southwestern Ontario.
Audra's program is in its fifth year. It focuses on meeting the relatives wherever they are, promoting mental wellness and safe drug use.
Culture based harm reduction carries the same goal with every interaction, and that is promoting inclusivity and facilitating connection because they believe those things will help people take charge of their own wellbeing and move towards recovery, whatever that looks like for the individual. Working with the crisis response line and the community wellness worker, Audra's long term goal is to provide education on the impact of harm reduction and eliminate stigma.
For more on the work of Thunderbird, please visit our website at thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions and the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.
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Guest host Dr Brenda Restoule is joined by one of her Indigenous mental health mentors, Danny Manitowabi, for a fascinating conversation about the lessons learned from his long and impressive career in First Nations mental health.
Almost fifty years ago, Danny set up the first mental health clinic in a First Nation. He worked with the community to address a suicide epidemic and later also supported communities in Sioux Lookout to address suicide. Danny went on to work with other local First Nation communities to set up their own mental health services and was responsible for the vision and creation of First Nation mental wellness teams in Canada. And he is a proud member of the Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin.
Guest host Dr Brenda Restoule a psychologist, Chief Executive Officer of the First Peoples Wellness Circle and a proud member of the Dokis First Nation and the Eagle Clan in northern Ontario.
For more on the work of Thunderbird, please visit our website at thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions and the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.
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On today’s episode, we’re going to explore life promotion & suicide prevention.
Indigenous people in Canada die by suicide at a rate three times the national rate. The rate of suicide among young First Nations is six times higher.
Thunderbird has been working with youth to develop a response to suicide, mental wellness and substance use in Indigenous communities. The result is a new resource, called: Strengthening our Connections to Promote Life: A Life Promotion Toolkit by Indigenous Youth.
And we’re thrilled to welcome two of the young people who played a key role in putting the toolkit together.
Gabrielle Jubinville, is a Hope Ambassador with We Matter, a former US Division One college basketball player and a proud member of the EEE-knock Cree Nation, in Treaty Six territory in Alberta. We reached her in Brandon, Manitoba… where she workes for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Westman and works at the Women’s Resource Centre.
And Connor Lafortune is an Anishinaabek writer, poet, and activist from the Dokis First Nation on Robinson Huron Treaty territory of 1850. He just finished his third year at Nipissing University with a Double Honours Major in Indigenous Studies and Gender Equality and Social Justice with a minor in Legal Studies.
You can see the Life Promotion Toolkit on our website, thunderbirdPF.org
You can also order hard copies there.
If you’d like to request a presentation by a member of Thunderbird’s Youth Action Group for Life Promotion, email us at [email protected]
There’s also more culturally-safe information to support Life Promotion on one of our websites - wisepractices.ca
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions and the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.
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Today’s episode is all about language – its connection to our mental, emotional, spiritual & physical wellness.
In fact, just look at the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum, on our website, ThunderbirdPF.org and you’ll see that language is considered to be one of the Indigenous social determinants of health. It’s considered as vital to our wellness as access to health care, housing & education.
Sherry's guest today, Dr. Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams, is an inspiration in her fearless and determined pursuit of the power of Indigenous languages.
For more than 50 years, Dr. Williams of the Lil’wat First Nation has been an Indigenous educator and language specialist. A survivor of Residential Schools, she has worked from the grass-roots to the national levels helping Indigenous peoples overcome the damage done to language and culture by colonization. In doing so, she has developed Indigenous language undergraduate and graduate degree programs at the University of Victoria where she serves as the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Education. She was awarded the Order of Canada for her work.
To learn more about the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions and the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.
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"I hope that people can integrate harvesting from the land into the healing process. Instead of just being in a building focusing on why you have an addiction, maybe you can get on the land and let some of these plant nations heal you too."
We're thrilled to have Metis Chef Jenni Lessard on the podcast to discuss the nourishing power of Indigenous cooking and harvesting from the land. One of Canada's top chefs, Chef Jenni and Sherry have a fun and lively conversation about the healing powers of food, how to harvest responsibly from the land and delicious ways to serve up ingredients you can find around you.
Having run and owned several restaurants, Chef Jenni Lessard now runs her own catering firm, Inspired By Nature. She is the Indigenous Culinary Consultant at Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatoon, Secretary of the Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations, and she lives in Saskatchewan’s Qu’Appelle Valley, Treaty Four Territory and homeland of the Metis.
To learn more about the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, please visit our website thunderbirdpf.org
You can find us on social media by searching for ThunderbirdPF
Our theme music is by Courtney Riley, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
Mino Bimaadiziwin is produced by David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions and the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.
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