Located in Athabasca, Alberta the Faculty of Health Disciplines offers online programs and courses that build on your past achievements and future aspirations. Our motivated and dedicated faculty members and instructors facilitate your knowledge and skills acquisition and reflection that can be put to work while you work.

Faculty of Health Disciplines Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation

The Faculty of Health Disciplines’ conciliation journey.

Health care providers and educators have a key role to play in responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada: Calls to Action and in promoting positive relationships between Indigenous peoples and the education and health care systems.

Indigenous Peoples (Inuit, First Nations, Métis) across North America encompass many distinct nations, each with complexities and rich diversities. Indigenous communities have unique traditions, languages, and preferences that should be respected and honoured. 

Whether you are a faculty or staff member, learner, or graduate of AU’s Faculty of Health Disciplines (FHD), you are an important part of the conciliation journey we all take together. This journey is guided by:

• Athabasca University Nukskahtowin, or meeting place (formerly known as the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research)
• the strategic theme of reciprocity in the 2018 Athabasca University Strategic Plan
• the Nukskahtowin Strategic Plan

Supporting health care in remote and rural Indigenous communities

The faculty has a partnership with Indigenous Services  Canada that is described in “Supporting Health Care in Remote and Rural Indigenous Communities”. The faculty’s community-based healthcare collaborations are described by Indigenous Canada’s Director General and Chief Nursing officer, Robin Buckland, as “reconciliation. Currently, Athabasca University is working with Little Red River Cree Nation:

The ultimate long-term goal for the department is to ensure that First Nations are equipped to run and manage their own health systems. To achieve that level of self-determination first requires creating a health system that is as good or as equal to other health systems in Canada, Buckland said.

I think you’re seeing more and more across health systems and health-care providers demonstrating a commitment to reconciliation,” [Buckland] said.

A good place to start is to have a level of understanding and knowledge in terms of history, and then as a provider, to have that cultural competency and continue to grow this competency.”

Athabaska University

NUKSKAHTOWIN

Nukskahtowin (Formerly: The Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research) would like to welcome you to our virtual home on the web. We were formed in 2001 to address the academic and administrative needs of Indigenous citizens who are academics and learners at Athabasca University. As part of our initial vision we worked towards the development and delivery of Indigenous Studies and education in the AU environment. We worked towards the respectful inclusion of Indigenous research by and about First Nations, Metis and Inuit people. Our main goal was and still is the acknowledgment and development of traditional Indigenous knowledge in the academy and to support, protect and preserve Indigenous Knowledge, Education and oral traditions.

In response to the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we began a journey of kwayskahsatsowin (conciliation) and renewed our commitment to Indigeneity, in all its forms at the university. In the Fall of 2018, our centre was renamed Nukskahtowin, which means meeting place. The name was chosen by our Elder.

Our new plan of engagement for 2020 can be found here

Call to Action # 24

We call upon medical and nursing schools in Canada to require all students to take a course dealing with Aboriginal health issues, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, and Indigenous teachings and practices. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

Mandatory Course: Anti-Indigenous Racism and Discrimination

**The course is scheduled to open for registration in 2025. 

In this course, you will delve into the multifaceted landscape of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, gaining insights into their cultures, histories, and contemporary struggles. Through an exploration of colonization’s enduring impact, you will confront the imperative of decolonization and the collective responsibility it entails. Delving into the nuances of anti-Indigenous racism, you’ll acquire a vocabulary to dissect discriminatory structures and behaviors. 

Moving beyond theory, you’ll analyze cognitive frameworks and biases, unraveling implicit and explicit prejudices while confronting the concept of privilege. By comparing Indigenous and Western worldviews, you’ll grasp the root disparities perpetuating structural racism, particularly evident in Canada’s assimilationist policies. Focusing on healthcare, you’ll scrutinize the nexus of racism and health outcomes, equipping yourself with tools for fostering Indigenous allyship within healthcare provision, thereby embarking on a journey towards transformative change.

Course description: courses

School of Nursing Commitment to Call to Action # 24: 2 out of 5 = 40% 

1. Aboriginal health issues
Yes. See mandatory course description
2. The history and legacy of residential schools
Yes. See mandatory course description
3. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
No. No explicit reference
4. Treaties and Aboriginal rights
No. No explicit reference
5. Indigenous teachings and practice
No. No explicit reference

Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing’s “Statement” of apology for colonial harms resulting from nursing education

The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) is the national voice for nursing education, research, and scholarship and represents baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs across Canada. CASN’s mission is to lead nursing education and nursing scholarship in the interest of healthier Canadians.

Dec.11, 2023: We, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN), wish to express our deepest regret, apologizing to the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of Canada for harms, historical or contemporary, related to nursing education…Furthermore, we acknowledge that many graduates of Canadian schools of nursing provide care to Indigenous patients that is racist and culturally unsafe…We recognize that these harms have been perpetuated through systemic racism and a failure to incorporate Indigenous perspectives or the impacts of colonialism into nursing curricula. We understand as well, the importance of nursing education in shaping the future of health care, and we deeply regret any instance where CASN’s actions contributed to disparities or reinforced colonial structures.

CASN is committed to a process of self-reflection, learning, and transformation. We will take the following steps to address the harms:

1. Anti-Racism, Cultural Safety, and Humility: Promote education, resources, and practices that address anti-Indigenous racism, supporting decolonization, cultural humility, and cultural safety for nursing faculty, staff, and students. Promote institutional policies and processes that address systemic racism to foster an inclusive and equitable learning environment.
2. Curriculum Revision: Promote a review of nursing education curricula to ensure a strengths-based focus and trauma-informed approach, the inclusion of content on the continued impact of colonialism and racism on Indigenous health, as well as Indigenous perspectives on health and well-being.
3. Community Engagement: Establish meaningful partnerships with Indigenous organizations and communities to ensure their voices are heard in shaping nursing education policies and practices.
4. Recruitment and Retention: Promote strategies that create culturally safe and supportive learning environments including pre-admission supports, in-program supports, and services that are developed in partnership with Indigenous communities.
5. Ongoing Accountability: In collaboration with Indigenous partners, establish mechanisms to monitor progress and address concerns raised by partners, Indigenous nursing students, and faculty.

Land Acknowledgement: 

Located on the Faculty of Health Disciplines Home Page:

Athabasca University respectfully acknowledges that we are on and work on the traditional lands of the Indigenous Peoples (Inuit, First Nations, Métis) of Canada. We honour the ancestry, heritage, and gifts of the Indigenous Peoples and give thanks to them”

NOTE: All content has been submitted to the respective faculty for validation to ensure accuracy and currency as of the time of posting. The Athabasca University Faculty of Health Disciplines: Nursing reviewed and approved the document. Managing Editor: Douglas Sinclair: Publisher, Indigenous Watchdog Research Assistant:  Timothy Maton