Honouring leaders in Indigenous health care and education

In advance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, The Indigenous Health Learning Lodge (IHLL) and the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University organized an event to honour and acknowledge two individuals in particular that have made a tremendous impact on Indigenous health care and education – Pat Mandy and the late Thomas Dignan.

Mandy was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate earlier this year by McMaster’s School of Nursing. She is an award-winning health care leader who continues to shine a light on the persistent need for truth and reconciliation initiatives. Dignan, who passed back in early 2021, was the first Indigenous graduate of McMaster University’s medical school and the first president of the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association. He was also inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2022. A sketch dedicated to him can be seen on the second floor of the Health Sciences centre outside of the School of Nursing.

The event, which took place on Sept. 25, was hosted in the bright and spacious Jan and Mien Heersink Reading Pavilion, located in the lower level of the Health Sciences library. Attendees were welcomed into the space around 12:30 p.m. to enjoy a provided lunch and were offered an opportunity to purchase an orange shirt to support and wear for Truth and Reconciliation Day.

The executive director of the Indigenous Health Learning Lodge, Alexandra Trottier, opened the event by introducing the knowledge helper, Tehahenteh Miller, who gave the Thanksgiving Address. He described the address as highlighting the importance of giving thanks, love, and respect to all our relations in the world from plant and animal life to our mother the earth and the people who inhabit it.

Once the Thanksgiving Address was completed, Trottier returned to the podium to give a brief introduction of each of the speakers and go over the order of events. There was also a moment of silence for all the lives lost to residential schools across the country. A powerful slideshow presented all the names in the National Student Memorial Register, which is a list of those who are known to have died in each province and in each school. However, there are many more whose names are not recorded. The heaviness of the moment was felt by all in the room.

The event featured speakers such as Dina Brooks, vice-dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and executive director of the School of Rehabilitation Science; Santee Smith, chancellor; Bernice Downey, associate dean of Indigenous Health; and Jennifer McKinnell, the director of the Health Sciences library.

After each of the speakers spoke on their experiences with Mandy and Dignan and what truth and reconciliation means to them, Mandy approached the podium to give her speech. She gave a history of how she first became affiliated with the Faculty of Health Sciences in 1991, when she received a letter acknowledging her interest in increasing Indigenous applicants to the health sciences programs. Mandy acknowledged many committees and initiatives that she participated in and led in some cases throughout the duration of her career.

“It’s not about me, it’s about what I can stand for,” said Mandy. She acknowledged her beginnings of living in downtown Hamilton on Bay Street, at the time hoping to gain more experiences and education, and then reflected on how far she has come.

“I hope that some other young folks think ‘I can do it.’”

After Mandy thanked all for the tremendous honour, Heather Dignan spoke on behalf of her father. She reflected on the many contributions he made to Indigenous health care and education, and listed qualities that made her father who he was. Among the many positive characteristics she listed, her father’s intelligence and honesty were the two that were prominent and even echoed by others in the room during their speeches as well.

“His legacy lives on in the growing ranks of Indigenous physicians and nurses now working throughout Canada,” says Dignan. She ended her moving speech with referencing a time when her grandparents went to a parent-teacher interview for her father in grade 8, and his teacher said that he wouldn’t amount to much. “Well, I can proudly stand here today and say he proved everybody wrong,” she said tearfully.

The event concluded with three awards and flower bouquets being handed out by Trottier to both honoured guests, Mandy and Dignan on behalf of her father, as well as McKinnell. The glass statue awards represented and recognized the contributions each of them has made to meaningful reconciliation.