National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day – Message from Dr. Carrie Bourassa

June 01, 2018

On behalf of CIHR, I would like to wish First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples a happy National Indigenous History Month and a National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21.

For all Canadians, June is a very special month as we all come together to celebrate the traditions, cultures and contributions of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. It gives us an opportunity to learn more about our history and recognize the outstanding research undertaken to improve the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples.

As Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health, I am proud to be able to support the most brilliant researchers whose work address health inequities in urban settings, First Nations reserves, and Inuit and Métis communities throughout Canada.

Over the past year, CIHR has invested in new Indigenous health initiatives such as the Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR); a 15-year $89.4M initiative that aims to establish a solid foundation for Indigenous health research driven by, and grounded in Indigenous communities in Canada.

On June 27, 2018, I will provide a progress update on our action plan to strengthen Indigenous health research at the upcoming 4th Pathways Annual Gathering (PAG), which will take place on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot and the people of Treaty Seven in Lethbridge, Alberta, under the theme: “Land-based learning and healing”. This update will be shared widely so I encourage all of you to look out for those details.

At CIHR, we take every opportunity to highlight the tremendous achievements of Indigenous communities and invite youth and Elders to participate in research in order to create positive change. I just completed one-year of community engagements with Indigenous Peoples from coast-to-coast-to-coast. The key messages I heard stressed the importance of partnerships, Indigenous communities leading the research agenda and CIHR working collaboratively with Indigenous communities to create new knowledge and the use of that knowledge to improve the health of Indigenous Peoples.

Please join me in celebrating and honoring our Indigenous heritage to build a bright future for all Canadians.

Megweetch, thank you,

Dr. Carrie Bourassa
Scientific Director
CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health

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