Episodes

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. ...

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. ...

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 dete...

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 dete...

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 dete...

"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...

"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...

"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...

"(Harm reduction) is not just giving people safer equipment to keep using drugs, it's also to develop relationships and develop that trust. And eventually some people choose to get off, not all. Sometimes the success of harm reduction is the quality of life of that person went up and they were connected to community." We're so happy to have harm reduction expert Trevor Stratton on the program, talking about the importance of harm reduction as a life saving and altering tool in the ongoing meth ...

"(Harm reduction) is not just giving people safer equipment to keep using drugs, it's also to develop relationships and develop that trust. And eventually some people choose to get off, not all. Sometimes the success of harm reduction is the quality of life of that person went up and they were connected to community." We're so happy to have harm reduction expert Trevor Stratton on the program, talking about the importance of harm reduction as a life saving and altering tool in the ongoing meth ...

"(Harm reduction) is not just giving people safer equipment to keep using drugs, it's also to develop relationships and develop that trust. And eventually some people choose to get off, not all. Sometimes the success of harm reduction is the quality of life of that person went up and they were connected to community." We're so happy to have harm reduction expert Trevor Stratton on the program, talking about the importance of harm reduction as a life saving and altering tool in the ongoing meth ...

"You have to be honest. Not a lot of people are going to respect your story. Not a lot of people are going to like your story. But what they are going to respect is your truth and your honesty. So if anything, just be honest and make sure your truth is your strength and not your dysfunction." Jonathan Peltier is an opioid survivor who now works in helping people come through drug and alcohol addiction as a reintegration worker in the Wikwemikong Justice Program, in the Wikwemikong Unceded Terri...

"You have to be honest. Not a lot of people are going to respect your story. Not a lot of people are going to like your story. But what they are going to respect is your truth and your honesty. So if anything, just be honest and make sure your truth is your strength and not your dysfunction." Jonathan Peltier is an opioid survivor who now works in helping people come through drug and alcohol addiction as a reintegration worker in the Wikwemikong Justice Program, in the Wikwemikong Unceded Terri...

"You have to be honest. Not a lot of people are going to respect your story. Not a lot of people are going to like your story. But what they are going to respect is your truth and your honesty. So if anything, just be honest and make sure your truth is your strength and not your dysfunction." Jonathan Peltier is an opioid survivor who now works in helping people come through drug and alcohol addiction as a reintegration worker in the Wikwemikong Justice Program, in the Wikwemikong Unceded Terri...

We’re really thrilled to have Dr Evan Adams as our guest on this podcast. He is the deputy chief medical officer at Indigenous Services Canada, where he has helped lead their on-going national COVID-19 response, while ensuring culturally safe and efficient service delivery. And for many of you, he is a familiar face and voice from his days as an actor, before he began practicing medicine, especially from his role in the hit 1998 hit film "Smoke Signals," playing a character with a very specifi...

We’re really thrilled to have Dr Evan Adams as our guest on this podcast. He is the deputy chief medical officer at Indigenous Services Canada, where he has helped lead their on-going national COVID-19 response, while ensuring culturally safe and efficient service delivery. And for many of you, he is a familiar face and voice from his days as an actor, before he began practicing medicine, especially from his role in the hit 1998 hit film "Smoke Signals," playing a character with a very specifi...

We’re really thrilled to have Dr Evan Adams as our guest on this podcast. He is the deputy chief medical officer at Indigenous Services Canada, where he has helped lead their on-going national COVID-19 response, while ensuring culturally safe and efficient service delivery. And for many of you, he is a familiar face and voice from his days as an actor, before he began practicing medicine, especially from his role in the hit 1998 hit film "Smoke Signals," playing a character with a very specifi...

"We are naturally outdoors people and getting that understanding and learning our history and our culture about all of the traditional medicine, the history of our land, our teachings, hunting, all of those areas that have been proven to be effective in mental health and addictions, this has been very impactful in our First Nations community." Our guest this episode is Tim Ominika, Deputy Chief of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, and the new Stakeholder Coordinator at the Thu...

"We are naturally outdoors people and getting that understanding and learning our history and our culture about all of the traditional medicine, the history of our land, our teachings, hunting, all of those areas that have been proven to be effective in mental health and addictions, this has been very impactful in our First Nations community." Our guest this episode is Tim Ominika, Deputy Chief of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, and the new Stakeholder Coordinator at the Thu...

"We are naturally outdoors people and getting that understanding and learning our history and our culture about all of the traditional medicine, the history of our land, our teachings, hunting, all of those areas that have been proven to be effective in mental health and addictions, this has been very impactful in our First Nations community." Our guest this episode is Tim Ominika, Deputy Chief of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, and the new Stakeholder Coordinator at the Thu...

We're thrilled to have Dr Alika Lafontaine, the first Indigenous president of the Canadian Medical Association, as our guest on this episode of Mino Bimaadiziwin. In this frank and thoughtful conversation, host Sherry Huff and Dr Lafontaine talk about the barriers to health and wellness caused by systemic racism, what the death of First Nations woman Joyce Echaguan in a Quebec hospital revealed about the obstacles that exist to overcoming systemic racism and what changes need to happen at both t...

We're thrilled to have Dr Alika Lafontaine, the first Indigenous president of the Canadian Medical Association, as our guest on this episode of Mino Bimaadiziwin. In this frank and thoughtful conversation, host Sherry Huff and Dr Lafontaine talk about the barriers to health and wellness caused by systemic racism, what the death of First Nations woman Joyce Echaguan in a Quebec hospital revealed about the obstacles that exist to overcoming systemic racism and what changes need to happen at both t...

We're thrilled to have Dr Alika Lafontaine, the first Indigenous president of the Canadian Medical Association, as our guest on this episode of Mino Bimaadiziwin. In this frank and thoughtful conversation, host Sherry Huff and Dr Lafontaine talk about the barriers to health and wellness caused by systemic racism, what the death of First Nations woman Joyce Echaguan in a Quebec hospital revealed about the obstacles that exist to overcoming systemic racism and what changes need to happen at both t...

Welcome to the first episode of Mino Bimaadiziwin – a podcast by the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, thunderbirdpf.org Mino bimaadiziwin means living the good life in the language of the Anishinabe. We chose that as a name for our podcast because it captures what we all hope for. This podcast aims to seek and share insight about addictions and mental health issues that many of our families and communities are dealing with. We’re going to be fearless in exploring the tough issues with some of...