You belong here just as much as anyone else.
Braiding sweetgrass with our minds.
I’m a wife and a mother to two beautiful children- Carter, 11 and Carolena, 8. As a 60’s scooper and Indigenous adoptee, I was raised within a Dutch and Trinidadian family, and raised in both Alberta and Manitoba. These diverse influences have shaped who I am today. Through a purposeful journey as a facilitator walking between two worlds, I have worked in the field of Indigenous health for the past 22 years. I seek to be a catalyst for change, and have cultivated a skill set rooted in advocacy, health equity, Indigenous cultural safety and anti-racism, community engagement and leadership. I nurture connections and opportunities to enhance Indigenous inclusion and well-being through many capacities and dimensions, from research to strategic planning and participation in many critical touch points. My contributions as an Indigenous health advocate have been recognized locally in my city of residence, where I was the first Indigenous woman to be provincially appointed to the London Police Services Board (2017-2019) and was invited by the Mayor of London to serve on the Poverty Panel for the City of London. I have held key roles at a national level, including the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls (2018- 2019), and as a member of Pathways, Indigenous Health Collaborations (2018- present). In January 2020, I was appointed by the President of Western University to sit on their Anti-Racism Working Group as a graduate student. I am currently in my first year as an Assistant Professor, with a joint appointment to the department of Geography & Environment and the Indigenous Studies Program at Western University (London, Ontario, Canada). Education: Training in both Indigenous Studies (BA from Trent University), healthcare (Graduate Certificate from Royal Roads University in Leadership) and Health Geography (PhD Candidate, ABD at Western University, department of Geography and Environment). Research/ Teaching: Home discipline: Health geography; subdiscipline in Indigenous health geographies; Research scope: Indigenous traditional healing spaces within hospital context. I teach IS2218 – Contemporary Indigenous Issues and GEO/IS 2412, a new course on Indigenous Health and Healthcare Environments.
I’m a wife and a mother to two beautiful children- Carter, 11 and Carolena, 8. As a 60’s scooper and Indigenous adoptee, I was raised within a Dutch and Trinidadian family, and raised in both Alberta and Manitoba. These diverse influences have shaped who I am today. Through a purposeful journey as a facilitator walking between two worlds, I have worked in the field of Indigenous health for the past 22 years. I seek to be a catalyst for change, and have cultivated a skill set rooted in advocacy, health equity, Indigenous cultural safety and anti-racism, community engagement and leadership. I nurture connections and opportunities to enhance Indigenous inclusion and well-being through many capacities and dimensions, from research to strategic planning and participation in many critical touch points. My contributions as an Indigenous health advocate have been recognized locally in my city of residence, where I was the first Indigenous woman to be provincially appointed to the London Police Services Board (2017-2019) and was invited by the Mayor of London to serve on the Poverty Panel for the City of London. I have held key roles at a national level, including the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls (2018- 2019), and as a member of Pathways, Indigenous Health Collaborations (2018- present). In January 2020, I was appointed by the President of Western University to sit on their Anti-Racism Working Group as a graduate student. I am currently in my first year as an Assistant Professor, with a joint appointment to the department of Geography & Environment and the Indigenous Studies Program at Western University (London, Ontario, Canada). Education: Training in both Indigenous Studies (BA from Trent University), healthcare (Graduate Certificate from Royal Roads University in Leadership) and Health Geography (PhD Candidate, ABD at Western University, department of Geography and Environment). Research/ Teaching: Home discipline: Health geography; subdiscipline in Indigenous health geographies; Research scope: Indigenous traditional healing spaces within hospital context. I teach IS2218 – Contemporary Indigenous Issues and GEO/IS 2412, a new course on Indigenous Health and Healthcare Environments.
Tansi, I am niizhobinesiik (Two Thunderbirds) and a member of the Thunderbird Clan. I’m of mixed ancestry (Nehiyaw and Métis), and my roots are in the Great Plains (Treaty 6 territory).
The teachings from the Elder reinforced something my body has always felt: Unseen medicine is everywhere. Unseen medicine is about giving thanks for the basic things; it’s about being able to listen and hear with the whole being. It’s about going back to basics and understanding our logical place of being in the world. Unseen medicine is learning to continue to feed the spirit and take care of ourselves. Unseen medicine is the best way to help others: when we use this knowledge and share it, we stay in the love and light, and out of fear. Ceremony doesn’t need to be elaborate. Ceremony can be simply walking in your spirit and connecting to the grandmother and grandfather that walk with you, or sitting by the water to connect with Her spirit.
Time for Unseen Medicine, Vanessa Ambtman-Smith