Celebrating Indigenous Nurses in Saskatchewan

As the first celebration of its kind in Saskatchewan, the event served to honour and acknowledge the contributions made by Indigenous nurses over many decades to improve the health and well-being of residents of Saskatchewan and beyond.

Taking place at the same time as the annual First Nations Inuit Health Branch regional nursing workshop, which brings together over 100 nurses from First Nations communities across the province, tickets for the event went quickly.

Janet Spence Fontaine (BSN’65), a Cree First Nations nursing alumna and the first known Indigenous Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduate of the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) nursing program, delivered the keynote address. “I carry the promise of wonderful surprises yet to come and go forward with my personal mission to create and heal.” Janet has extensive expertise in Indigenous issues, particularly those impacting health, women, seniors, adult education and community development. She has drawn on her Indigenous heritage to improve the health and well-being of Indigenous people, and society as a whole.

“The suicide crisis in Northern Saskatchewan is being felt deeply by many of our nursing students and their families located in La Ronge and Ile-a-la-Crosse, as well as our alumni who currently work in the North,” said College of Nursing Strategist for Outreach and Indigenous Engagement, Dr. Heather Exner-Pirot. “This is a particularly important time to highlight the achievement and contributions of Indigenous nurses in Saskatchewan, as they are incredible role models in their communities.”

Throughout the evening, guests were treated to music from the Saskatoon String Ensemble, a prayer by Elder Florence Allen, a traditional Honour song was performed by U of S Cultural Co-ordinator, First Nations and Metis Relations Bob Badger and a fantastic shawl dance was executed by 4th year nursing student Jennifer McGillivary. Former College of Nursing Native Access Program to Nursing (NAPN) members Valerie Arnault-Pelletier, Clare McNab and Rose Roberts took guests on a trip down memory lane during their presentation on the history of Indigenous nursing programs.

This celebration gala would not have been possible without a very generous donation from Drs. Murray and the late Gerri Dickson. The Dr. Gerri Dickson University of Saskatchewan Community of Aboriginal Nursing (UCAN) Program Fund was created to provide funding for the greatest need of the UCAN program in the College of Nursing. The gift represented the affinity and respect that Dr. Dickson had for the UCAN program. During her time at the University of Saskatchewan, Gerri coordinated the program formerly known as NAPN, which has helped the College of Nursing graduate more Indigenous nurses since its inception in 1984 than any other program in Canada. Her desire to support Indigenous initiatives and increase Indigenous student engagement and enrolment throughout Saskatchewan has been made clear through her involvement with this program and through this generous gift.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2011 there were 760 Indigenous Registered Nurses working in Saskatchewan. The University of Saskatchewan College of Nursing has 191 Indigenous students 18.9 % of total enrollment in the undergraduate program) currently studying to become Registered Nurses.