Artistic Reflection at the Fifth Annual Gathering of the Aboriginal/Indigenous Health Improvement Committees

On May 28th and 29th, 2019, the fifth annual gathering of the Aboriginal/Indigenous Health Improvement Committees (A/IHICS) was held at the Prince George Civic Centre. The theme of this year’s gathering was, “Cultural Safety- A Journey of Partnership, Reflection, and Understanding”. A total of eight A/IHICS from across the North were in attendance.

The event was centred around goals of sharing experiences and knowledge, celebrating the many accomplishments in work being done to build cultural understanding across health sectors, exploring biases, considering roles in partnerships, and reflecting on thoughts through artistic expression. The event was opened by a traditional welcome and prayer by Lheidli T’enneh Elder, Kenora Stewart, and presenters over the two days included Rose LeMay, Nicole Cross, Theresa Healy, Cathy Ulrich, Margo Greenwood, and event facilitator Sarah de Leeuw.

The art activity had the attendees create unique wire trees, purposed to answer the question: “What grows from a solid and grounded foundation of cultural safety?”

We at the Health Arts Research Centre are so grateful for the incredibly excited and positive engagements with the art activity! View some of the amazing trees that illustrate incredible, deeply-thought responses to this important question in the gallery below: