For Advanced Nursing Master鈥檚 student Sheena Doyle, participating in the Interdisciplinary Indigenous Field Study Course last May opened her eyes, her mind and her heart to new perspectives and new ways of relating to her work as a labour and delivery nurse. The interdisciplinary nature of the course was particularly appealing to Doyle. 鈥淐oming from a nursing background, I was struck by how much I learned about colonialism and decolonization when examined through the interconnected perspectives of anthropology, social work, healthcare, and law.鈥� she reports.
鈥淩ather than studying 'about' Indigenous peoples, our interdisciplinary students learn 'with' them, engaging with Indigenous communities as dynamic political entities actively shaping their own futures,鈥� explains Professor Leslie Sabiston, Red River M茅tis from Aswahonanihk (Selkirk), Manitoba and Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology.
Structured to maximize reflection and exchanges, the course began with two weeks of readings and in-class discussions, followed by a week of field study and experiential learning in 碍补苍别丑蝉补迟脿:办别. Then it was back to the classroom for a week of group work where students synthesized their experiences and discussed how they would carry their learning forward. During the initial classroom portion, Jos茅e Lavall茅茅, Director of the Ingram School of Nursing鈥檚 Office of Social Accountability in Nursing and Wendy Skye presented on Indigenous health and nursing.
Once the group of 20 students and five professors got to 碍补苍别丑蝉补迟脿:办别 Nation, the learning was experiential, relational and tied intimately to the land itself. Doyle recalls how one morning, two community members led the students on a walk through the forest, describing the different medicinal plants in their own language, Kanien始k茅ha, while translating into English for the group.
Another powerful moment for Doyle occurred when a member of the community shared an Indigenous creation story, describing how a baby is born saying the words that come before all else, and how the placenta resembles the third tree of life. Doyle saw this as an example of how Indigenous ways of knowing contrasted sharply with the medicalized practice in Western medicine of discarding the placenta as biomedical waste. 鈥淣ow, whenever I look at a placenta, I see the tree of life,鈥� she says.
After a full day of learning from community members and participating in various activities such as sweat lodges and beading, the group returned to their accommodations at a campground in Oka, where they ended each evening with storytelling around a bonfire. Doyle recalls waking up early the first day and being one of the few people to be ready on time, a function of the punctuality required of nurses. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when Professor Sabiston decided that he would be the alarm clock, waking everyone in the morning with the sounds of Indigenous drumming and singing. We learned that the drum is the heartbeat of Mother Earth, which made so much sense to me as it sounded like a baby鈥檚 heartbeat,鈥� she explains.
The healing power of storytelling was one of the many lessons that resonated most profoundly with Doyle. 鈥淭he history of Canada has been told one-sidedly. Indigenous people are retelling their stories, an act of narrative sovereignty, and it鈥檚 up to us to really want to listen.鈥� While Doyle has begun incorporating these lessons and ways of knowing into her nursing practice, she is continuing to reflect on these themes through the practice of journaling, which was encouraged during the class.
In her final written reflection submitted for the course, Doyle explained how the experience challenged her to rethink what it means to bear witness not only to the stories of others, but to her own. 鈥淎s a nurse, I have been trained to interpret healing through clinical frameworks: measurable outcomes, treatment protocols, symptom resolution. But what I saw and felt in 碍补苍别丑蝉补迟脿:办别 broadened this definition. Ceremony, silence, and storytelling offered forms of healing that our health system often overlooks.鈥�
The professors themselves appreciated Doyle鈥檚 active participation in the course. As noted by Wanda Gabriel, Kanien始keh谩:ka from 碍补苍别丑蝉补迟脿:办别 and Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work, 鈥淗aving nurses as part of the IDFC course brings an additional richness to the class process. They bring not only clinical knowledge, but also a deep sensitivity to patient care, communication, and teamwork. What nursing students take away from this course is equally powerful: the opportunity to see their practice within a broader system, shaped by law, social work, medicine, and Indigenous worldviews.鈥�
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As this is an intensive summer course it only timetables for MScA Advanced Nursing Students. Due to the limited number of spaces reserved for nursing students, interested students should contact Jodi Tuck, Program Director, MSc(A) 鈥� Advanced Nursing jodi.tuck [at] mcgill.ca () or Jos茅e Lavall茅e, Director, Office of Social Accountability in Nursing, josee.lavallee [at] mcgill.ca () as soon as possible. Note that Indigenous Student receive priority to take the course.
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