Voices from the Field
Welcome to Voices from the Field, a podcast series produced by the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH), which focuses on innovative research and community-based initiatives promoting the health and well-being of First Nation, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada.
Episode 31 – Decarceration and health: Breaking down bars for systemic change – Part 1: Elder John Bigstone
Description
Decarceration and health: Breaking down bars for systemic change, is a mini-series within Voices from the Field. It builds off the NCCIH report, Barred: Over-incarceration of Indigenous people in Canada’s criminal legal system, the health implications, and opportunities for decarceration. The report informs the public health crisis pertaining to the over-incarceration of First Nations people, Inuit, and Métis people in Canada’s criminal legal system and explores avenues to decarceration through community-based justice alternatives, including diversion programs, Indigenous courts, and Indigenous-led healing lodges. Over-incarceration has both immediate and far-reaching negative health impacts and is a determinant of health. This mini-series hears from experts in the field about the realities and impact of community-based justice alternatives, their connection to health, and what is needed to affect and inspire systemic change and address the current injustices reflected in the over-incarceration of Indigenous people across the country.
Decarceration and health: Breaking down bars for systemic change – Part 1: Elder John Bigstone. In this episode, we learn about the
Bigstone Cree Nation Restorative Justice Program on Treaties 6 and 8 in Northern Alberta. We interviewed Elder John Bigstone who has been a part of the program and the lead Elder since its inception in 1990.
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Download a transcript of the podcast (PDF)
Bios
John Bigstone (osow kihew ᐅᓱᐤ ᑭᐦᐁᐤ) is a Cree Elder who resides in Wabasca, a community situated in the North-Eastern region of Alberta. He speaks the Cree and English languages fluently and is a member of the Bigstone Cree Nation. His Cree ancestry has many generations of leaders and ceremonial holders. Following the legacy of his proud heritage, John is also a traditional knowledge keeper and ceremonial holder.
John is a member and the lead Elder of the Bigstone Cree Nation Restorative Justice Program. The program has been successfully running since 1990, starting out as a youth committee.
John’s professional background includes a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Regina, Saskatchewan. He was instrumental in the development and management of the Mental Health Program for the Bigstone Cree Nation. He was a mental health counsellor for many years and has a background in individual, family, and group counselling. He has spent many years training as a healing & wellness workshop facilitator and has extensive experience working within First Nations Communities. John is also a Reiki Master practicing the art of energy healing.
John is a Residential School Survivor. At the age of six, he entered the St. Martin Residential School where he was a resident for the next seven years. While in this institution, he was mentally, physically, and emotionally abused. Following the trauma of this experience, he led a life of self-destructive behaviour.
Thirty years ago, John went on a quest to find his Woodland Cree identity. His search led him back to his traditional Cree land teachings and ceremonies. As he began to heal his childhood emotional wounds and traumas, he learned about his place in creation and the sacredness of all life. John is passionate about his teachings and cares deeply about mother earth and all that dwells upon her. He walks his life journey based on the spiritual principles of love, kindness, compassion, respect, humility, and courage. The teachings that he shares reflect this philosophy.
Andrea Menard – I am a Métis individual associated with the Otipemisiwak Métis Government and work on Treaty 6 lands in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton). Originally, my family hailed from the now-dissolved Red River Settlement within Treaty 1 territory. Our Métis lineage bears the surnames Bruneau, Carrière, and Larocque.
I am humbled to have been recognized as one of the Top 5 Most Influential Lawyers of 2023 by CIO Times and as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers of 2022 by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. These accolades reflect my deep commitment to partnering with Indigenous nations across Treaties 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10, including collaborations with the Otipemisiwak Métis Government.
My personal journey as a Métis individual informs my ambition to reform academic and legal workplace policies through the inclusion of Indigenous laws, enriched by my PhD studies in Social Dominance Theory and Legal Pluralism at Royal Roads University in the Doctor of Social Sciences program.
As a sessional law instructor at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law and at Osgoode Hall Law School, I develop and teach innovative courses such as “Reconciliation and Lawyers” (LAW 693) and “In Search of Reconciliation Through Dispute Resolution” (ALDR 6305). In addition, I serve as the Lead Educational Developer for Indigenizing Curricula and Pedagogies at the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Alberta.
Denise Webb is a Research Associate with the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health. Denise holds a Master of Science in Health Services Research, with an emphasis in health policy and specialization in Indigenous health, from the Institute of Health Policy, Management, & Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the intersection and relation between health policy and First Nations, Inuit, Métis public health. Denise is of Irish and Scottish settler ancestry and is an aspiring ally, working toward informing the decolonization of health systems and policy research.