FNHA Overdose Action Plan
TRC Call to Action 19
19. We call upon the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal peoples, to establish measurable goals to identify and close the gaps in health outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities, and to publish annual progress reports and assess long- term trends. Such efforts would focus on indicators such as: infant mortality, maternal health, suicide, mental health, addictions, life expectancy, birth rates, infant and child health issues, chronic diseases, illness and injury incidence, and the availability of appropriate health services.
TRC Call to Action #19.
Harm Reduction Organizations
- The Indigenous Harm Reduction Team (IHRT)Based on Lkwungen, Esquimalt, and WSANEC territories.
- The Indigenous Harm Reduction Team (IHRT)Based in Barrie, Ontario.
- Drug User Liberation Front (DULF)Downtown East Side, Vancouver
Indigenous Peoples & Substance Use
Canada’s drug overdose crisis disproportionately affects Indigenous Peoples differently owing to a legacy of colonialism, racism and intergenerational trauma.
Disaggregated data on Indigenous people are needed to understand more clearly how Indigenous Peoples are affected by drug overdoses.
Indigenizing harm reduction and addiction treatment must involve integrating cultural and traditional Indigenous values that align with the principles of harm reduction.
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples must include ending the war on drugs to address underlying structural conditions that produce drug-related harms, including overdose.
From Reconciliation and Canada’s overdose crisis: responding to the needs of Indigenous Peoples (2018).
Books & Articles
Walking with indigenous philosophy: justice and addiction recovery by Call Number: SC H35 W35 2019ISBN: 9781926476247Publication Date: 2019This third edition continues to advocate a model of restorative justice, saturated throughout by an Indigenous philosophy of holism and healing through inclusion and education, when working with those upon the margins, in order to appreciate and honour the whole person. The voices of Cree elders indigenous to northern Manitoba, Indigenous Justice Workers, two American Indians (Cajete and Vest), one First Nation (Hansen), one addiction counselling professional (Charlton) and both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in recovery are heard.
Journey to healing: Aboriginal people with addiction and mental health issues : what health, social service and justice workers need to know by Call Number: SA M46 J68 2014ISBN: 9781771141598Publication Date: 2014Journey to Healing is a comprehensive and practical evidence-based resource. It was written to help prepare students and professionals to provide counselling and social services to Aboriginal people with mental health and addiction issues in urban, rural and isolated settings.
- Reconciliation and Canada’s overdose crisis: responding to the needs of Indigenous PeoplesJennifer Lavalley MSW, Shelda Kastor, Jenna Valleriani PhD, Ryan McNeil PhD (2018).
- “We’ve Been Researched to Death”: Exploring the Research Experiences of Urban Indigenous Peoples in Vancouver, Canadaby Goodman et. al. (2018).
The research this article describes was undertaken by a community organization led by Indigenous Peoples who use illicit substances. Community researchers facilitated talking circles to explore the research experiences of peers living in a highly-researched inner-city neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada. - Social Suffering: Indigenous Peoples' Experiences of Accessing Mental Health and Substance Use Services2023. In this paper, we present findings from a qualitative study that explored Indigenous people's experiences of mental health and addictions care in the context of an inner-city area in Western Canada.
- A Legacy of Harm: Punitive Drug Policies and Women's Carceral Experiences in CanadaThere is limited research on the gendered impacts of drug policies in Canada, despite the fact that women, Indigenous women in particular, are the country's fastest growing prisoner population, with many incarcerated for drug-related crimes. We consider the lack of adequate and culturally-relevant substance use and harm reduction programming in federal prisons
- Disconnected perspectives: Patient and care provider's experiences of substance use in pregnancyFront‐line care providers and Indigenous women with lived experience of substance use during pregnancy differ markedly in their perceptions of maternity care.
- Intergenerational residential school attendance and increased substance use among First Nation adults living off-reserve: An analysis of the aboriginal peoples survey 2017Toombs et. al. (2023). These findings provide additional support for how both parental and two-generation family histories of Residential School Attendance are associated with individual physical and mental health outcomes.
- Competencies for Canada’s Substance Abuse Workforce: Competencies Guide to Working with First Nations ClientsThis document presents competencies for substance abuse workers that reflect cultural principles derived from Indigenous knowledge and worldviews and assists them in responding effectively to First Nations clients who request a culturally sensitive setting.
Harm reduction
Harm reduction for substance use is an approach to keep people who use substances safer, whether or not they continue to use substances.
Indigenous harm reduction means undoing the harms of colonialism, which place Indigenous people – First Nations, Métis and Inuit – at higher risk of harmful substance use. This means a decolonized, Indigenized approach to harm reduction that re-connects people to culture, and rebuilds relationships with the interconnected spiritual, human and natural worlds.
From First Nations Health Authority, "Indigenous Harm Reduction."
- Putting Indigenous Harm Reduction to Work: Developing and Evaluating “Not Just Naloxone”by Medley, Andrea; Levine, Sarah; Norton, Alexa (2021).
- Indigenous Harm Reduction = Reducing the Harms of Colonialism: A policy briefThe purpose of this policy brief is to outline Indigenous approaches to harm reduction.
Podcasts
- Crackdown Podcast Episode 12: Love in a State of EmergencyYou can’t understand Canada’s overdose crisis without knowing the truth about this country – and that’s the story of colonization: a centuries-long effort to steal land and erase Indigenous peoples.
You can also find this podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.