UBC Faculty of Medicine Response to the TRC Calls to Action Launch

Elder Larry Grant

Larry Grant, Musqueam Elder, was born and raised in Musqueam traditional territory by a traditional hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking Musqueam family. After 4 decades as a tradesman, Larry enrolled in the First Nations Languages Program, which awoke his memory of the embedded value that the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language has to self-identity, kinship, culture, territory, and history prior to European contact. He is presently assisting in revitalizing hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ in the Musqueam Language and Culture Department, and co-teaching the introductory hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ course through UBC.

Larry is the Elder-in-Residence at UBC’s First Nations House of Learning. He is a Faculty Fellow at St. John’s College, and the inaugural Honorary Life Fellow for Green College. In 2010, he received the Alumni Award of Distinction from Vancouver Community College, and in 2014, he became an Honorary Graduate from the Indigenous Teacher Education Program (NITEP) at UBC. Elder Grant is also the 2019 recipient of the Presidents Medal of Excellence for Services to Community and UBC.

Elder Wilfred ‘Grouse’ Barnes and Elder Pamela Barnes

Elder Wilfred ‘Grouse’ Barnes, Westbank First Nation; Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Social Development, School of Nursing, UBC Okanagan

Elder Pamela Barnes, Westbank First Nation; Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Social Development, School of Nursing, UBC Okanagan

Dr. Michael Dumont

Michael is an Anishinaabe family physician from Shawanaga First Nation (Marten Clan), and also carries mixed European ancestry. He is honoured to make his home on unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territory. Michael graduated from UBC Medicine in 2012, and his keen interest is realizing the integration of Traditional Indigenous and Western Medical approaches in healthcare. He serves as the Medical Director at Lu’ma Medical Centre, an innovative primary care centre providing culturally integrated healthcare to Indigenous families in Vancouver. He also practices family medicine at Musqueam Primary Care Clinic in partnership with the Musqueam Indian Band. Michael serves as a Clinical Instructor in UBC’s Faculty of Medicine and as a Clinical Preceptor in the UBC Indigenous Family Medicine Residency program. He is also a spokesperson for the First Nations and Aboriginal Primary Care Network.

Professor Santa Ono

Santa Ono is the 15th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia.

He also serves as Chair of the U15 Group of Universities, on the Board of Directors of Universities Canada, and as Past Chair of Research Universities of British Columbia. In 2018, he served as co-chair of the Tri-council advisory committee on equity, diversity and inclusion policy.

Prior to his appointment as President and Vice-Chancellor of UBC, Dr. Ono served as the 28th President of the University of Cincinnati and Senior Vice-Provost and Deputy to the Provost at Emory University.

A molecular immunologist educated at the University of Chicago and McGill, Dr. Ono has taught at Johns Hopkins, Harvard University and University College London.

He holds Honorary Doctorates from Chiba University and the Vancouver School of Theology and is a recipient of the Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award from the American Council on Education, the Professional Achievement Award from University of Chicago, a Grand Challenges Hero Award from UCLA and the NAAAP 100 Award from the National Association of Asian American Professionals.

Professor Lesley Cormack

Professor Lesley Cormack is Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UBC’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, BC.

Professor Cormack joined UBC in July 2020 from the University of Alberta where she served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 2010 to 2020. Her achievements as Dean included increasing Indigenous student enrolment by 100 percent and hiring 14 new Indigenous faculty members; enhancing support for research, particularly interdisciplinary research; and supporting experiential learning, including by initiating a work experience program for Arts students.

Previously, Professor Cormack was Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at Simon Fraser University from 2007 to 2010 and, earlier, taught at the University of Alberta in the Department of History and Classics for 17 years.

An historian of early modern science, Professor Cormack specializes in geography and mathematics of 16th century England. She earned both her PhD and Master of Arts from the University of Toronto where she studied history and philosophy of science and technology.

Professor Cormack has a passion for theatre and served as a Director for the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton for nine years. Her volunteer service also includes chairing the University of Alberta United Way campaign, serving as president of the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science, and work with the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science.

Sheryl Lightfoot

Sheryl Lightfoot is Anishinaabe, a citizen of the Lake Superior Band of Ojibwe. She is the North American Representative to the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada Research Chair in Global Indigenous Rights and Politics and Associate Professor in Political Science, the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Indigenous Studies. She is also Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Affairs and is leading the implementation of the 2020 Indigenous Strategic Plan across UBC.

As one of the world’s experts in global Indigenous politics, Sheryl’s research specializes in complex questions of Indigenous peoples’ rights and how those rights are being claimed and negotiated. Her work explores both practical and theoretical aspects of implementation of Indigenous rights globally as well as in domestic contexts. She is the author of Global Indigenous Politics: A Subtle Revolution as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters.

She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Minnesota as well as a master’s degree from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. Prior to her academic career, she had fifteen years’ volunteer and contract experience with a number of American Indian tribes and community-based organizations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, including nine years as Chair of the Board of the American Indian Policy Center, a research and advocacy group.

Dr. Rebekah Eatmon

Dr. Rebekah Eatmon, BHK MD CCFP is an Indigenous Family Physician serving both urban and rural Indigenous peoples. She is Tsimshian from Lax Kw’alaams, from the Raven Clan on her father’s side and Métis on her mother’s side. She works for Lu’ma Medical Centre in Vancouver, as well as Carrier Sekani Family Services in Northern BC, where she is proud to deliver culturally safe care to her patients. She is a recent graduate of the Indigenous Family Medicine program, where she was a successful resident in multiple leadership positions. She won the BCCFP Resident Leadership Award as well as the CCFP Indigenous Family Medicine Resident Award in 2020. She enjoys helping to implement TRC recommendations at a University level. At present she is an Indigenous Advisor at the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health at UBC, helping to expand cultural safety training and support at UBC.

Dr. Nadine Caron

Dr. Nadine Caron is a member of the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation. She is a practising surgical oncologist in northern British Columbia where she provides cancer screening, diagnosis and surgical care for individuals in rural, remote, and northern BC – a large percentage of whom are Indigenous.

Dr. Caron is the sole Indigenous physician within BC Cancer, the only Indigenous academic faculty member within the University of BC’s Faculty of Medicine, a Professor at UBC Northern Medical Program and Department of Surgery as well as a Senior Scientist at Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer.

Dr. Caron is the inaugural First Nations Health Authority Chair in Cancer and Wellness at the University of British Columbia. She is also a founding co-Director of the UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health and Consultant in development of BC’s first-ever Indigenous Cancer Strategy to improve Indigenous cancer outcomes and experiences in BC. “Improving Indigenous Cancer Journeys: A Road Map”.

Dr. Caron currently leads the development of the Northern Biobank Initiative, including a First Nations-governed and controlled biobank in partnership with the FNHA that aims to provide safe access to cancer research for First Nations people in Northern BC. She is also co-Lead investigator on the Silent Genomes project which aims to address the genomic divide by reducing access barriers to diagnosis of genetic disease in Indigenous children and facilitating a governance framework to inform policy in fields of data sovereignty, genomic research, Indigenous research processes, among others.

Dr. Terri Aldred

Dr. Terri Aldred is Carrier from the Tl’Azt’En Nation located north of Fort St. James. Dr. Aldred has a Bachelor of Health Science Degree and a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Alberta. In 2013 she completed her residency in the UBC Indigenous Family Medicine Program in Victoria. At present, Dr. Aldred is the Medical Director for Primary Care for FNHA, the Site Director for the Indigenous Family Medicine Program, Family Physician for Carrier Sekani Family Services, the Indigenous Lead for the RCcBC. In 2018 she won the First Five Years in Practice Achievement award through the BCCFP. She is passionate about Indigenous health, physician well-being, and medical education. Sna Chaylia.

James Andrew

James Andrew is from the Lil’wat Nation’s Mount Currie Band. Mount Currie is located just north of Whistler, and near Pemberton, BC. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Life Sciences at the University of British Columbia in 1996, and completed his Master of Sciences at the University of Sydney, Australia in 2005. He has been with the University of British Columbia for over 25 years. Twenty of those years has been with the Faculty of Medicine as the Indigenous Student Initiatives Manager where his role is to recruit and support the Indigenous medical students.

Celine Hounjet

Celine Hounjet is Métis on her father’s side and Norwegian and mixed European on her mother’s side. She was born and raised in rural Saskatchewan before moving to Vancouver to pursue a degree in Behavioural Neuroscience. She is currently in her third year of medical school in the Vancouver Fraser Medical Program at UBC.

She is a co-lead on a national TRC research project for the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada and has also contributed to research in the fields of neuroscience, paediatric neuro-oncology, neurosurgery, geriatric medicine, and public health.

The Honourable Steven Point (xwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl)

The Honourable Steven Point (xwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl) is a double alumnus of UBC and has retained close ties with the University since receiving his Bachelor of Laws in 1985. Chancellor Point served as director of the First Nations Legal Studies program at the Peter A. Allard School of Law from 1991 to 1994. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2013 for his exceptional commitment in the field of law, legal and Aboriginal education, and his leadership in the Indigenous community.

In addition to his role as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Point’s career includes practicing as a lawyer, working at the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs and in the Department of Employment & Immigration, serving as a provincial court judge and the Chief Commissioner of the British Columbia Treaty Commission.

Chancellor Point is a member of the Skowkale First Nation and has advocated for Indigenous peoples throughout his career, pressing for greater recognition of their contributions and their fuller involvement in all aspects of life in British Columbia.

Chancellor Point is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals, the Order of British Columbia, the Joseph H. Cohen Award from the Justice Institute of British Columbia Foundation, a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Order of Chilliwack, and honorary Doctorate of Laws degrees from UBC, the University of Victoria, the University of the Fraser Valley, and Capilano University.