Kathleen McMullin is a member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and a Cree traditionalist. She is currently an Indigenous Academic Advisor for the University of Saskatchewan Community of Aboriginal Nurses (UCAN) and lives in Prince Albert.
“I hold a BEd and MEd from the University of Saskatchewan and am currently doing data analysis for my PhD in Health Sciences, College of Medicine. I have interviewed Elders of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band on their lives from the 1940s to present. Their stories capture how Woodland Cree families create(d) reflections of themselves in their children and the interplay of home. Participants speak the language of possibility in co-creating healthy families and communities.
I have worked in a university environment in various capacities since 1990 when I started as a sessional lecturer for the Department of Native Studies at USask. I worked for twelve years with the First Nations University of Canada in Program Planning, Development, Program Coordination, Research and Lecturing. I was Project Coordinator with the Determinants of Tuberculosis Transmission Project at the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, USask and Research Manager for theTuberculosis Education in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Youth: An Historical, Socio-cultural and Public Health Promotional Curriculum Project. I was also employed as Research Assistant with the Saskatchewan First Nations Respiratory Health Project at USask, and part time with the Cardiac, Vascular, and Cognitive Dysfunction Cohort Alliance (McMaster University). Additionally, I was the Community Engagement Advisor for the CIHR Project Scheme grant: Recurrent Tuberculosis in Canada – translating whole genome sequencing insights into best public health practice (Queen’s University).
I have been in my current position for fourteen months. Although UCAN has a special focus on supporting Indigenous students in the College of Nursing, my duties include all students attending the Prince Albert Campus, Ile a la Crosse, La Ronge, Lloydminster, Yorkton and Regina campuses. Among the five sites there are 486 students. We have the highest number of self-declared Indigenous students in Canada. There is also a UCAN Academic Advisor in Saskatoon. Although I do not have a Nursing background, I believe my experience in health research and community engagement prepared me for the duties of this position. As a Cree Knowledge Keeper, I have done Land Acknowledgement in Prayers and opening remarks. We have a Gathering Space here at the PA Campus for Ceremonial purposes and meeting with Elders. I host monthly Sage Smudging Ceremonies and am available to students anytime they want to smudge or talk. In addition to cultural supports, I have applied the importance of Indigenous knowledge and history to the Nursing program. As a third generation residential school survivor, I am a resource person regarding intergenerational trauma and I help bring forth some of the 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action.
I am very proud to be working for the UCAN unit of the College of Nursing because it actualizes the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Calls to Action pertaining to increasing the number of Indigenous Peoples working in the health care field. The College of Nursing also ensures ‘the retention of Aboriginal health care providers in Aboriginal communities’ by offering distributed learning sites such as La Ronge and Ile a la Crosse.
The staff and students have access to ample opportunities for cultural competency training and I was able to partake in an intensive course on Anti-racist Education last winter. All students in their pre-professional year are required to take Indigenous Studies which follows another one of the TRC’s recommendations. In essence, the TRC asks that we build positive relationships among us.
Building positive relationships in our work as UCAN advisors begins right from the recruitment stage when we visit various communities at their Career Fairs to the final stage of graduation ceremonies both on campus and at local sites. We also disseminate scholarship/bursary and conference information to all students including some that are Indigenous specific facilitated through the Indigenous Research Chair in Nursing. Part of my job is to help select students for awards, scholarships, and professional development activities.
However, the experiences of Indigenous students sometimes come with challenges and barriers. While UCAN celebrates the strengths of its students, there are times or circumstances that call for referrals and supports to child care, housing and emergency loans. Many are coming in as mature students with children and have access to tutoring in various classes. Equity seats equivalent to 16.5% are set aside for Indigenous students and these students in turn are role models to their community members.
I came in as a mature student and had only a grade eight education prior to getting a grade ten upgrading course. I then applied for the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher’s Education Program which I quit after one month of studies because I did not know how to write an essay. I had counsellors and professors who encouraged me and gave me all kinds of academic supports so that I earned my first degree with Great Distinction when I graduated in 1988. I loved writing so much that I embarked on a Master’s Degree in Education and graduated from that in 1995. Part of why I love my job is because I can pass the encouragement that was granted to me on to a new generation of students. I believe my Grandparents have influenced me in the work I do here. Both my Grandparents were Medicine People and I admired the care and compassion my family received as my son was being treated for cancer. It is gratifying to be working with students and nursing staff who are so committed to the well- being of people. My grandfather was a lay reader for the Anglican Church and practiced his Cree traditions as well. I feel that I am carrying on for him in my role as Knowledge Keeper for UCAN.
What motivates me in giving my best energy to this position is partly because it is housed at the University of Saskatchewan. I grew up academically in this institution from a place of fear to a place where I am now a PhD candidate. It is a beautiful space and I feel proud to be walking these halls no longer with trepidation, but as a mentor to other students with humble beginnings. As an ASPA member, I feel yet another level of support as I have been able to enjoy the Wicihitowin Indigenous Engagement Conference just recently. The theme was Bearing Witness, and I am so happy to be bearing witness to the success of the University of Saskatchewan Community of Aboriginal Nurses.”