Member reflects on Indigenous Nurses Day

The following was submitted by ONA member Ursula Cote,  BScN, RN, CNeoN(C), who is a member of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg.

A date that has recently changed to honour the first Indigenous registered nurse in Canada. Someone who persevered to pave a path forward for those just like her. People who are handed the feelings of others just by being born.

Indigenous people in Canada may have the right to vote, to buy property, to live off of a reservation and still hold their government status now, but had to fight for everything along the way. We grow up with several feelings being placed on us no matter which space we occupy. Feelings of hate from some, feelings of sympathy from others. Then there are our own feelings of frustration when needing to provide rationale for all the ways we might not fit a stereotype. 

However, days that honour our ancestors can often elicit other feelings. Feelings of pride and admiration for those who walked before us. Feelings of love for our people and the communities we call home. Feelings of hope. Hope for progress in reducing systemic barriers. Hope for health equity. Hope for a future without the impacts of colonialism. 

Ancestors like Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture renew our hope. We must also have faith in each other and in the next generations that we can continue to build a future with less harm for our people and for all equity deserving people.

Through celebrating progress, we can continue to fuel the fires within us to persevere in spaces that don't feel welcoming. By living and working as Indigenous professionals in the health-care field now, we’re making it easier for youth to see themselves as Indigenous nurses and health-care professionals.

This is why representation matters, and why moving this date to celebrate someone who fought to be a nurse might give us the courage we need to continue to work in a system with racism and prejudice in its veins.

Like any infection, we can be the antibiotics (or Auntie-biotics) to work on fighting it, but we also need help from the rest of the body if we ever want to heal.