Oki! Tansi! Tawnshi!

The Indigenous Advisory Board was created to guide the FoodRx project  to ensure Indigenous ways of knowing, relevance, and safety are integrated into this complex intervention design. The group has been named by the guiding Elders of this board in Cree, Blackfoot and English, Wahkohmakanahk (Cree), Niiksokowaaks (Blackfoot), All My Relations (English).
The meaning behind our logo: Taking a decolonized perspective, the foods represented in the logo elevate North American or Turtle Island traditional fresh foods (wild meat + fish, different berries, beans, corn, and nuts). The flowers represent multiple things:
  1. Fresh foods from the ground before they mature start with a bloom.
  2. The Alberta wild rose is nutritious and has meaning to all of us on Treaty 6,7, & 8. It was used as a visual, pointing out a common thread amongst the members, when the group first started gathering.
  3. Budding friendships/relationships we have developed amongst AMR members (including research team members) over the past three years.
  4. Celebrating new meanings for healthcare including food is health care too.
When you create relations, you set up
boundaries and laws in the responsibilities
you have to each other. When you leave
your house, you represent your family.
Mosom Rick Lightning
 
It makes me feel honored that we have
this name for this group.
Elder Jackie Bromley

Rick Lightning 

Role: ​Wahkohmakanahk Elder Advisor

Background: Rick Lightning is an Elder, cultural leader, and previous member of Chief & Council for Ermineskin Cree Nation. He worked for 10 years as a mental health therapist in his home community, and has worked for 25 years with the United Nations. Currently he works as an Elder in residence for the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta, and is a
core member of the Maskwacis Maternal, Child & Family Wellbeing Research Group. He also manages and operates Lightning Camp and Associates, focusing on grief recovery, suicide prevention, mediation, Native awareness, staff development, and public speaking, among other ventures.
 
Fun fact: Mosom (Grandfather) Rick proudly has 37 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. He also is proud to share that his wife, Inez, recently completed her Master’s postgraduate degree in history.

Jackie Bromley 

Role: Niiksokowaaks Elder Advisor

Background: Born in Cardston, Alberta, Treaty 7, Elder Jackie Bromley is a member of the Kainai First Nation, Blackfoot confederacy. Elder Jackie was raised in a Traditional way by her grandparents and community.

​Currently, Elder Jackie supports the Awo Taan Healing Lodge Society as a Rural Community Support Worker and Cultural Advisor that provides a Traditional holistic spiritual approach to support Indigenous women and their children in their healing journey. This includes the teaching of the Medicine Wheel, the Seven Sacred Teachings, participating in ceremony, such as smudging and healing circles, and providing Elder support and counseling. 

Elder Jackie currently sits on many advisory boards and committees including the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta, the Calgary Board of Education, and Calgary Police Services. She has also supported population health initiatives, working directly with Indigenous people managing diabetes as an Indigenous Health Advocate and facilitator of education workshops. Elder Jackie was honored with the Arthur Smith Award with the Calgary Homeless Foundation (2017) and the Esquao Award through the Institute of Advancement of Indigenous Women (2018).

Fun fact: Elder Jackie has four of her own children, seven grandchildren, one great grandchild, along with countless others who call her grandmother, including all of her nieces and nephew’s grandchildren and many of the children of those women who access the Awo Taan Healing Lodge. 

Dr. Richard Oster 

Role: All My Relations Co-Facilitator and Co-Investigator of FoodRx

​Background: Richard's ceremonial name is Wâpastim (White Horse), and he comes from mixed European descent. Richard was born, and continues to live in Edmonton, Treaty Six Territory and Métis Region Four, with his fiancée and two children. Richard is the Scientific Director of the Indigenous Wellness Core of Alberta Health Services, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at both the University of Alberta and University of Calgary. Richard's research takes a strengths-based and partnership approach, building specifically on Indigenous ways of knowing and the resilience and strength within communities, as opposed to using a deficit-focused western lens which tends to dominate the field. 
 
Fun fact: Believe it or not, once upon a time Richard was the drummer of a metal band called Blacken.

Kienan Williams

Role: All My Relations Co-Facilitator and Co-Investigator of FoodRx

Background: Kienan is a member of the Sandy Lake First Nation in Ontario, with a Master’s in Public Health specializing in Public Health Policy and Management. He completed a Hons Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto. Over a span of more than 15 years, he’s worked with First Nation communities across Canada as a project manager, researcher, and analyst and more recently in AHS as an Assistant Scientific Director in Indigenous Health and currently is the Program Lead, Innovation and Research.
​
Kienan’s passion for health equity shines in his commitment to apply Truth and ReconciliACTION within Alberta Health Services. Kienan has demonstrated skills and knowledge to improve the quality of care with Indigenous people through several innovation and research initiatives as the Program Lead for Innovation and Research with the Indigenous Wellness Core.

Ann Zhang

Role: All My Relations Member

Background: Ann moved to Canada from China when she was a teenager. She graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Food Science. She is now working as a registered dietitian for Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council in Northern Alberta. 

Fun fact: I used to work at an ice cream manufacturing plant for a year and I am a self-certified ice cream tasting professional. For the same reason I as a dietitian have and will never ask my clients to not to eat ice cream. 

Britt Voaklander

Role: All My Relations Member

Background: Britt is currently a medical student at the McMaster University. Before leaving for Hamilton, Britt completed an MSc in Epidemiology at the University of Alberta and did her thesis focusing on diabetes during pregnancy among Indigenous women. Britt also previously worked as a Research and Project Coordinator at the Métis Nation of Alberta. She is a proud Métis woman who is passionate about Indigenous health, chronic disease, and the social determinants of health.
 
Fun Fact: When I have free time, I love to spoil all the dogs in my life and dream of one day having my own.