Vision
Our vision is to improve the health and wellness of all people.
Values
With humility, the faculty and staff within our program work to impact wisdom and knowledge through curriculum design and research, recognizing that we too are lifelong learners. We work, research, teach, and advise with integrity, leading by example, and support students on their educational journey. Students experience personal and professional growth as they are respected as colleagues in Indigenous Health while also being shown compassion as they establish their place as Scholars.
We humbly encourage integrity to build long lasting relationships. We represent integrity
through our department through a holistic approach to education and strive to improve
the program as we grow. The Department of Indigenous Health utilize resources and
wisdom keepers who are experts to help bring awareness to truth, knowledge, and experiences.
We honor the ways that Indigenous people live and experience wellness. We strive to
hear the voices of each participant and follow through on initiatives and hold ourselves
to a high academic standard. We strive to represent integrity to self, community,
and the profession.
Individuals recognize our own limitations. We also recognize we cannot be successful
in this space alone. We are working with and serving Indigenous communities. Our
department values humility by deferring to the experience and expertise of lived,
individualized, and collective knowledge. An important trait in The Indigenous Health
Department is to stay humble to learning, unlearning, and relearning.
Our faculty and staff recognize there is more to life than coursework, research, and
this program. We want well-rounded students in this program, so we approach our work
with flexibility to allow students to have well-rounded lives. We have empathy for
our students, colleagues, and community members. We understand the role of historical
and unresolved trauma on Indigenous well-being. The Department of Indigenous Health
strives to meet the needs of others - students, faculty, and community - by cultivating
a culture of health.
We believe in being respectful and compassionate servants to our students, educational
community, and stakeholders. We demonstrate respect by listening and allowing space
for various ways of knowing. Our department strives to value diverse experiences,
viewpoints, and knowledge systems. We honor respect through dialogue, helping and
networking. The Indigenous Health Department acknowledges our families and communities
by creating ties beyond ourselves and by welcoming each other in. We allow time and
discussion to better understand goals and professional development. We also provide
talking circle experiences to acknowledge the need to support individuals and group
experiences.
We foster an environment that strengthens and cultivates Indigenous Wisdom. The Indigenous
Health Department values wisdom by preserving, refining, and passing Indigenous wisdom
to the current and next generation. We work to make sound decisions in coursework,
research, advising with respect to the combined experience, knowledge and judgment
of faculty, staff, and students. Wise practices are informed by a review of literature
on best practices and incorporate local knowledge, skills, and culture into program
development, implementation, and evaluation.