The family of an Indigenous man whose wife found his hair braids missing when she went to visit him at an Edmonton hospital is calling for changes to improve the care received by Indigenous people in Canada’s health-care system.
“We’re often just looked at in a demeaning manner when accessing health care,” Kathleen Crowe told reporters at a news conference arranged by the Alberta NDP in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Crowe spoke about her late uncle Dexter Adams having his braids removed, saying his wife Eve was too upset to speak about it.
Brooks Arcand-Paul, Alberta’s Opposition critic for Indigenous relations, said the family told him that on May 6, Eve went to visit Dexter at the Royal Alexandra Hospital where Dexter had been staying since March, as she did regularly while he was staying there.
“Upon entering his room, she was horrified to see that her husband’s braids had been cut off and thrown in the garbage without his family’s knowledge or consent,” he said. “Braids are deeply significant in Indigenous culture, and for many it represents identity and spirituality. It is seen as a source of a person’s strength. It is core to their identity, spirit and connection to Creator.
“In the residential school era and day school era, braids were forbidden. In Dexter’s family, hair is seldom cut other than when grieving the loss of a loved one.”
Crowe said her uncle was a day school survivor and that because it was not culturally safe to have long hair while he was in day school, he decided to grow his hair out when he became older.
“It was the essence of his spirit,” she said of his braids. “It was who he was and to have that cut off, it was a huge change in him.”
Crowe said Dexter was an 84-year-old man from Pasqua First Nation. She said he had been in the hospital since March and was awaiting a transfer to a long-term care facility after being deemed a “high fall risk.” He also had dementia.
Crowe said in addition to her uncle’s braids being missing, so too were an eagle feather he had and his bear grease, a form of Indigenous medicine. She said the braids were found in a garbage can and that the other items never reappeared.
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Crowe said she believes the hospital’s response was inadequate. She said no explanation was ever given for how the braids or other items went missing and that while a senior staff member interviewed the family about their ordeal after, they did not follow up.
“(They) just asked questions and that’s it,” she said.
Global News reached out to Alberta Health Services and the offices of Health Minister Adriana LaGrange for comment on what happened.
In response, AHS issued a statement calling the incident “deeply regrettable” and one that “should never have happened.”
AHS said its staff met with Dexter and his family and apologized for “distress caused,” a claim Crowe and her family dispute.
“My aunt never received an apology from the hospital,” she said. “Basically, we felt that their actions were more just to protect themselves.”
While AHS did not explain how or why the braids were removed, it said the organization has taken steps to address the incident.
“Recognizing the deep spiritual connection many Indigenous peoples have to their hair, AHS is committed to ensuring staff understand its significance,” the health authority said. “Following this incident, three in-person sessions on the cultural significance of hair for Indigenous peoples were held at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, open to all staff, physicians, midwives, students and volunteers. An online resource highlighting the importance of hair to many Indigenous peoples was also added to the internal AHS website.
“Mandatory Indigenous awareness training continues to support efforts to foster compassion, respect and inclusiveness while advancing culturally safe care. AHS is continually working to improve its system and remains dedicated to building stronger relationships with Indigenous communities while ensuring accessible, culturally appropriate health care across Alberta.”
In an emailed statement, LaGrange said she is “extremely concerned to hear details of this incident.”
“Whether this situation was a result or discrimination or ignorance — neither is appropriate and it is situations like this that cause Indigenous people to feel unwelcome in our health-care system,” the email read in part. “I am committed to removing barriers, and working in partnership with Indigenous communities to ensure respectful, high-quality, timely and culturally appropriate care is always received.
“To support this important work, Alberta Health created a new Indigenous Health division last year to elevate and focus on health care equity for Indigenous peoples in the province. This is the first time in the ministry’s history that such a division has existed.
“Alberta’s government, in partnership with the Office of the Alberta Health Advocates, is continuing to take action to deepen cultural understanding and address discrimination in the health-care system and has hired an Indigenous patient safety investigator and advocate to prioritize this work. More information on this new position will be announced in the coming days.”
“The cutting of my uncle’s hair caused all of us great emotional and spiritual harm,” Crowe said. “It also evoked past cultural trauma that my uncle and his family and community experienced throughout their lives.
“This should not have happened. My uncle deserved better. Indigenous people deserve better.”
According to Crowe, within weeks of his braids being removed, her uncle was moved to a long-term care facility where he later died.
Crowe said her family always wanted to speak out publicly about what happened but never felt it had the support to do so until they got in contact with Arcand-Paul.
“(He) not only listened but took action,” Crowe said in a statement, adding her family is hopeful that Bill 209, Arcand-Paul’s private member’s bill which was introduced in the legislature last month, becomes law.
The bill calls for Alberta to advance reconciliation efforts by requiring the provincial government to consider reconciliation when adopting new programs or services.
“Our family strongly supports Bill 209,” Crowe said. “Our family’s hope is that cultural competency for nurses as outlined in the TRC’s (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada) Call to Action 24 will be implemented in Alberta hospitals and health-care settings. This was wrong and it shouldn’t have happened.”
Call to Action 24 says that medical and nursing schools in Canada should require all students to take a course dealing with Indigenous health issues, “including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, and Indigenous teachings and practices.”
Crowe and her family were accompanied at Tuesday’s news conference by Dianne Lafond, a health ombudsperson hired by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations to look into discrimination and other challenges facing Indigenous people when they access health services.
“The family came to us for support and an investigation,” she said of Dexter’s family, adding that in the past year, she has accumulated over 300 files in her work in Saskatchewan alone. “It’s quite a large number.
“We’re seeing the cultural awareness happening here, … Really acknowledging the pain and what the family’s endured and gone through — it’s comparable to Saskatchewan.”
Crowe said she would like to see an ombudsperson role in Alberta specifically to address issues Indigenous people face when accessing the health-care system.
“My uncle was everybody’s favourite uncle in our family,” she said as she spoke about what happened to him in hospital. “He has been like my father. … He is just a really special man.”
–with files from Morgan Black, Global News
