Ethical spaces and places: Indigenous cultural safety in British Columbia health care

• Published in: AlterNative : an international journal of indigenous peoples Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. 179 - 189
• Main Authors: Greenwood, Margo, Lindsay, Nicole, King, Jessie, Loewen, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2017
• Subjects: Aboriginal Australians; Colonization; Health and hygiene; Medical care; National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (NCCAH) (organisation); Social aspects; Social life and customs; British Columbia; Two-Eyed Seeing; ethical space; Indigenous knowledge; cultural safety; Indigenous health and health care
• ISSN: 1177-1801; 1174-1740
• DOI: 10.1177/1177180117714411

This article discusses transformations underway within Indigenous health in northern British Columbia and Canada. We highlight two organizations that are working to create ethical space and cultural safety at the intersections of Indigenous knowledge about health and wellness, Western medicine, and healthcare services for Indigenous peoples in Canada. The article argues that the cultural, organizational, and systemic transformations necessary to address the deep and ongoing health inequities experienced by Indigenous populations should be rooted in Indigenous knowledges and should prioritize Indigenous voices, values, and concepts. Cultural safety, ethical space, and Two-Eyed Seeing are three examples of ideas anchored in Indigenous knowledges that speak to relationships at the interface of different systems of knowledge. We offer some examples of how a public health knowledge translation centre and a regional health service delivering organization are actualizing these concepts in their work nationally and regionally in northern British Columbia, Canada.