Southern Manitoba First Nations walk to raise support for new health authority

Chantal Seenie knows the importance of physical activity and tries to be a good role model for the clients she works with.

"I notice a huge difference in myself when I'm not being active regularly," said the member of Roseau River First Nation.

"My sleep is off, my eating habits become really poor ... I'm definitely not drinking water. Even just thinking, having mental clarity is huge when you're working out regularly."

Seenie, who works as a mentor for Success Through Advocacy and Role-modelling, was one of many people in First Nations across southern Manitoba put on their shoes and wrote messages on their shirts to raise support for a plan to transform the way health care is delivered in those communities.

On her shirt, Seenie wrote the names of family members who have died.

For years, the Southern Chiefs' Organization has pushed to take more control over the delivery of health services to their people, and in June it announced it was working with the federal and Manitoba governments on the first steps toward developing its own health authority.

The organization, which represents 34 First Nations and more than 81,500 people in southern Manitoba, is working to identify what are the biggest needs of its communities.

Priorities include making mental health services available in every community and improving access to primary care, said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels, who wore a shirt with "preventable diseases" written on it.

"It's really about raising awareness about being active and encouraging our young people and all of our citizens to take action and bring health into their own hands."

Colonization — and residential schools in particular — severed First Nations people from their traditional practices, including medicine, Daniels said.

Life spans for First Nations people are currently 11 years shorter than the average Manitoban, and Sagkeeng Chief Derrick Henderson said the goal of creating a First Nations-driven health system is to close that gap.

"And I think one of the ways is basing it on our values, our traditional values … our sacred teachings," he said.

One way those teachings can be used is in the context of mental health, Daniels said.

"It's really just spending time with the environment — in our culture, much of the environment is our relatives," he said.