In conversation: A new recipe for Indigenous health and education at Queen’s

Feature Stories | 16 Jul 2025 | Read time: 5 min | Written by: QHS Staff

At Queen’s Health Sciences, something is cooking. From re-imagining health research and education to creating community-rooted spaces where Indigenous students can thrive, Dr. Sarah Funnell, Dr. Jamaica Cass, and Nathan Cheechoo are working to drive change and possibility across our faculty.

This June, during National Indigenous History Month, we brought all three together for a candid conversation about progress made and the challenges ahead. They spoke about decolonizing research, reshaping academic culture, and what gives them hope for the future of Indigenous health and education at Queen’s.

The following conversation has been edited for clarity and length. You can watch the full interview here.

What excites you most about the work happening at Queen’s right now?

Sarah Funnell (SF): Well, I’m always excited to be working with the both of you, Jamaica and Nathan. When we work as a team, we can take the work we’re all doing nationally, like through the National Circle for Indigenous Medical Education or the various national bodies like the College of Family Physicians of Canada or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and bring it home to Queen’s. All that knowledge that we've collected across our medical matriarchy, we can bring those ideas to life for our students, faculty, and leaders, and make this a place of true belonging for Indigenous learners.

Jamaica Cass (JC): I think it's really powerful that we have plural Indigenous leadership within the Faculty of Health Sciences. In a lot of colonial institutions, that kind of work is siloed. But we work collaboratively, and that benefits our learners.

"We know what needs to be done. The work now is getting more people alongside us and in the work that we do every day here in the Faculty of Health Sciences, to bring more Indigenous healthcare providers into our system. I think that will help us ensure that Indigenous people can self-determine what we need to be healthy and well."

I’m also thrilled to work with the pair of you on what we affectionately call the WAHA project or the Weeneebayko Health Education Partnership. That's particularly meaningful to me because, you know, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action came out ten years ago now and astonishingly little has been done to meet those calls. So, I really see this particular project as the most comprehensive attempt at addressing TRC 23, which is to not only increase Indigenous representation in the health care field, but also to retain Indigenous health care workers in community.

If we can train nurses and physiotherapists and paramedics and physicians in community, we remove the barrier of these folks needing to leave community to get their education. And hopefully, they stay on to work in their communities—maybe even becoming our future faculty. That’s never really been done before. And it's my hope that it will serve as a model that maybe other universities will pick up.

Nathan Cheechoo (NC): And the thing is too, when these students are doctors and nurses and everyone else in between, our community members will no longer have to come to places like Kingston for medical appointments and be away from family or have to upend their lives because there's no dialysis units back home or there's no cancer treatment facilities. So that that's another thing that excites me for this future.

SF: Jamaica and I were just at the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada annual meeting in Saskatoon, and it was so heartwarming to see all the medical learners there—many of whom we’ve mentored. Seeing them take those next steps is so exciting. And I think that gathering was the greatest number of Indigenous medical learners and physicians, at least that I'd ever seen.

While we were there, a staff member from the University of Saskatchewan said to me: I hear Queen's doing great things. That felt good. It’s also reminded me of the importance of roles like Nathan’s, in recruiting and supporting students once they're here, to make it feel like home. So, I hope you (referring to Nathan) know how important you are.

NC: I do get emails at random times of the year from students saying thank you. Sometimes as a recruiter, on the road or just staring at a screen, answering emails, it can feel slow or mundane—like you're getting nowhere. But then some comes back to say: “hey, I'm starting at Queen's in the fall. You really helped me with my decision,” or “you led me to the right people, I'm looking forward to meeting you next year.” That’s been really helpful, I’m very proud that. Even if it's a few Indigenous learners coming through higher education, a few is better than none.

What would it look like to truly support Indigenous students, staff, and faculty?

SF: I hope and expect that Queen’s will be flooded with Indigenous learners soon—in Nursing, Medicine, OT, Graduate Studies, Public Health. So how do we build spaces that support them, along with Indigenous staff and faculty?

NC: That's a good question. I was talking about this today with a friend of mine. I think it’s understanding the lived experience that Indigenous people bring to the table. We have people that come from far away, close by, and they all bring something that can lend perspective. Too often, institutions say, here’s what we’re doing for you, but don’t ask students what they actually need. Their lived experiences matter, and we can learn a lot from how students want to be treated and how they want to feel. And we need to ask, do we have the capacity to support them? We can’t risk burnout in our staff. Growth must come with resources.

JC: Nathan makes a really good point. I think I would say for students, first and foremost, it is essential that they come into a space free of discrimination. And I think we need to appreciate that there is a disproportionate number of Indigenous students who come in as mature students. They will have unique cultural and academic supports needs. As for staff, we need to be careful not to overburden them and be mindful about how we take advantage of their expertise. There’s real risk of burnout and the minority tax with Indigenous staff.

And I would say for faculty, you know, making sure that lived experience and community efforts are recognized and seen as just as valuable as ginormous grants, prestigious publications and speaking invitations when it comes to promotion criteria. What do you think, Sarah?

SF: I don't have much else to add to both your brilliant comments. I’ll say that it takes a team. So, for example, we've all been involved in Mushkiki Miikan which is a grassroots program that supports Indigenous students applying to medical school. It started small, but through collaboration, we’ve helped a lot of people take that step. Maybe we could replicate this across other health professions too, if needed.

What are the most pressing issues in Indigenous health and health research right now?

SF: Lack of self-determination. Everything else flows from that. We’re working within a colonial institution and a colonial health system. I think where I have the most difficulty is being tasked to transform all this, decolonize it, or whatever the term is that you're using. I've been in situations before where I've been tasked to tackle all these things alone and I couldn’t do it.

But together, with more co-conspirators, we can make change. Every health inequity we see traces back to colonialism, racism, and the control of Indigenous people for land. Those same powers are at play in Indigenous health research as well. And it's tough for me too, because I was trained in this system. So, I have to constantly challenge myself: am I being true to myself and my people? Is there another way of looking at this problem from an Indigenous perspective? Most of the time what I've discovered is that including both perspectives sometimes yields the best solution. But I don't know, what do you think? (turn to Jamaica) For you, what's the most pressing issue today?

JC: I agree, I think the challenge is that if you look at the health disparities that exist between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people in what we now call Canada, they can all be traced back to colonialism. So, the Indian Act, the reserve system, the residential school system, the Indian hospital system. Forced sterilization of Indigenous people. These legacies that trickle down to us from colonialism. And in fact, only two of these legacies are no longer active right now, which tells us that colonization is still happening today. So of course, there are all these health disparities that leads us to all of these social determinants of health which inherently plague most of our communities. How can you be healthy and well if you don't have access to stable housing and clean drinking water? If schools on First Nations are funded at 70% of schools outside of First Nations?

And I would echo what Sarah has said about the research system. There is a big challenge in moving research forward in Indigenous communities without imposing a colonial research structure on them. They struggle to engage, to bring Indigenous folks in from the start, co-developing research questions instead of imposing research studies on Indigenous communities. It has to be "nothing about us without us."

NC: Yeah, and with the self-determination aspect; you know, in my own life, I've been a product of the reserve school system. I fully believe self-determination needs to begin with education. So, I think the WAHA project is a great start to try to attempt more self-determination. Looking at ways of becoming a doctor without the influence of institutionalized and colonial methodologies.

And in that regard, I know our counterparts in eastern James Bay and on the Quebec side, they've started creating courses all in Cree language. And that's what I've often wondered, as a Cree man, how effective would this kind of health care be? When we have doctors and nurses from our own community speaking our language. So, for me, I find the notion of self-determination to be an answer to many problems and many questions that have come up over the course of many, many years.

Any final thoughts?

SF: Well, it's always great to hang out with you two. When I think about what we've discussed today, I know I'm going to be thinking about it for a few days, if not a few weeks. The answers to our health care problems lie in ourselves. We know what needs to be done. The work now is getting more people alongside us and in the work that we do every day here in the Faculty of Health Sciences, to bring more Indigenous healthcare providers into our system. I think that will help us ensure that Indigenous people can self-determine what we need to be healthy and well.

JC: Progress is slow, and I think change is slow, but we’re seeing things with our faculty move in the right way. I think having very visible and very strong Indigenous leadership like we do here is essential. Having a voice within the broader leadership is really important. And I think we’re starting to see other institutions take notice. Working together is the only way we're going to get it done.

NC: When I first started at the university, I think the new recipe we’re bringing into the kitchen scared some people. And that’s okay. You don't need to understand what the recipe is, you just got to know it's going to be a good meal at the end of it, right? It’s going to cook and you're going to see things that our predecessors couldn't achieve. And now that more people are trusting the recipe and waiting to see. I feel like the pace is starting to speed up a bit more, which is really good for momentum and striking while the iron is hot.

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Sarah Funnell (SF) is a First Nations family physician, public health specialist and researcher and is the Associate Dean and Chair of Indigenous Health at Queen’s Health Sciences, she is a band member at Kitigan Zibi First Nation which is in what is now known as Quebec.

Jamaica Cass (JC) is a family physician, working in her home community of Tyendinaga. A member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Jamaica serves as Director of Indigenous Health within the Department of Family Medicine and as the director of the Queen's Weeneebayko Health Education Program.

Nathan Cheechoo (NC) is an Indigenous recruitment coordinator and student advisor from Moose Factory Island and belongs to Moose Cree First Nation. He has a background in paramedics and firefighting, and has a wife, eight children, one dog, a fish, and many brothers and sisters.

Read time

5 min

Written by

QHS Staff