b'MENTAL HEALTHBut Linklaters personal relationship with Shkaabe Makwa didntLinklater. Sometimes this means end there. Two years later, she realized she needed to check inintroducing them to Indigenous with her Elders, community, spirits and ancestors about the workagencies such as Anishnawbe she was doing. She went back home and spent a few weeks doingHealth Toronto and the Native ceremonies, feasting the drums, and telling her community aboutWomens Resource Centre what she was up to at CAMH.She also visited the person whoof Toronto. bestowed her spiritual name (Ozhaawashkobinesi, which means Blue Thunderbird) upon her some 25 years earlier. But when she went toHelping health care prac-ask him about Shkaabe Makwa, she was in for a shock. He told hertitioners to understand that she had another name coming to her.Indigenous mental health also helps their patients At first, she thought it was because she was turning 50 that year. Heand supports the growth of told me, No. Its about what youre going to be doing, the work thatIndigenous practitioners. the Creator wants you to do, she recalls. After a while of drummingExpanded supports and consulting, the new name came forwardManitou Makoons. Theinclude the Workforce truly amazing thing? This name means Spirit Bear Cub. When I sitDevelopment Program back and close my eyes, sometimes it happens that I see two bearsand ECHO Ontario, walking together. I see Shkaabe Makwa. And I see myself, ManitouFirst Nations, Inuit and Makoons walking down this pathway of empty land. And I know,Mtis Wellness Program, thats us. Thats us doing this work together. which recently won a FairConnected in Creation:and Just Award.an anthology of writings byFirst Nations and Mtis staff at CAMHFRAGMENTED SELVESLinklater lovingly describes Now two years in operation, the Shkaabe Makwa program has comeIndigenous women as super beings who constantly amaze her with a long way. Indigenous clients love the access to their ceremonytheir ability to survive and thrive through intergenerational trauma. room, ceremony grounds and drum circles. But the program alsoFor Indigenous women, we need to be kind, gentle and honest with acts as a connector. We often have patients that have been soourselves, she stresses. In traumatized communities, we havent disconnected from their families and their communities throughbeen able to celebrate each other and celebrate successes in our various circumstances, whether thats child welfare, residentialfamilies in the way that other families can. I hold the space of the schools or fragmented family histories of abuse. So part of ourheart berry around the spirit of women and what women hold for work is to connect them to family and community as well, saysour communities.Indigenous Health, Today!covers all health related matterssurrounding Indigenous Peoples fromcoast to coast to coast, visitwww.ihtoday.caWANT TO PARTNER WITHINDIGENOUS HEALTH TODAY?Contact sales@nationtalk.cafor more details46Spring/Summer 2022'