Indian Hospitals Foundation Engagement
Ways to Participate
We would be honoured for you to join us at one of the upcoming in-person engagements near you. Upcoming engagement locations appear below; however, if you’re unable, or prefer not to attend in person, Dr. DeGagné would appreciate receiving the input you have to share with him through any of the following:
Submit Online
Email Us
Phone Us Toll-Free
1-833-977-5668 and leave a voicemail. Someone will respond to you promptly.
Write to Us
Indian Hospital Foundation Engagement, PO Box 30068, Gatineau RPO Montclair, QC., J8Y 0B4
Upcoming Engagements
Engagement sessions will be held in Ontario, Québec (Nunavik), Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Check back if you do not currently see a community listed near you, as new locations will continue to be added over time. To stay informed about upcoming engagement sessions, please email us at info@ihfes.ca.
Below is a list of the next few engagements. Over the coming months, there will be many in-person sessions in locations from coast to coast to coast. If you do not see an engagement listed near your community, check back later as the list will be updated regularly with new locations. If you have any questions about current or future locations for engagement sessions, please email us directly at info@ihfes.ca.
Norway House / Kinosao Sipi, Manitoba — November 13, 2026
Edmonton, Alberta — November 27, 2026
Nanaimo, British Columbia — December 07, 2026
Vancouver, British Columbia — December 08, 2026
Prince Rupert, British Columbia — December 10, 2026
Participation at in-person engagements is voluntary and no financial compensation will be provided. However, some travel expenses can be supported for registered participants. Participants must register for an engagement session in order to attend in person. Please do not show up without registering as we need to ensure there is space and appropriate services and support for the number of attendees. We will provide you with detailed information about the engagement sessions and what to expect after you register.
Register Here
This is a registration form for in-person engagement sessions for Survivors of Federal Indian Hospitals included in the Settlement Agreement and their families. Each engagement will be Indigenous-led and Survivor-focused. Please only register for one in-person engagement. In order to ensure people may participate meaningfully at the meetings, spaces are limited. We want to allow as many people as possible to share their voices and be heard.
In these facilitated sessions, participants will be asked to provide input on the creation of a Foundation for healing and wellness, education, research, commemoration, the preservation of history, protection of languages, and location of burial sites associated with Federal Indian Hospitals. Each session will respect cultural protocols and include culturally-appropriate Elders. Mental health support will be available to all participants free of charge.
For those Survivors and family members who cannot or do not wish to attend an in-person session, or if you have further thoughts to share after participating at an engagement, you can provide your input through our online submission form, by email, regular mail or telephone.
Registration Form for In-Person Engagement Session
Fields marked with * are required.
Summary of Engagements
Detailed handwritten notes will be taken at every session. While all notes taken will be utilized by Dr. DeGagné to prepare the Foundation Plan or any reports on the engagement sessions, shorter summaries of the feedback received at each session will be shared in this section.
Indian Hospital Foundation
Engagement Record
Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
July 21, 2026
Session type:
Engagement Session
Venue:
Katimavik Suites, Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
1. Session Orientation
This record documents an engagement session held in Inuktitut with Inuit participants in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, on July 21, 2026. The session was convened as part of the Federal Indian Hospitals Foundation's engagement process under the Settlement Agreement, with federal and Foundation representatives present alongside Elders, Survivors, and community members. Input was gathered through full-day, facilitated group discussion in a morning and afternoon roundtable format, and combined survivor narrative, cultural and linguistic perspective, and advice regarding the design, funding, and governance of the Foundation. Participant questions related to the claims process were directed to the Claims Administrator.
2. Thematically Grouped Comments and Advice
Records, and Documentation
• Requests for records related to family members' treatment and time in Indian Hospitals, including records regarding a mother's treatment in Brandon.
• Searching for information about relatives' deaths and burial locations, often at personal expense and without government support.
• Hospital identification relied on assigned numbers rather than names, complicating later efforts to trace records.
• Suggestion to create a database or archive documenting those who were sent to Indian Hospitals, where Survivors are today and where those who passed are buried.
• Recommendation to record Elders' accounts of their stories from Indian Hospitals before they are lost, using accessible technology such as cell phones.
• Requests for records related to family members' treatment and time in Indian Hospitals, including records regarding a mother's treatment in Brandon.
• Searching for information about relatives' deaths and burial locations, often at personal expense and without government support.
• Hospital identification relied on assigned numbers rather than names, complicating later efforts to trace records.
• Suggestion to create a database or archive documenting those who were sent to Indian Hospitals, where Survivors are today and where those who passed are buried.
• Recommendation to record Elders' accounts of their stories from Indian Hospitals before they are lost, using accessible technology such as cell phones.
Experiences in Indian Hospitals and Related Institutions
• First-person accounts of being sent away, often as young children, to tuberculosis sanatoria and Indian Hospitals in Manitoba (including Brandon, Winnipeg, Clearwater Lake, and Ninette), Ontario (Moose Factory), Edmonton (Charles Camsell) and in Nunavut (including Chesterfield Inlet and Frobisher Bay).
• Accounts of Inuit sent to Clearwater Lake Indian Hospital in Manitoba, who could only speak Swampy Cree and English. They lost their Inuktitut.
• Women had babies taken away from them in Indian Hospitals. They never knew what happened to their children.
• Description of the strong and lasting cultural connections that formed in the Hospitals. Cree people at the Charles Camsell in Edmonton learned Inuktitut and vice versa. They spoke to each other and supported each other.
• Distinct commemorations for those Survivors still living and those who have passed away.
• Descriptions of differential treatment in North e.g. “hospital ships” that took people away down south, often to Indian Hospitals. Inuit boarded for care and were taken away without understanding what was happening or notice to their families.
• Long separations from family, in some cases for years, without escorts, communication, or visits during that time.
• Descriptions of restrictive conditions in hospital settings, including extended bed confinement, and limited mobility.
• Descriptions of lifelong impacts on health and wellness from the treatment in the Hospitals.
• Communication barriers due to a lack of interpreters, and instances of being discouraged or corrected for speaking Inuktitut.
• Accounts of physical mistreatment and medical procedures carried out without adequate consent or explanation.
• Disruption to family relationships and first language upon return home, including difficulty being recognized by family members.
• The deaths of family members while in these institutions.
• First-person accounts of being sent away, often as young children, to tuberculosis sanatoria and Indian Hospitals in Manitoba (including Brandon, Winnipeg, Clearwater Lake, and Ninette), Ontario (Moose Factory), Edmonton (Charles Camsell) and in Nunavut (including Chesterfield Inlet and Frobisher Bay).
• Accounts of Inuit sent to Clearwater Lake Indian Hospital in Manitoba, who could only speak Swampy Cree and English. They lost their Inuktitut.
• Women had babies taken away from them in Indian Hospitals. They never knew what happened to their children.
• Description of the strong and lasting cultural connections that formed in the Hospitals. Cree people at the Charles Camsell in Edmonton learned Inuktitut and vice versa. They spoke to each other and supported each other.
• Distinct commemorations for those Survivors still living and those who have passed away.
• Descriptions of differential treatment in North e.g. “hospital ships” that took people away down south, often to Indian Hospitals. Inuit boarded for care and were taken away without understanding what was happening or notice to their families.
• Long separations from family, in some cases for years, without escorts, communication, or visits during that time.
• Descriptions of restrictive conditions in hospital settings, including extended bed confinement, and limited mobility.
• Descriptions of lifelong impacts on health and wellness from the treatment in the Hospitals.
• Communication barriers due to a lack of interpreters, and instances of being discouraged or corrected for speaking Inuktitut.
• Accounts of physical mistreatment and medical procedures carried out without adequate consent or explanation.
• Disruption to family relationships and first language upon return home, including difficulty being recognized by family members.
• The deaths of family members while in these institutions.
Healing, Mental Health, and Wellness
• The importance of Inuit-led healing, described as “Inuit helping Inuit.”
• The need for region-specific counselling and support services delivered by those with relevant cultural knowledge and lived experience, particularly across Nunavut and the Baffin region.
• Recommendation for gathering spaces and land-based programming as part of a healing response.
• Ongoing impacts on family functioning and roles.
• View that healing will take time and sustained commitment and is not addressed by any one conversation.
• Some participants asked for an apology by the federal government for their treatment in Indian Hospitals.
• The importance of Inuit-led healing, described as “Inuit helping Inuit.”
• The need for region-specific counselling and support services delivered by those with relevant cultural knowledge and lived experience, particularly across Nunavut and the Baffin region.
• Recommendation for gathering spaces and land-based programming as part of a healing response.
• Ongoing impacts on family functioning and roles.
• View that healing will take time and sustained commitment and is not addressed by any one conversation.
• Some participants asked for an apology by the federal government for their treatment in Indian Hospitals.
Culture, Language, Identity, and Connection to Land
• Wholistic descriptions of health and healthcare, which include strong language, culture, traditional diet, medicines, and practices.
• The importance of Inuktitut, noted as not treated as an official language in healthcare settings, despite its status in the Territory, alongside concern about generational language loss.
• Disruption to traditional skills and knowledge – including hunting, harvesting, sewing, sled-making, and igloo-building – connected to institutionalization and changing ways of life.
• Recommendation for structured, early, hands-on teaching of traditional skills to youth, including customary practices tied to hunting and self-sufficiency.
• Distinction drawn between Inuit tradition and culture more broadly, with tradition described as a way of life requiring active maintenance.
• Documentation projects proposed — video, photography, and database — to preserve traditional knowledge and stories for future generations.
• Connection to land and traditional harvesting practices, particularly caribou hunting, described as central to identity and wellbeing.
• Wholistic descriptions of health and healthcare, which include strong language, culture, traditional diet, medicines, and practices.
• The importance of Inuktitut, noted as not treated as an official language in healthcare settings, despite its status in the Territory, alongside concern about generational language loss.
• Disruption to traditional skills and knowledge – including hunting, harvesting, sewing, sled-making, and igloo-building – connected to institutionalization and changing ways of life.
• Recommendation for structured, early, hands-on teaching of traditional skills to youth, including customary practices tied to hunting and self-sufficiency.
• Distinction drawn between Inuit tradition and culture more broadly, with tradition described as a way of life requiring active maintenance.
• Documentation projects proposed — video, photography, and database — to preserve traditional knowledge and stories for future generations.
• Connection to land and traditional harvesting practices, particularly caribou hunting, described as central to identity and wellbeing.
Healthcare Access, Systemic Racism, and Indigenous-Led Care
• Accounts of being treated as inferior within the hospital system today.
• Lack of Inuktitut interpretation in healthcare settings remains a major issue today.
• Hospitals and healthcare settings do not provide Inuit with country food, their traditional diet, which is critical to healing. Lack of access causes medical issues, e.g. heartburn.
• Concern that Inuit representation is consistently minor relative to First Nations within national funding and governance processes.
• The need for healthcare and support services to be Inuit-specific and Inuit-led, delivered by Inuit providers with relevant cultural knowledge.
• Historical loss of livelihood, including restrictions on caribou hunting, connected to institutionalization and government policy.
• Accounts of being treated as inferior within the hospital system today.
• Lack of Inuktitut interpretation in healthcare settings remains a major issue today.
• Hospitals and healthcare settings do not provide Inuit with country food, their traditional diet, which is critical to healing. Lack of access causes medical issues, e.g. heartburn.
• Concern that Inuit representation is consistently minor relative to First Nations within national funding and governance processes.
• The need for healthcare and support services to be Inuit-specific and Inuit-led, delivered by Inuit providers with relevant cultural knowledge.
• Historical loss of livelihood, including restrictions on caribou hunting, connected to institutionalization and government policy.
Commemoration, Research, and Preservation of History
• Commemoration options, including a memorial for survivors and those who died in Indian Hospitals.
• Proposal for a travelling exhibit, curated by Indigenous curators, incorporating photographs, recordings, and quotes from survivors.
• Reference resources identified for research into Survivors’ experiences, including CBC recordings of survivors in Inuktitut and a historical 'Eskimo' magazine published by the Roman Catholic Mission in Churchill.
• Proposal to establish a historical society, including in the Baffin region, to preserve artifacts and local history.
• Commemoration options, including a memorial for survivors and those who died in Indian Hospitals.
• Proposal for a travelling exhibit, curated by Indigenous curators, incorporating photographs, recordings, and quotes from survivors.
• Reference resources identified for research into Survivors’ experiences, including CBC recordings of survivors in Inuktitut and a historical 'Eskimo' magazine published by the Roman Catholic Mission in Churchill.
• Proposal to establish a historical society, including in the Baffin region, to preserve artifacts and local history.
Burial Sites and the Search for Unmarked Graves
• Searching for and locating relatives' burial sites, in some cases decades after the death occurred, followed by memorial services once a site was located.
• Unmarked or unidentified graves found during these searches, with steps taken to identify and honour them.
• The need for government support for the cost and process of locating relatives' graves, noted as largely undertaken to date at families' own expense.
• Possibility of partnership with organizations already working on finding graves of those who died in hospital and away from home, e.g., Nanilavut.
• Description of many unmarked graves on Big Eddy Reserve, near The Pas, Manitoba near a sandpit. The graves need to be marked and honoured.
• Searching for and locating relatives' burial sites, in some cases decades after the death occurred, followed by memorial services once a site was located.
• Unmarked or unidentified graves found during these searches, with steps taken to identify and honour them.
• The need for government support for the cost and process of locating relatives' graves, noted as largely undertaken to date at families' own expense.
• Possibility of partnership with organizations already working on finding graves of those who died in hospital and away from home, e.g., Nanilavut.
• Description of many unmarked graves on Big Eddy Reserve, near The Pas, Manitoba near a sandpit. The graves need to be marked and honoured.
Youth, Education, and Future Generations
• The need to teach Inuktitut and traditional practices to children from a young age, rather than relying on school-based instruction alone.
• Concern about youth engagement with technology alongside reduced participation in traditional practices, alongside the view that technology could be used positively (e.g., for language recording).
• Recommendation to incorporate information about the Inuit experience at Indian Hospitals as well as Inuit history, language, and land-based teaching into K-12 education.
• Loss of learning opportunities for youth where transmission of traditional skills across generations was disrupted.
• General concern regarding the wellbeing of youth in the community.
• The need to teach Inuktitut and traditional practices to children from a young age, rather than relying on school-based instruction alone.
• Concern about youth engagement with technology alongside reduced participation in traditional practices, alongside the view that technology could be used positively (e.g., for language recording).
• Recommendation to incorporate information about the Inuit experience at Indian Hospitals as well as Inuit history, language, and land-based teaching into K-12 education.
• Loss of learning opportunities for youth where transmission of traditional skills across generations was disrupted.
• General concern regarding the wellbeing of youth in the community.
Foundation Design, Funding, and Governance
• View that the Foundation and any resulting organization should be Inuit-led, based on Inuit lands, and governed by people with relevant life experience.
• The need for representation that is not only distinctions based but also respects the unique regions across Inuit Nunangat.
• Importance of including Inuit representation in the language, pictures, images, symbols used by the future Foundation.
• Importance of partnership for Foundation on work connected to the Indian Hospitals, e.g., Nanilavut for patients who were sent away for tuberculosis treatment and did not return home, and for those who were separated from their homes and cultures for many years.
• Decentralized Foundation with offices in Northern and remote communities, not only Southern Canada.
• Foundation should hold regional gatherings across Inuit Nunangat to honour Survivors of the Hospitals and those who have passed. Permanent places to gather, heal also critical.
• Inuit need opportunity to tell their stories of Indian Hospitals and have them preserved for future generations, supported by traditional healing and counselling.
• Special consideration of ways to honour and commemorate those who passed tragically at Indian Hospitals, e.g., in fires.
• The need for continued engagement with respect to a Foundation.
• The need for Inuit involvement in related national or regional processes (such as Truth and Reconciliation Commission conferences) to be proportionate to Inuit representation, rather than secondary to First Nations representation.
• View that the Foundation and any resulting organization should be Inuit-led, based on Inuit lands, and governed by people with relevant life experience.
• The need for representation that is not only distinctions based but also respects the unique regions across Inuit Nunangat.
• Importance of including Inuit representation in the language, pictures, images, symbols used by the future Foundation.
• Importance of partnership for Foundation on work connected to the Indian Hospitals, e.g., Nanilavut for patients who were sent away for tuberculosis treatment and did not return home, and for those who were separated from their homes and cultures for many years.
• Decentralized Foundation with offices in Northern and remote communities, not only Southern Canada.
• Foundation should hold regional gatherings across Inuit Nunangat to honour Survivors of the Hospitals and those who have passed. Permanent places to gather, heal also critical.
• Inuit need opportunity to tell their stories of Indian Hospitals and have them preserved for future generations, supported by traditional healing and counselling.
• Special consideration of ways to honour and commemorate those who passed tragically at Indian Hospitals, e.g., in fires.
• The need for continued engagement with respect to a Foundation.
• The need for Inuit involvement in related national or regional processes (such as Truth and Reconciliation Commission conferences) to be proportionate to Inuit representation, rather than secondary to First Nations representation.
3. Select Participant Quotes
Quote (Verbatim)
“It has to be set up right — when Inuit participate like an afterthought it doesn’t work. We are few in numbers but have so much to share.”
“Please don’t forget us Inuit at the Foundation.”
“We couldn’t speak our Inuktitut; we were told not to speak Inuktitut.”
“When I remember all this, it’s painful. I have hurt and pain to this day.”
“I was at Clearwater Lake. I could only speak Cree and English. If we said anything in Inuktitut, we were hit.”
“We should have an apology from government for what happened to us.”
“It’s a lot of trauma and trauma stays with you.”
“We are always in the minority in a national organization. We need to focus on Inuit.”
“People find comfort in finding their family members’ graves and honouring them.”
“This must be an organization led by Inuit, on Inuit land.”
“I recognize those in Clearwater.”
“Today I am healed. Thanks for hearing us.”
“Being Inuit is a way of life that’s ancient. It’s from my ancestors.”
“There should be a memorial for the unknown graves for those who died in the Hospitals.”
“Young people are in school today, yes, but they lack Inuit teaching. I would like to see more programs for young people – to teach our traditional ways.”
“I am grateful this is happening. Not just here but all over Canada. There are so many stories that need to be told.”
“Our Inuktitut has such strong words to give. The older generation is here and just waiting. We must record Elders’ stories for the next generation.”
“If Inuit are going to learn Inuit ways, it can’t only be in the schools. Inuit have to be taught Inuit ways to understand.”
“I couldn’t do anything in the ‘Inuit way’ because I grew up in a hospital bed.”
“If we want the Foundation to be Inuit run and Inuit self-determined, we have to help you understand how important Inuit voices are.”
“If we have a good strong Foundation we will proceed well with this work. We can’t fight or argue – we all need to work together. Yes, there will be good representatives. And there will also always be people complaining. But if we really work together and stay positive, we can overcome.”
“We are all equal.”
“I want full Inuit participation in the Foundation.”
“It would be nice to have a memorial.”
“It took me about 40 years to find out where she [my Mother] was buried.”
4. Key Takeaways
• Participants want the Foundation to be Inuit-led, with offices based in Inuit communities, with governance held by people with relevant life experience.
• Foundation should not take a pan-Inuit approach, but hiring practices, programming and services should reflect the unique regions and realities of people across Inuit Nunangat, e.g., Kitimeot, Kivalliq, Baffin etc.
• Participants noted the importance of Inuit-specific healing, healthcare, and support services, delivered by those with relevant cultural knowledge.
• Recurring reference to the need for preserving Inuktitut language and traditional knowledge for future generations, including structured, early teaching for youth.
• Recurring requests for support in locating, and for ways to honour, burial sites of relatives who died in Indian Hospitals.
• Participants noted that engagement on a Foundation should continue, with ongoing follow-up.
• Importance of partnership for Foundation on work connected to the Indian Hospitals, e.g., Nanilavut for patients who were sent away for tuberculosis treatment and did not return home.
• Participants raised recurring concern that Inuit representation should not be minor relative to First Nations representation within national funding and governance processes.
• Foundation should not take a pan-Inuit approach, but hiring practices, programming and services should reflect the unique regions and realities of people across Inuit Nunangat, e.g., Kitimeot, Kivalliq, Baffin etc.
• Participants noted the importance of Inuit-specific healing, healthcare, and support services, delivered by those with relevant cultural knowledge.
• Recurring reference to the need for preserving Inuktitut language and traditional knowledge for future generations, including structured, early teaching for youth.
• Recurring requests for support in locating, and for ways to honour, burial sites of relatives who died in Indian Hospitals.
• Participants noted that engagement on a Foundation should continue, with ongoing follow-up.
• Importance of partnership for Foundation on work connected to the Indian Hospitals, e.g., Nanilavut for patients who were sent away for tuberculosis treatment and did not return home.
• Participants raised recurring concern that Inuit representation should not be minor relative to First Nations representation within national funding and governance processes.
Indian Hospital Foundation
Engagement Record
Whitehorse, Yukon
July 07, 2026
Session type:
Engagement Session
Venue:
Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon
5. Gallery
1. Session Orientation
This engagement session was held in Whitehorse, Yukon on July 7, 2026 as part of the Federal Indian Hospitals Foundation engagement process. The session was conducted as a roundtable. It opened with an opening prayer led by an Elder, followed by participant self-introductions, an overview of the Settlement Agreement, including the engagement process in support of the creation of a future Foundation, facilitated discussion, and closing remarks by an Elder. A graphic recorder documented the discussion visually. Participants shared personal accounts, together with reflections, advice, and priorities related to the proposed Foundation. Input was a mix of personal narrative and recommendations. Participant questions related to the claims process were directed to the Claims Administrator.
2. Thematically Grouped Comments and Advice
Experiences in Indian Hospitals and Related Systems
• First-person accounts of being taken to hospitals as children, in some cases without a parent or escort.
• Connections drawn between Indian Hospitals and residential schools, day schools, the Sixties Scoop, and nursing stations.
• Accounts of people being sent outside the territory for care, including to Charles Camsell Hospital in Edmonton and to Vancouver, Calgary, and elsewhere in Alberta.
• Some accounts of medical procedures, carried out without clear consent, which caused lifelong negative health consequences, including the inability to have children.
• Descriptions of neglect and poor care conditions as well as separation and isolation.
• Reports relating to maternal care, including travel out of community to give birth and treatment during childbirth.
• Family separation during a parent’s hospitalization, including placement of children in other homes.
• Reflections on lasting and intergenerational effects, including Indigenous language loss and gaps in memory.
• First-person accounts of being taken to hospitals as children, in some cases without a parent or escort.
• Connections drawn between Indian Hospitals and residential schools, day schools, the Sixties Scoop, and nursing stations.
• Accounts of people being sent outside the territory for care, including to Charles Camsell Hospital in Edmonton and to Vancouver, Calgary, and elsewhere in Alberta.
• Some accounts of medical procedures, carried out without clear consent, which caused lifelong negative health consequences, including the inability to have children.
• Descriptions of neglect and poor care conditions as well as separation and isolation.
• Reports relating to maternal care, including travel out of community to give birth and treatment during childbirth.
• Family separation during a parent’s hospitalization, including placement of children in other homes.
• Reflections on lasting and intergenerational effects, including Indigenous language loss and gaps in memory.
Status, Segregation, and Bill C-31
• Accounts of losing and regaining status, including through marriage, and the effects of Bill C-31 on women and their descendants, which affected access to medical care.
• Accounts of grandparents who gave up status in order to work.
• The segregation of care between “Indian” and non-Indigenous hospitals.
• The view that status and non-status distinctions should not determine who receives access to medical care.
• Accounts of losing and regaining status, including through marriage, and the effects of Bill C-31 on women and their descendants, which affected access to medical care.
• Accounts of grandparents who gave up status in order to work.
• The segregation of care between “Indian” and non-Indigenous hospitals.
• The view that status and non-status distinctions should not determine who receives access to medical care.
Systemic Racism and Healthcare Access
• Accounts of racism and mistreatment in hospitals, nursing stations, and emergency care, described as continuing today.
• Accounts of long waits in emergency care for Indigenous people.
• Reports relating to deaths connected to nursing station and emergency care, and difficulty recovering the remains of deceased family members.
• The view that systemic racism exists in hospitals and could be addressed by a future Foundation.
• The role a Foundation could have with respect to healthcare system reform, and the view that the Yukon presents an opportunity to establish a different approach due to the number of self-governing First Nations.
• Accounts of racism and mistreatment in hospitals, nursing stations, and emergency care, described as continuing today.
• Accounts of long waits in emergency care for Indigenous people.
• Reports relating to deaths connected to nursing station and emergency care, and difficulty recovering the remains of deceased family members.
• The view that systemic racism exists in hospitals and could be addressed by a future Foundation.
• The role a Foundation could have with respect to healthcare system reform, and the view that the Yukon presents an opportunity to establish a different approach due to the number of self-governing First Nations.
Healing, Culture, and Connection to Land
• Land-based healing, cultural camps, and time on the land described as central to healing and sobriety.
• Traditional foods and medicines, including in the context of treatment and recovery from serious illnesses e.g. cancer and diabetes, and the view that the medical system should recognize multiple ways of healing.
• The need for treatment centres and traditional camps in the north, and for funding for those who cannot access existing treatment centres.
• The need for funding for social work and restorative justice programs.
• The importance of Indigenous languages, and the impact of language loss following hospitalization.
• Concern about the loss of cultural practice, and accounts of being told not to practice culture.
• The view that healing is a long-term process and should have a 50+ year vision and priorities.
• The need to address lateral violence and to understand the origins of oppression.
• The view that healing from systemic oppression takes time and spans generations.
• Land-based healing, cultural camps, and time on the land described as central to healing and sobriety.
• Traditional foods and medicines, including in the context of treatment and recovery from serious illnesses e.g. cancer and diabetes, and the view that the medical system should recognize multiple ways of healing.
• The need for treatment centres and traditional camps in the north, and for funding for those who cannot access existing treatment centres.
• The need for funding for social work and restorative justice programs.
• The importance of Indigenous languages, and the impact of language loss following hospitalization.
• Concern about the loss of cultural practice, and accounts of being told not to practice culture.
• The view that healing is a long-term process and should have a 50+ year vision and priorities.
• The need to address lateral violence and to understand the origins of oppression.
• The view that healing from systemic oppression takes time and spans generations.
Records, Accountability, and Those Who Did Not Return
• Reference to “Indian Agent” records and their contents.
• The view that records exist that could substantiate Survivor experiences.
• Reports of nurses or doctors removing filing boxes at night from Charles Camsell Hospital, with a call to investigate and recover records.
• The need to account for those who never returned home.
• The ability for records to demonstrate the truth of what occurred in Indian Hospitals.
• Reference to “Indian Agent” records and their contents.
• The view that records exist that could substantiate Survivor experiences.
• Reports of nurses or doctors removing filing boxes at night from Charles Camsell Hospital, with a call to investigate and recover records.
• The need to account for those who never returned home.
• The ability for records to demonstrate the truth of what occurred in Indian Hospitals.
Youth, Education, and Future Generations
• Concern about health, e.g., addiction, overdose, as well as unemployment, and youth leaving school.
• The need to take youth onto the land and to cultural camps.
• Investment in education, scholarships, and grants, including for programs that benefit the individual and community.
• The wish that funding support children, grandchildren, and future generations.
• The need to educate healthcare professionals about Indigenous people and Indian Hospitals.
• Concern about health, e.g., addiction, overdose, as well as unemployment, and youth leaving school.
• The need to take youth onto the land and to cultural camps.
• Investment in education, scholarships, and grants, including for programs that benefit the individual and community.
• The wish that funding support children, grandchildren, and future generations.
• The need to educate healthcare professionals about Indigenous people and Indian Hospitals.
Foundation Design, Funding, and Governance
• The Foundation’s design should consider decolonial models, practices, not only typical Western structure.
• Support for decentralization, with concern about locating the Foundation in southern centres and drawing on the same recognizable organizations and individuals. Requests for a presence in northern and remote communities.
• The funding model, including an endowment or perpetual fund intended to sustain programs over the long term, with reference to reinvesting returns, and comparison to what has been done in Haida Gwaii.
• Short term opportunities to impact the lives of Survivors alive right now. Long-term planning, including for descendants and goals across 5, 10, 25, and 50 years, and attention to fiscal management.
• Protection of funds so they are not lost to administration or legal fees, with reference to the Sixties Scoop and Mission School settlements.
• Governance that is Survivor-, community-, and knowledge-keeper-led, including Elders and leaders from all communities and not only those most recognized.
• Board and staff selected for knowledge and experience.
• A request that Foundation staff be educated about the history and treatment of Indigenous people.
• Inclusion of a cultural component and of traditional medicines within the Foundation.
• A proposal to provide input into the Foundation’s name.
• Concern about the use of artificial intelligence and data storage, and appreciation that engagement notes were recorded by hand.
• The importance of partnerships at the future Foundation and not duplicating efforts e.g. significant work already underway in Yukon to find children lost in residential schools, which has direct implications for Indian Hospitals.
• The Foundation to properly record and document Survivor’s stories from Indian Hospitals, with appropriate supports in place.
• The use of trusts to protect funds for Survivors and children.
• The Foundation’s design should consider decolonial models, practices, not only typical Western structure.
• Support for decentralization, with concern about locating the Foundation in southern centres and drawing on the same recognizable organizations and individuals. Requests for a presence in northern and remote communities.
• The funding model, including an endowment or perpetual fund intended to sustain programs over the long term, with reference to reinvesting returns, and comparison to what has been done in Haida Gwaii.
• Short term opportunities to impact the lives of Survivors alive right now. Long-term planning, including for descendants and goals across 5, 10, 25, and 50 years, and attention to fiscal management.
• Protection of funds so they are not lost to administration or legal fees, with reference to the Sixties Scoop and Mission School settlements.
• Governance that is Survivor-, community-, and knowledge-keeper-led, including Elders and leaders from all communities and not only those most recognized.
• Board and staff selected for knowledge and experience.
• A request that Foundation staff be educated about the history and treatment of Indigenous people.
• Inclusion of a cultural component and of traditional medicines within the Foundation.
• A proposal to provide input into the Foundation’s name.
• Concern about the use of artificial intelligence and data storage, and appreciation that engagement notes were recorded by hand.
• The importance of partnerships at the future Foundation and not duplicating efforts e.g. significant work already underway in Yukon to find children lost in residential schools, which has direct implications for Indian Hospitals.
• The Foundation to properly record and document Survivor’s stories from Indian Hospitals, with appropriate supports in place.
• The use of trusts to protect funds for Survivors and children.
3. Select Participant Quotes
Quote (Verbatim)
“We live in two worlds – our own cultural ways and Western ways.”
“Remember the people you are dealing with; we have already dealt with a lot already.”
“Trauma, for me, began at three years old from all parts of government.”
“The ones that were little and sent to the hospitals, their history is lost because the parents are not here anymore.”
“[Indian Hospitals] impacted me because I keep everything within myself.”
“This is a step that has to be taken; this is a good step.”
“The memories of my childhood, what I do have, are not good ones.”
“We don’t talk about what happened because we don’t want to remember negative energy.”
“I know people who went there (Indian Hospitals) and were scarred by their experience in ways that cannot be seen.”
“I am here today to fight for the injustices done to my family and yours.”
“The time has come to take back our power and voices and bring the truth of what happened.”
“I never had a childhood, never had a birthday party.”
“Abuse is abuse, no matter how you look at it.”
“This is a new wound you are opening, and you are not prepared.”
“Decolonize the Foundation process, because right now it will be centralized and voices heard from those that are most recognized – but those voices are not who this Foundation needs.”
“Why were these Indian Hospitals set up? They didn’t want us mixing with the white people.”
“Handle this with care.”
“Everybody’s voice matters, no matter how big or how little.”
“We have to speak for those who cannot, for the children who never came home.”
“This work must form the basis of our healthcare – from inception to the passing of our physical bodies.”
“When we are sharing our stories, it is also a story of resilience.”
“The medical system needs to know there are two ways of healing.”
“Some of us are Bill C-31; we are still feeling the effects of when we lost and then regained our status.”
“I am here today to fight for the injustice done to my family and yours.”
“The time has come to take back our power and voices and bring the truth of what happened.”
“Those running the Foundation need to know we as people lost everything, in order to build ourselves up.”
“We are slowly healing and it will come to a day when we are fully healed.”
“How do you put a price tag on what happened to people?”
“I do not want to be strong or resilient; I want to live in peace and healing and share the teachings I have been taught.”
“Coping mechanisms, the ‘armour’, can hurt you as an adult.”
“Trauma ripples across generations.”
“53 years later, there are many things our First Nations are still fighting for.”
“It is hard to be a victim.”
“We have a strong voice but we have to stand together, regardless of what Nation we are.”
“I have to heal and do something for awareness – not just for my Nation, but for all.”
“We have to know where the oppression came from and why we treat each other the way we do.”
“We are stronger than one Conservative Government. We have gone through so much and are still here.”
“This work needs a 50-year vision.”
“Our language is only hisses and puffs, and the sound reverberates in our brain. That ability to hear the love in the language is healing.”
“We have to save our kids – save them from themselves.”
4. Key Takeaways
• Decolonial Foundation design, with Indigenous values and practices.
• A Foundation that retains new leadership and board members, not the usual appointees known to all.
• Systemic racism in hospitals, nursing stations, and emergency care was described as ongoing, alongside the need to educate those in healthcare and reform healthcare system, as well as to account for family members who did not return home.
• Land-based and culturally grounded healing, traditional medicine, and cultural camps were important, along with the recognition of multifaceted healing.
• Foundation to properly record and document Survivors’ stories from the Indian Hospitals, with appropriate supports in place.
• Foundation design that is decentralized with a presence in the north, survivor- and community-led, and not concentrated in southern centres, was noted.
• Long-term sustainability was referenced, including a perpetual funding model, fiscal management across decades, and protection of funds from administration and legal costs.
• Some funding be used to impact the lives of Survivors still alive today.
• Support for youth and future generations, including land-based programming, education, and the protection of funds in trust.
• Healing takes place over many decades and requires a long term vision and priorities.
• A Foundation that retains new leadership and board members, not the usual appointees known to all.
• Systemic racism in hospitals, nursing stations, and emergency care was described as ongoing, alongside the need to educate those in healthcare and reform healthcare system, as well as to account for family members who did not return home.
• Land-based and culturally grounded healing, traditional medicine, and cultural camps were important, along with the recognition of multifaceted healing.
• Foundation to properly record and document Survivors’ stories from the Indian Hospitals, with appropriate supports in place.
• Foundation design that is decentralized with a presence in the north, survivor- and community-led, and not concentrated in southern centres, was noted.
• Long-term sustainability was referenced, including a perpetual funding model, fiscal management across decades, and protection of funds from administration and legal costs.
• Some funding be used to impact the lives of Survivors still alive today.
• Support for youth and future generations, including land-based programming, education, and the protection of funds in trust.
• Healing takes place over many decades and requires a long term vision and priorities.
Indian Hospital Foundation
Engagement Record
Session type:
Engagement Session
Venue:
Forest Inn, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
1. Session Orientation
This engagement session was held in Sioux Lookout, Ontario on June 23-24, 2026 as part of the Federal Indian Hospitals Foundation engagement process. The session was conducted as a roundtable. It opened with an opening prayer led by an Elder, followed by participant self-introductions, an overview of the Settlement Agreement, including the engagement process in support of the creation of a future Foundation, several rounds of facilitated discussion, and closing remarks by an Elder. Participants shared reflections, advice, and priorities related to the proposed Foundation. Input was a mix of personal narrative and recommendations. Participant questions related to the claims process were directed to the Claims Administrator.
2. Thematically Grouped Comments and Advice
Records and Documentation
• Difficulty accessing records, including university library collections that require student status; some records were located on microfiche.
• The absence of centralized records, with suggestions for a single repository or a connected network of institutional collections , recognizing that different protocols govern medical and archival records.
• The potential role of Library and Archives Canada, and school and university libraries including whether they hold Indian Hospital documents and collections.
• Varied locations were suggested to search for information about families and former patients of Indian Hospitals, including Treaty Payment Records, Census records, genealogical records, and Indian Affairs records in Gatineau.
• Municipal records as a potential source of information about burial sites, unmarked graves.
• Finding and compiling records, maps of patients’ burial locations, including where graves are not marked.
• View that the Foundation should work on partnerships to ensure their permission to access medical records.
• The absence of centralized records, with suggestions for a single repository or a connected network of institutional collections , recognizing that different protocols govern medical and archival records.
• The potential role of Library and Archives Canada, and school and university libraries including whether they hold Indian Hospital documents and collections.
• Varied locations were suggested to search for information about families and former patients of Indian Hospitals, including Treaty Payment Records, Census records, genealogical records, and Indian Affairs records in Gatineau.
• Municipal records as a potential source of information about burial sites, unmarked graves.
• Finding and compiling records, maps of patients’ burial locations, including where graves are not marked.
• View that the Foundation should work on partnerships to ensure their permission to access medical records.
Experiences in Indian Hospitals
• Accounts of patients moved long distances for care, including by air, and of individuals who died away from home.
• Reports of experimentation, sterilization, babies switched at birth, and accounts of mistreatment within hospital settings.
• Aggregated care, including a separate Indian Hospital and general hospital that were later amalgamated.
• The amalgamated hospital described as still in operation today.
• Connections drawn between Indian Hospitals and Indian Residential Schools, Indian Day Schools, and the Sixties Scoop.
• Reflections on the lasting and intergenerational effects of Indian Hospitals, including the loss of language, culture, identity, as well as family members.
• Accounts of patients moved long distances for care, including by air, and of individuals who died away from home.
• Reports of experimentation, sterilization, babies switched at birth, and accounts of mistreatment within hospital settings.
• Aggregated care, including a separate Indian Hospital and general hospital that were later amalgamated.
• The amalgamated hospital described as still in operation today.
• Connections drawn between Indian Hospitals and Indian Residential Schools, Indian Day Schools, and the Sixties Scoop.
• Reflections on the lasting and intergenerational effects of Indian Hospitals, including the loss of language, culture, identity, as well as family members.
Healing, Mental Health/Wellness, and Reconciliation
• The role of ceremony, healing lodges, traditional medicine, and land-based practices in healing.
• Recognition that many who lost loved ones are still grieving, and that some are afraid to come forward.
• The need to reach the most vulnerable – those who are incarcerated, unhoused, and dealing with mental health and addictions challenges.
• The idea that technical work and programming be separated from healing to ensure the Foundation can move forward, as healing is an ongoing process.
• The importance of sustained engagement and follow-up.
• Some families expressed desire for an apology from the federal government for the Indian Hospitals system.
• The role of ceremony, healing lodges, traditional medicine, and land-based practices in healing.
• Recognition that many who lost loved ones are still grieving, and that some are afraid to come forward.
• The need to reach the most vulnerable – those who are incarcerated, unhoused, and dealing with mental health and addictions challenges.
• The idea that technical work and programming be separated from healing to ensure the Foundation can move forward, as healing is an ongoing process.
• The importance of sustained engagement and follow-up.
• Some families expressed desire for an apology from the federal government for the Indian Hospitals system.
Culture, Language, Identity, and Connection to Land
• Culture and identity described as a central concern, including ensuring that children and future generations retain their culture and take part in ceremony.
• Language preservation and rejuvenation, including reference to Language Keepers.
• Connection to the land and the gathering of Traditional Knowledge.
• Conversion to organized religion described as a reason some do not speak about these experiences.
• Culture and identity described as a central concern, including ensuring that children and future generations retain their culture and take part in ceremony.
• Language preservation and rejuvenation, including reference to Language Keepers.
• Connection to the land and the gathering of Traditional Knowledge.
• Conversion to organized religion described as a reason some do not speak about these experiences.
Healthcare Access, Systemic Racism, and Indigenous-Led Care
• Limited understanding of existence and history of Indigenous people among immigrants.
• The need for healthcare resources in community, and for medical transportation.
• Difficulty accessing services in remote communities, with services concentrated in larger urban centres.
• Limited understanding of existence and history of Indigenous people among immigrants.
• The need for healthcare resources in community, and for medical transportation.
• Difficulty accessing services in remote communities, with services concentrated in larger urban centres.
Commemoration, Research, and Preservation of History
• A national day of commemoration, memory garden, and monuments or statues bearing names, with the monument for the Spanish residential school referenced as an example.
• A museum, library, or centre with photographs and names of Survivors, a travelling exhibition to share knowledge across Canada and in Indian Hospital communities, and a book or documentary to gather Survivor and family stories, narratives.
• Suggestion of a commemoration fund, where communities could apply for a commemorative activity/monument in community.
• Plaques, a commemoration road, and a dedicated healing lodge.
• Public education about Indian Hospitals.
• Concern that research may overly benefit researchers and should be Survivor and community-led.
• Recovery and repatriation of materials and belongings held in institutions.
• A national day of commemoration, memory garden, and monuments or statues bearing names, with the monument for the Spanish residential school referenced as an example.
• A museum, library, or centre with photographs and names of Survivors, a travelling exhibition to share knowledge across Canada and in Indian Hospital communities, and a book or documentary to gather Survivor and family stories, narratives.
• Suggestion of a commemoration fund, where communities could apply for a commemorative activity/monument in community.
• Plaques, a commemoration road, and a dedicated healing lodge.
• Public education about Indian Hospitals.
• Concern that research may overly benefit researchers and should be Survivor and community-led.
• Recovery and repatriation of materials and belongings held in institutions.
Youth, Education, and Future Generations
• The importance of future generations being aware of what their ancestors experienced, and of children knowing their history.
• Scholarships for Indigenous students in healthcare, and for museum and curatorial roles.
• Many patients of Indian Hospitals later became staff e.g., nurses, aides, etc. This is an important part of the complex history of the Hospitals.
• Partnerships with institutions focused on history and human rights for education purposes. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg was highlighted as a powerful place where partnership could take place.
• Concern that programs and funding often don’t reach Northern, remote communities. Idea that education include communication and information for people living on reserve and in Northern communities, as well as urban areas.
• Engaging youth through familiar media, including video games, especially those with immersive “world building” properties to help people understand how it felt to be in an Indian Hospital
• Curriculum development.
• A wall, an exhibit, or dedicated space within existing museums, cultural centres, and universities to educate about the Indian Hospitals.
• Engage the healthcare system in conversations around education, training, prevention. In this area, it would be Meno Ya Win Health Centre.
• The importance of future generations being aware of what their ancestors experienced, and of children knowing their history.
• Scholarships for Indigenous students in healthcare, and for museum and curatorial roles.
• Many patients of Indian Hospitals later became staff e.g., nurses, aides, etc. This is an important part of the complex history of the Hospitals.
• Partnerships with institutions focused on history and human rights for education purposes. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg was highlighted as a powerful place where partnership could take place.
• Concern that programs and funding often don’t reach Northern, remote communities. Idea that education include communication and information for people living on reserve and in Northern communities, as well as urban areas.
• Engaging youth through familiar media, including video games, especially those with immersive “world building” properties to help people understand how it felt to be in an Indian Hospital
• Curriculum development.
• A wall, an exhibit, or dedicated space within existing museums, cultural centres, and universities to educate about the Indian Hospitals.
• Engage the healthcare system in conversations around education, training, prevention. In this area, it would be Meno Ya Win Health Centre.
Foundation Design, Funding, and Governance
• The funding model, including an endowment intended to last in perpetuity if spending is limited to interest, versus the view that more funds be directed sooner to those still living.
• Governance that is Survivor- and community-led, with directors who are Indigenous, regionally representative, and have board experience.
• Avoiding duplication of existing projects through partnership across projects and identifying gaps.
• Ongoing community engagement, including participation for those who cannot travel to provide input.
• The funding model, including an endowment intended to last in perpetuity if spending is limited to interest, versus the view that more funds be directed sooner to those still living.
• Governance that is Survivor- and community-led, with directors who are Indigenous, regionally representative, and have board experience.
• Avoiding duplication of existing projects through partnership across projects and identifying gaps.
• Ongoing community engagement, including participation for those who cannot travel to provide input.
Burial Sites and the Search for Unmarked Graves
• Accounts of relatives who died at Indian Hospitals and were buried locally, including in unmarked graves.
• The search for unmarked graves, including reference to children who did not return home, and areas that could not be accessed. Uncertainty around location of family burial sites. Research to include reaching out to gravediggers and Indian Hospital workers who knew where people were buried.
• The return of ancestors to also include the return of any of their belongings or artefacts.
• Questions about whether sites are multi-layer burial grounds, and accounts of people buried where other structures were later built.
• View that unmarked burials should be searched and marked.
• Idea that it is inappropriate to dig up a grave and working to honour patients’ without disturbing their graves. Conversely, the idea that it is important to repatriate loved ones if their family wishes.
• The need for a coordinated database, archive, and/or archivist for burial sites and unmarked graves.
• Accounts of relatives who died at Indian Hospitals and were buried locally, including in unmarked graves.
• The search for unmarked graves, including reference to children who did not return home, and areas that could not be accessed. Uncertainty around location of family burial sites. Research to include reaching out to gravediggers and Indian Hospital workers who knew where people were buried.
• The return of ancestors to also include the return of any of their belongings or artefacts.
• Questions about whether sites are multi-layer burial grounds, and accounts of people buried where other structures were later built.
• View that unmarked burials should be searched and marked.
• Idea that it is inappropriate to dig up a grave and working to honour patients’ without disturbing their graves. Conversely, the idea that it is important to repatriate loved ones if their family wishes.
• The need for a coordinated database, archive, and/or archivist for burial sites and unmarked graves.
Community Conditions
• Substance use in communities, including among youth, was raised as a concern.
• It was described as linked, indirectly, to the intergenerational effects of what parents experienced.
• Substance use in communities, including among youth, was raised as a concern.
• It was described as linked, indirectly, to the intergenerational effects of what parents experienced.
3. Select Participant Quotes
Quote (Verbatim)
“That hospital is still there today, they are still using it.”
“People who lost their loved ones are still grieving today.”
“Education – we need future generations to be aware of what happened to their ancestors.”
“A lot of people don’t know. But in First Nations territory here, actually, the majority of the people in the hospital I was in, were Inuit. This needs to be known.”
“With Indian Hospitals – the children need to know about the trauma their parents went through.”
“A lot of children who died were buried without names.”
“I do recognize healing is a big part of this work. Families need a modern form of justice – that can be finding people who were lost. Reconciliation for me is closure.”
“It cannot be forgotten that these things actually happened in our lifetime.”
“It was a very painful time but somehow, we have to get through it. Get past it. It can be very hard to pass the anger stage to the forgiveness stage.”
“Making sure our children and future generations have culture and are part of ceremony.”
“Our children really should know the history of our people, what we went through.”
“There’s so many ways our people have been affected by these hospitals. But let’s support positive things with this money. Let’s support young people to go into healthcare, and health-related fields with scholarships.”
“Indigenous people still don’t trust the hospitals or the hospital system because of their experiences with healthcare. There’s still trauma there.”
“It would be good to have something for our children to know their history.”
“Biggest concern is around culture, identity, and sharing that our ways will always be.”
“Our young ones do not know about the history.”
“We are all equal. One lodge is no better than any other lodge.”
“Our kids need to know how we were treated.”
“People are so different in different regions – people do not talk about it because we were too Christianized.”
“My dad and others from the north are buried here; I have a map showing the location of his grave; I want to make a plaque but am unsure if it is the correct spot.”
“We are a forgiving people. We forgive those that wronged us. That’s the teachings that were passed down to us.”
“The Sioux Lookout hospital was only for our people, for native people. Then they built another hospital only for white people. There’s a lot of racism and so much more history our people should know about.”
“This issue has been silent for too long; for too long we’ve been silent on this issue.”
“Some families want an apology from the federal government. If there is going to be reconciliation work, an apology has to be there.”
“It is important the Foundation stay away from politicians, people in political leadership in Indigenous organizations. Politicians can take things in another direction and this Foundation needs to be very focused.”
“My biggest concern is culture and identity. Ensuring that our ways will always be. And education about our ways.”
“We need to educate this generation – it is about genocide – it is not a regular policy.”
“People still grieve today.”
“People that come to our communities need to be educated on our histories, including the Indian Hospitals.”
“Right now we are rebuilding our community, and I’m happy for that.”
“Sharing brings more strength, more learning.”
“Another aspect of this is privacy. Some families want to keep it private. But this doesn’t do justice to the family members that are still living. I know people who never came back [from the hospitals].”
“Addictions, including drugs, are connected to the Indian Hospitals. It’s not a direct link, it’s an indirect link. It’s a trickledown effect that should be considered by the Foundation and its work.”
4. Key Takeaways
• Difficulty accessing records – medical, archival, and burial records – was a recurring concern, alongside the absence of a centralized or networked system.
• Locating and identifying unmarked graves and burial sites and recognizing those who died in Indian Hospitals is important, including searches for children who did not return home.
• Indigenous-led healing – ceremony, traditional medicine, and land-based practice – together with ongoing support for those still grieving.
• Culture, language, and identity, including language rejuvenation, and connection to the land.
• Commemoration and preservation of history – monuments, museums, a travelling exhibition, books or a documentary, plaques, and public education.
• Materials and opportunities for younger generations to learn their history, language, and culture.
• Foundation design that is survivor and community-led, regionally representative, sustained over time through the endowment, and focused on filling gaps rather than duplicating existing work.
• Partnership with existing organizations and educational institutions on priority issues and for capacity building.
• Locating and identifying unmarked graves and burial sites and recognizing those who died in Indian Hospitals is important, including searches for children who did not return home.
• Indigenous-led healing – ceremony, traditional medicine, and land-based practice – together with ongoing support for those still grieving.
• Culture, language, and identity, including language rejuvenation, and connection to the land.
• Commemoration and preservation of history – monuments, museums, a travelling exhibition, books or a documentary, plaques, and public education.
• Materials and opportunities for younger generations to learn their history, language, and culture.
• Foundation design that is survivor and community-led, regionally representative, sustained over time through the endowment, and focused on filling gaps rather than duplicating existing work.
• Partnership with existing organizations and educational institutions on priority issues and for capacity building.
Indian Hospital Foundation
Engagement Record
Session type:
Engagement Session
Venue:
Victoria Inn, Brandon, Manitoba
1. Session Orientation
This engagement session was held in Brandon, Manitoba on June 11, 2026 as part of the Federal Indian Hospitals Foundation engagement process. The session was conducted as a roundtable. It opened with prayer led by Elders, followed by participant self-introductions, an overview of the Settlement Agreement, including the engagement process in support of the creation of a future Foundation, facilitated discussion, and closing remarks by Elders. Participants shared their experience with Indian Hospitals, together with reflections, advice, and priorities related to the proposed Foundation.
2. Thematically Grouped Comments and Advice
Records, Documentation, and the Claims Process
- Concern that hospital records were incomplete or recorded differently than actually experienced.
- Records lost or destroyed in some cases (e.g., transferred to a church that later burned down).
- Reasons for hospitalization often unknown to patients and families.
Experiences in Indian Hospitals and Related Institutions
- Being taken to Indian Hospitals and sanatoria as children, including for tuberculosis.
- Accounts abuse, and prohibition on speaking Indigenous languages, described as similar to Indian Residential Schools.
- Descriptions of medical procedures and abusive conditions.
- Connections drawn between Indian Hospital experiences and Indian Residential Schools, Indian Day Schools, and the Sixties Scoop.
- Reflections on intergenerational impacts.
- References to unmarked burials in the Brandon Cemetery, understood to be associated with the Indian Hospital.
Healing, Mental Health, and Wellness
- Need for therapists and counsellors able to address trauma, with recognition that some individuals may not be aware they carry trauma.
- Importance of ongoing, sustained support for healing.
- Recognition that, if allocated to counseling, sustained mental-health supports may use Foundation funds quickly.
- Healing described as individual and varying by person and by Nation.
- Cultural and land-based practices as part of healing, including ceremony, sweats, and connection to the land.
- The importance of truth-telling and preservation of stories for healing. Importance of private and public options for sharing stories.
- Importance of grounding and self-care when carrying out this work.
Culture, Language, Identity, and Connection to Land
- Indigenous language and culture described as inseparable.
- Concern about the loss of fluent speakers and the decline of Indigenous languages.
- Transmission of language and culture to children and grandchildren.
- Land-based teaching and ceremony identified as priorities, including hunting and harvesting practices.
- Identity, including the distinctiveness of different Nations (e.g., Cree, Dakota, Ojibwe) and retaining identity in urban settings.
- Community responsibility for language revitalization and retention.
Healthcare Access, Systemic Racism, and Indigenous-Led Care
- Accounts of racism and inadequate treatment within the healthcare system, including in emergency and end-of-life care.
- Denialism and its impact on the history of Indian Hospitals.
- Barriers to care, including being required to demonstrate need.
Commemoration, Research, and Preservation of History
- Locating and recognizing unmarked graves connected to sanatoria and hospitals (e.g., Brandon, Sioux Valley, Ninette/Pelican Lake), including support for their upkeep.
- Commemoration options, including plaques, landmarks, monuments.
- The particular importance of commemoration on former Hospital sites and in graveyards.
- Preserving history through recorded stories and testimony, and through documentation in book form.
- Interest in access to archives, including the ability to see and personally handle historical items to aid understanding.
- A dedicated building or place to gather.
Youth, Education, and Future Generations
- Education about the history of Indian Hospitals, including curriculum from K–12 through post-secondary.
- Education identified as a response to denialism.
- Involving intergenerational participants, including the children of those affected.
- Doing something positive for youth with the Foundation money; leaving an inspiring legacy.
- Investing for the benefit of future generations.
Foundation Design, Funding, and Governance
- Support for investing the fund and using the interest to sustain ongoing programs.
- Questions about how the fund ($385.5M total; divided into $150M Healing Fund and $235.5M research and commemoration) would be spent.
- Preference for a smaller governing body to enable effective functioning.
- Keeping administrative and personnel costs low so majority of money can be used on programming.
- Support for operating in perpetuity.
- Fund a university professor to teach a course on Indian Hospitals.
- Partnerships with existing organizations and archives (e.g., National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, universities and colleges) and avoiding duplication of other programs.
- References to other settlements and funding models (e.g., Gottfriedson, Four Pillars Society).
Community Conditions and Capacity
- Current pressures in communities, including how future Foundation can best reach unhoused people and address housing need (e.g., in Brandon).
- Concern that those providing community support are over-extended.
3. Select Participant Quotes
Quote (Verbatim)
“There are a lot of old wounds – it will cause years of trauma – there will be a lot of healing needed, in many ways, and in many languages.”
“We need to know why individuals were placed in the Indian Hospitals. It is important for closure. What kind of sicknesses were they dealing with there?”
“We are a colonized people but we are taking that back. Really think from your heart what can be done with this money. What can you say for the next generation? Empower yourselves.”
“Let’s do something positive with this money so our grandkids and their children won’t have to carry this over and over and over.”
“I think about our homeless Survivors. They lost their language and culture. They are trying to find their identity. Their parents, their families they didn’t put them there. Their place is not out there. Their place is with us. They are trying to find their way back. They need help.”
“A part of healing is sharing and releasing what has been held.”
“We need the therapists and the counselors to deal with the trauma. I didn’t know the trauma. I didn’t know there was a place to heal. I though I’d just go on having nightmares. Sometimes we don’t know we are in that situation. We need to work with professionals.”
“Do we need statues and monuments? That’s a reminder of abuse and bad times every day.”
“Having an investment in our lifespan is not long. We need the money to be there for the next generation and those to come.”
“There’s a lot of trauma here. Even in this room, I can feel it. We have to have people in place to help people heal from it. We need a lot of healing.”
“A lot of support needs to be had. They are not good stories, but they need to be told.”
“With these programs, there has to be ongoing funding. So they don’t have to stop healing half-way. The money needs to be invested for the long term.”
“The other thing I am big on is education. I teach my language. I have been doing that for about 40 years. Language and culture are so important.”
4. Key Takeaways
- Language and cultural revitalization were raised throughout, including the view that language and culture are inseparable, concern over the loss of fluent speakers, and transmission to younger generations.
- Healing was described as individual and ongoing, requiring sustained, trauma-informed mental-health supports, with recognition that some people may be unaware they carry trauma.
- Land-based, ceremony-based, and culturally grounded approaches to healing.
- Education about the history of Indian Hospitals, including curriculum across K–12 and post-secondary, identified as a response to denialism.
- Commemoration and recognition of unmarked graves connected to sanatoria and hospitals, including their upkeep.
- Foundation design and funding as recurrent themes, including investing the fund to sustain programs, allocation questions, a smaller governing body, and operating in perpetuity.
- Connections drawn between Indian Hospitals and Indian Residential Schools, day schools, and the Sixties Scoop, including intergenerational impacts.
- Racism and barriers within the healthcare system, and requests for Indigenous-led care and patient advocacy.
- Legacy impacts of trauma, such as homelessness, mental health, addictions, loss of culture and identity and how the Future Foundation can reach these people.
- Current community conditions, including connecting to unhoused individuals, housing need and the strain on those supporting community members.
Indian Hospital Foundation
Engagement Record
Winnipeg, Manitoba
June 09, 2026
Session type:
Engagement Session
Venue:
Anish Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1. Session Orientation
This engagement session was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 9, 2026 as part of the Federal Indian Hospitals Foundation engagement process. The session was conducted as a roundtable. It opened with the sharing of medicines and prayer led by Inuit, Métis and First Nations Elders, followed by participant self-introductions, an overview of the Settlement Agreement, including the engagement process in support of the creation of a future Foundation, facilitated discussion, and closing remarks by Elders. Participants shared recommendations, advice, and priorities related to the proposed Foundation.
2. Thematically Grouped Comments and Advice
Records, Documentation, and the Claims Process
- Many records from Indian Hospitals do not exist, were handwritten, or cannot be located, in some cases because buildings were destroyed or records were not kept.
- Individuals’ names may have been changed over time (e.g. through marriage) or been recorded differently by different institutions; in some cases, numbers were assigned to individuals, making records difficult to trace.
- Difficulty obtaining personal medical records, including records requested but reported as not existing.
- Role of records in recognizing and understanding experiences, finding family members, and preserving the history of the Hospitals.
Experiences in Indian Hospitals and Related Institutions
- Indigenous children placed in Indian Hospitals and sanatoria, often without understanding why.
- Accounts of restrictive conditions, including temporary and permanent separation from family and community.
- Descriptions of experiences of abuse and mistreatment within hospital settings.
- Connections between these experiences and the Indian Residential Schools and Indian Day Schools.
- Reflections on the lasting effects of these experiences, including across generations, and how the impact on healing, wellness and the work the future Foundation should do for Survivors and families.
Healing, Mental Health, and Wellness
- The need for comprehensive, sustained mental health and addiction supports, including in communities further north.
- Land-based and culturally grounded healing approaches were priorities identified, including teaching people to live off the land.
- Importance of follow-up and ongoing support for those who share their experiences.
- Connection between healing and the mind, body, and culture.
Culture, Language, Identity, and Connection to Land
- Culture as a way of life, including teachings from Elders, family, and the land.
- Transmission of practices to children, including making igloos, preparing dried meat and smoked fish, and harvesting.
- Identity was connected to healing and described as foundational.
- Importance of Indigenous languages, including in institutional settings.
Healthcare Access, Systemic Racism, and Indigenous-Led Care
- Descriptions of racism within the healthcare system, including in treatment and staffing.
- Barriers to healthcare access for northern and remote communities, including travel for dialysis and treatment due to a lack of local technicians.
- The need for Indigenous-led primary care and Indigenous staff on the front line, including to explain medications to patients at discharge, especially in their Indigenous languages.
- The need to retain people in care rather than discharging them prematurely.
- Possible role/advocacy work for future Indian Hospitals Foundation in healthcare settings.
Commemoration, Research, and Preservation of History
- Commemoration options, including buildings, plaques, and a museum dedicated to the history of Indian hospitals.
- Preserving history through linking archives and records.
- Locating burial sites and recognizing unmarked graves connected to hospitals as a priority.
- Suggestions included naming a medical school, or units in hospital, e.g., dialysis unit, as a legacy and documenting stories and testimonies across regions.
- Participants noted that the general public is unaware of the segregated Hospital system that existed for Indigenous people; and education about the history of Indian hospitals is part of prevention.
Youth, Education, and Future Generations
- Participants encouraged programs supporting Indigenous youth entering healthcare and other fields.
- Supporting and funding students, including those pursuing higher education, especially in the sciences; and concerns about funding-eligibility rules.
- Focusing on ensuring conditions are better for future generations, including providing opportunity for children to participate in land-based learning.
Foundation Design, Funding, and Governance
- The Foundation’s funding model, including questions about spending only the interest versus spending the fund over a defined period.
- Need for Elder involvement, Survivors/descendants, and regional representation in the Foundation’s work.
- Need for representation and unique approaches for Inuit and other Northerners, whose realities are different than those down South.
- The sustainability and longevity of the Foundation, including the view that it will outlive current participants, thus the need for legacy investments.
Northern and Remote Communities
- Communities further north require dedicated resources, including for mental health, harvesting, and cultural programming.
- Support and programs delivered in Survivors’ Indigenous languages.
- Meetings are often held in larger centres (e.g. Iqaluit, Yellowknife) and more northern and remote participants can be disadvantaged.
- The distinct experiences and circumstances of Inuit, and Northern communities.
3. Select Participant Quotes
Quote (Verbatim)
“Coming together in a workshop like this is part of a healing process”
“I would really like to see Elders be part of all this work”
“We want to expose our kids and grandkids to a beautiful way of life – out in the bush, out on the land, out on the water”
“We should support Indigenous students interested in medical careers enrolled in second and third degrees, especially in sciences, because those are so much harder to fund than first degrees”
“We will be gone before all the funding is gone – the Foundation will outlive us”
“Education has to be part of this process but it has to come from Indigenous people”
“You need lots of passion and patience to work with Indigenous people because they are hurting so much”
“We should support the whole of people’s healing path because it takes many different journeys”
4. Key Takeaways
- The absence or loss of records was a recurring concern, affecting both recognition of experiences and preservation of history of the era.
- The importance of Indigenous-led healing — including land-based and culturally grounded approaches — alongside sustained mental health and addiction supports.
- Racism within the healthcare system and barriers to healthcare access, particularly for northern and remote communities.
- Indigenous staffing, Indigenous-led primary care, and supporting youth to enter healthcare fields.
- Commemoration, preservation of history, and locating/recognizing burial sites connected to hospitals were priorities.
- Education about the history of Indian Hospitals as part of prevention.
- Elder involvement, leadership, regional representation, and questions about the Foundation’s funding model and longevity were important considerations in discussions of its design.
- Northern and remote communities require dedicated resources and consideration, including advance materials and culturally grounded programming.
Pre-engagement Process
Prior to beginning the formal engagement process, the Indian Hospitals Foundation Engagement Support Team convened a series of small meetings with Dr. DeGagné and Survivors and their supports who were involved in the litigation and the settlement process. The sessions were designed to inform the broader cross-country engagement process. Sessions were held from December, 2025 to February, 2026 in Edmonton, Saskatoon, Iqaluit, and Vancouver.