The Governing Council is a decision-making body, with responsibilities for developing policies related to network membership, funding, capacity bridging/strengthening programs, and partnerships. The governance model is non-hierarchical and takes into account knowledge and experience from across domains/directions of health and wellness (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual) and upholds Indigenous values of egalitarian decision-making. Each council member has taken a pledge to be accountable to the Indigenous peoples of BC.
Governing Council Terms of Reference
Elders/Knowledge Holders:
Roberta Price – Coast Salish, Snuneymuxw and Cowichan, Nations
For close to four decades, Elder Roberta Price has actively shared her leadership, wisdom, and teachings at UBC; the Richmond, Delta, and Burnaby School Districts; Kilala Lelum Health Centre; local hospitals and the National Indigenous Council on Diabetes. Her work supports both Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members in achieving improved health care outcomes. A member of the Coast Salish Snuneymuxw and Cowichan Nations, her ongoing involvement and leadership in research projects have been key to advancing the decolonization of health care and fostering cultural safety and equity for Indigenous patients. In 2021, she received an honorary degree from UBC, recognizing her substantial contributions to society.
Meet Elder Roberta: click here
Barb Hulme – Métis
Barbara Hulme is honoured as a founding member of the Métis Nation Greater Victoria. “Barb”, as she is affectionately known, is a mentor, a knowledge keeper and now, a trusted elder in the Métis community. Through teaching and mentorship at the University of Victoria Barb supports Métis students at the First People’s House. Her mentorship is part of a much wider, more diverse effort, on Barb’s part, to improve the Métis community. She has also volunteered in her local Métis office as an administrator, historian, citizenship coordinator and genealogy advisor for more than 13 years.
Meet Old One Barb: click here
Glida Morgan – Tla’amin First Nation
Elder Glida Morgan is from the Tla’amin First Nation. She is determined to bring healing light to our Indigenous People in her role as a front-line worker on Vancouver’s Downtown East Side and wherever she is invited to support in the areas of Family violence, Mental Wellness & Women’s Health. Elder Glida has explored ways in which culture can be integrated into the health care plans for Indigenous people. Performing at community events across the lower mainland; being involved in a group who provide medicine in the form of songs for patients in palliative care, singing & drumming Traditional songs.
Partners and Students:
Dr. Evan Adams – Tla’amin First Nation
First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) Deputy Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Evan Tlesla II Adams is a Coast Salish physician from the Tla’amin First Nation. Dr. Adams completed a medical doctorate at the University of Calgary in 2002 and a residency in the Aboriginal Family Practice program at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. Dr. Adams has a Masters of Public Health (2009) from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He was the first-ever Aboriginal Health Physician Advisor in the Office of the Provincial Health Officer, BC Ministry of Health from 2007 to 2012. He was the Deputy Provincial Health Officer for the province of BC from 2012 to 2014. Dr. Adams is currently the Chief Medical Officer of the First Nations Health Authority. Evan has also had a long career in the arts as an actor and playwright and is best known internationally for his role as Thomas Builds-The-Fire in Smoke Signals (1998).
Janene Erickson – Nak’ Azdli Whut’en First Nation
Executive Director, Indigenous Health, BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC)
Tabatha Berggren – Métis
Health Research and Evaluation Manager, Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC)
Tabatha Berggren (she/her) is deeply committed to her work. She is British on her paternal side; her maternal side is Scottish from the Andrews clan, and Métis from family lines St. Germaine, DeGear, Bélanger, and Bellehumeure. She is a proud Métis Nation BC Citizen and gratefully lives with her husband and three children (ages 9, 8, and 6) on ancestral and treaty Tla’amin Territory in the qathet Region. Tabatha is a proud parent of a child with disabilities and, through advocating for her family, discovered a passion for health research. She found a passion for health research through advocating for her family. Tabatha serves MNBC as the Health Research and Evaluation Manager, having previously worked in policy and data for a treaty nation and non-profits. She also served as charter community president in the qathet region from 2019-2023. Tabatha is passionate about the intersection of accessibility in health systems, disability in Indigenous populations, and Indigenous children’s health. It is an honour to join the BC NEIHR and work towards increasing equity in research for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit populations.
Leslie Varley – Killer Whale house of the Nisga’a Nation
Executive Director, BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC)
As is the Executive Director of BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, she and her team support the 25 member centers providing front line services to Indigenous people. Previously Leslie held the Indigenous health portfolio at Provincial Health Services Authority where she led the San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training, a facilitated, online decolonizing anti-racism training program offered to the health, social and justice sectors in three Canadian provinces. Leslie’s community work has focused on ending violence against women and girls. As an Indigenous advocate she has had roles in both provincial and federal governments, and within and for Indigenous community. A member of the Killer Whale house of the Nisga’a Nation, Leslie holds the name T’en De-entkwill Allugigat, meaning “One who leads Indigenous people”. She has a Master’s in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and resides in beautiful Lekwungen territory in Victoria, BC.
Meet Leslie: click here
Jasmine Feather Dionne – Métis and nehiyaw from nistawoyou (Fort McMurray, AB)
University of Victoria
Jasmine Dionne is Métis and nehiyaw from nistawoyou (Fort McMurray, AB). Jasmine is our Indigenous student representative and currently acts as the co-chair of the Governing Council. They come from and have relations with the Dionne, Tremblay, Mackenzie, and Cardinal families. Jasmine’s doctoral research is premised on strategizing solutions to gender-based violence in their home territorial region of sakaw wayiniwak (Boreal Forest- Métis Region 1 in Northeastern Alberta). The objective of their research is to look at and understand how the diplomatic practices of the Cree, Dene, and Métis in this region emphasize networks and politics of care, protection, and kinship and apply these to the issue of gender-based violence. Jasmine looks forward to bringing a gendered approach to Indigenous health and wellness.
Operations Team
With guidance from the Governing Council, the Operations Team (OT) is responsible for the implementation of BC NEIHR policies, programs and activities. With support from the IHRFs and partners, the OT collaborates to fulfill the following responsibilities: policy implementation, program development and implementation, and partnership and funding development. The OT meets monthly and during the annual Governing Council in-person meeting.
Principal Investigators:
Dr. Krista Stelkia, Nominated Principal Investigator, Simon Fraser University
Dr. Krista Stelkia is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and Director for the Centre for Collaborative Action on Indigenous Health Governance, a partnership between SFU FHS and First Nations Health Authority. She is Syilx/Tlingit from the Osoyoos Indian Band in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Stelkia is an interdisciplinary Indigenous health researcher whose research primarily investigates the structural determinants of Indigenous peoples’ health and wellbeing. With a background in health sciences and criminology, Dr. Stelkia’s research has critically explored structural racism and health, social justice, wellness indicators in public health reporting, connection to land as a determinant of health, and police oversight and accountability. Dr. Stelkia received her PhD in Health Sciences from Simon Fraser University where her research examined the complex and intersecting ways in which structural racism influences chronic disease and overall health and wellness of First Nations in Canada. Dr. Stelkia has over 15 years of professional experience working with First Nations communities and organizations, most recently in the Office of the Chief Medical Officer at the First Nations Health Authority. She joined the Faculty of Health Sciences as an Assistant Professor in September 2022.
Dr. Jeffrey Reading, Simon Fraser University
Dr. Jeffrey Reading has more than two decades of experience enhancing knowledge in Indigenous health issues, both in Canada and globally. He obtained a Master of Science (1991) and Doctor of Philosophy (1994) in Community Health Sciences, (now the Dalla Lana Faculty of Public Health) at the University of Toronto. He was the inaugural Scientific Director of the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research from 2000 to 2008. Jeff led a movement calling for a national advanced research agenda in the area of Aboriginal Peoples’ health and led the CIHR cross-cutting initiative in rural and northern health research. Jeff’s broad interests in research in Public Health has brought attention to issues including but not limited to the social determinants of health, environmental issues including the provision of safe potable water, health promotion and disease prevention, heart health, diabetes, tobacco misuse and accessibility to health care among Aboriginal Canadians. Jeff has played a pivotal role in the introduction of Canadian ethics guidelines for Aboriginal health research. In 2016, Jeff was appointed the Inaugural British Columbia First Nations Health Authority Chair in Heart Health and Wellness at St. Paul’s Hospital based at Simon Fraser University, renewed in 2021 for 5 years to 2026. Jeff is a member of the BC Covid-19 strategic research advisory committee.
Dr. Rheanna Robinson, University of Northern British Columbia
Dr. Rheanna Robinson, Associate Professor, Dept of First Nations Studies, Faculty of Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Northern British Columbia. Dr. Robinson is an Indigenous (Métis) scholar and a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation. She has expertise in Indigenous Disability Studies and Indigenous Education and is committed to community-based research. As a lifetime resident of northern BC, Dr. Robinson is guided by relationship and the Four R’s (Respect, Relevancy, Reciprocity, and Responsibility) in her work at UNBC and beyond.
Dr. Rodderick McCormick, Thompson Rivers University
My research chair is Indigenous child and maternal health and education, my broad area of research is in Indigenous health. My professional experience is in Counselling Psychology and Indigenous mental health. For the past 15 years, I have engaged in Indigenous health research capacity building and advocacy at provincial and national levels. For over 10 years, I ran the BC Aboriginal Capacity and Developmental Research Environments (ACADRE), the Network Environment for Aboriginal Health Research (NEAHRBCYT), and Kloshe Tillicum. On the advocacy front, I am the co-founder/leader of the National Aboriginal Health Research Steering Committee: Kawatsire. I am developing a new centre at TRU called: All my Relations. This centre will be a national Indigenous family and community health research and training centre to identify, research and further develop and implement best practices in Aboriginal family and community health and healing.
Dr. Nadine Caron, University of British Columbia
Dr. Caron was born and raised in Kamloops, BC, and completed her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University, her Medical Degree at the University of British Columbia, her Masters of Public Health from Harvard University, and her Postgraduate Fellowship Training in Endocrine Surgical Oncology at the University of California. Since 2005, she has worked as a General and Endocrine Surgeon at the University Hospital of Northern BC. She is a Professor at UBC’s Northern Medical Program, an Associate Faculty member at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Public Health, an Adjunct Professor at UNBC, an Associate Faculty at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health and BCCA Scientist, Genome Sciences Centre. Dr. Caron’s research focus involves access to equal health status, health care services for marginalized populations, including Aboriginal, northern and rural.. Additionally, Nadine is the Co-Director of the UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health.
Dr. Robert Hancock, University of Victoria
Dr. Rob Hancock (he/him/his) is Cree-Métis from Treaty 8 territory on his mother’s side, from the Monkman family, and English Canadian on his father’s. He was born and raised, and is grateful to be living and working in lək̓ʷəŋən territory. He is the Associate Director Academic in the Office of Indigenous Academic and Community Engagement and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Victoria. Trained as a historian of anthropology, Dr. Hancock’s research and teaching focuses on Indigenous-state relations in northern North America, Métis Studies, and Indigenous post-secondary education. He teaches courses on Indigenous research and community engagement methods for cohorts of Indigenous students. He was an active member of the Indigenous Mentorship Network of the Pacific Northwest as both a mentor and a mentee, and has been part of the BC NEIHR team at UVic since its launch.
Dr. Cornelia (Nel) Wieman, MSc, MD, FRCPC, First Nations Health Authority
Dr. Nel Wieman is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) in British Columbia, where she has worked for the past 7 years. She is Anishinaabe (Miishipaawitiik First Nation, Treaty 5 Territory) and lives, works and plays on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – the səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. She completed her medical degree and psychiatry specialty training at McMaster University. Canada’s first female Indigenous psychiatrist, Dr. Wieman has more than 25 years of clinical and senior leadership experience, working with Indigenous (FN/M/I) people both in-community and away from home. Dr. Wieman served as the President of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada (IPAC) from 2016 – 2022.
Dr. Evan Adams, First Nations Health Authority
Dr. Evan Tlesla II Adams is a Coast Salish physician from the Tla’amin First Nation. Dr. Adams completed a medical doctorate at the University of Calgary in 2002 and a residency in the Aboriginal Family Practice program at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. Dr. Adams has a Masters of Public Health (2009) from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He was the first-ever Aboriginal Health Physician Advisor in the Office of the Provincial Health Officer, BC Ministry of Health from 2007 to 2012. He was the Deputy Provincial Health Officer for the province of BC from 2012 to 2014. Dr. Adams is currently the Chief Medical Officer of the First Nations Health Authority. Evan has also had a long career in the arts as an actor and playwright and is best known internationally for his role as Thomas Builds-The-Fire in Smoke Signals (1998).
Network Coordinator:
Tara Erb, Simon Fraser University
Tara is of mixed Moose Cree First Nation from Moose Factory and French European ancestry and grew up in Toronto, Ontario. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at the University of Victoria (UVic) and a Master of Arts in Sociology (UVic), with a research focus on facilitating Indigenous cultural safety and anti-racism training. Tara is currently completing her Ph.D. in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University under the supervision of Dr. Krista Stelkia with a research focus on Indigenous Cultural Safety in Research Environments/Structures, specifically ethics and ethical processes. Her research interests include Indigenous health and wellness, Indigenous cultural safety, anti-Indigenous racism and social theory.
Currently, Tara is the Network Coordinator of the BC NEIHR residing as a guest on the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEC peoples territory.
Support Team
Administrative Assistant:
Kali Douglas, University of Victoria
Kali is a settler of mixed European and Ashkenazi Jewish descent who has spent most of her life on the unceded lands of the WSÁNEĆ, lək̓ʷəŋən and Kʼómoks peoples. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a Minor in Indigenous Studies at the University of Victoria. Her academic interests include Indigenous health, education and governance, as well as food sovereignty and self-determination. Kali appreciates the opportunity to work with the BC NEIHR and continue her learning journey.
Currently, Kali is the Administrative Assistant of the BC NEIHR, residing as an uninvited guest on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Quw’utsun / Cowichan Tribes, whose living language is Hul’q’umi’num.
Research Associate:
Julianne Barry, UBC Okanagan
Julianne is of mixed Ojibwe from M’Chigeeng First Nation and European ancestry and grew up on the Traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Peoples. She completed a Master of Science in Biology (UBC Okanagan) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies: Health and Exercise Sciences (UBC Okanagan). She completed her postdoctoral training with Dr. Donna Kurtz within the Indigenous Health Promotion and Cultural Safety Team (School of Nursing, UBC Okanagan). Within her postdoctoral training, she was part of the Urban Indigenous Health Collective working together to connect Traditional and Western Knowledge, improve health equity and wellness, and increase access to local culturally safe wholistic services for urban Indigenous communities. Her research interests include Indigenous health and wellness, diabetes and weight wholistic health, cultural safety, and community-led research.
Currently, Julianne is the Research Associate of the BC NEIHR residing as a guest on the Traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Peoples.
Research Administrative Coordinator:
Lindsay Botterill, UBC Okanagan
Lindsay is a settler of Ukrainian and Scottish descent, originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations at UBC (Okanagan) and her Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (UBCO) with a research focus on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) policy adaptations during the pandemic and evaluation of responses to non-profits’ needs during this time. In addition, she worked as a research assistant on projects for urban Indigenous youth focused on (w)holistic health, community building, and program evaluation. Lindsay’s research interests include gender violence, policy creation and adaptations, intersectional and Indigenous feminism, land-based healing, and community-based approaches.
Currently, Lindsay is a Research Administrative Coordinator for the BC NEIHR, residing on the unceded and ancestral territory of the Syilx (Okanagan) Nation.
Research and Network Support Coordinator
Jimena Garcia, Royal Roads University
Jimena Garcia (Achalchiuitl) is a Global Leadership Master (M. A) student in Royal Roads University. Her research is focused on Indigenous-led recovery, revitalization and practice of traditional medicine, healing, and well-being practices. She has studied and practiced Indigenous medicine in multicultural contexts, bridging intercultural partnerships, and creating products and educational campaigns for women’s health.