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The First Nations Health Authority:
A Message from the CEO
Welcome to the first issue of Spirit, a BC First Nations health and wellness quarterly. As BC First
Nations continue to walk our path to wellness, we introduce Spirit as a tool for sharing information,
celebrating our successes, and supporting an emerging BC First Nations health and wellness network.
The First Nations Health Authority is eager to share practical and fun tips on how to be well,
create connections to services and to share the knowledge, talents, skills and innovations of our BC
First Nations communities.
We live in an exciting moment where BC First Nations are designing our own health system – incorporating the best of our traditional
knowledge, medicines and wisdom with contemporary medical techniques that will support us. Spirit is one vehicle that will help us
to share the traditional knowledge given to us by our ancestors while recognizing the benefits of other systems of health and wellness
that can aid us on our journey.
The historic BC First Nations health reform process is bringing together communities all over the province to have the important
discussions surrounding the health of our people. As we have this conversation we are asking: What does it mean to be healthy? What
is wellness? We are collectively determining and defining health on our own terms and in ways that are meaningful to us. The First
Nations Health Authority offers this magazine as one tool to support health literacy and inspire our communities.
“Our relationships and responsibility to take care of our lands and
each other comes from the wisdom and knowledge passed down
to us on how to live respectful, positive and healthy lives.”
We know health and wellness is not just the absence of sickness or injury. Health is a combination of spiritual, emotional, mental and
physical well-being. It begins with us making the right decisions in our lives but we must also address social, environmental, cultural
and economic factors as a collective BC First Nations family.
We know our Nations, families and communities are what make us strong and keep us well. Our relationships and responsibility to
take care of our lands and each other comes from the wisdom and knowledge passed down to us on how to live respectful, positive
and healthy lives.
We hope you enjoy the first issue of Spirit and use this magazine as a tool for your individual, family, community and Nation’s wellness.
We want to share the best and brightest individual and community stories, and to open doors for communication and collaboration
between Nations as we work to create the healthiest BC First Nations communities and the most effective, innovative, and Community-Driven,
Nation-Based health system.
Joe Gallagher
CEO
First Nations Health Authority
2 - Spirit Fall 2012