With a growing Indigenous population, Aboriginal health is an important issue within both Saskatchewan and Canada. With that in mind, this year’s Dr. Keith Crocker Memorial Lecture will focus on the topic.

The lecture, now in its second year, is set to be held at 5 p.m. on Nov. 24 at the Gordon Oakes-Red Bear Student Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. It will feature a talk given by Dr. Don Wilson, a clinical associate professor at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Wilson is a member of the Heiltsuk Nation from the north-central coast of British Columbia, and specializes in obstetrics and gynecology.

John Thiel, the unified department head for obstetrics and gynecology at the U of S, explained why Wilson was chosen for this lecture series.

“I think certainly he’s a reputable obstetrician and gynecologist, with his range of interests in developing nations medicine in Haiti [and] the role he’s played with international society and in First Nations health care issues and also in LGBT issues as well. We just thought that as a Canadian … that he would be an excellent speaker for the type of lecture we’d like to put on,” Thiel said.

Thiel helped organize the lecture and explained that the origins of this lecture are rooted in Crocker’s family.

“Dr. Crocker was a former department member in obstetrics and gynecology and last year his two sons, who are both physicians in the U.S., contacted our department and they said that they would like to endow a lecture in their father’s memory,” Thiel said.

Thiel stated that, at Crocker’s sons’ request, the lecture will always pertain to the late Dr. Crocker’s interests.

“Dr. Crocker was quite interested in medicine in developing countries or First Nations health, those kind of things. They requested that our lecture focus on topics that fit in that area,” Thiel said.

This year’s lecture will focus on Indigenous health as pertains to obstetrics and gynecology, and Thiel believes there is quite a lot to learn about Indigenous traditions in this area.

“With women, and with expectant moms, there’s certainly lots of differences in First Nations tradition, First Nations culture and in First Nations history that I think we need to have a good understanding of, as practitioners and as health care providers of all kinds, in order to be sensitive to needs [and] to help us understand why people make the decisions that they do,” Thiel said.

Thiel added that he does not feel that these ideas have been properly taught to health care providers in the past, and believes that this lecture is an opportunity to gain insight and understanding on the topic. Wilson also mentioned the importance of this topic in today’s society.

“I think it’s important for people to have a broad understanding of social determinants of health. I think we need to have an ongoing conversation in Canada about racism and many of the other hindrances that minorities might come up against that make it more challenging for them to achieve equality and equity with average, mainstream Canadians,” Wilson said.

Wilson also said that he feels that these are topics that are important for all students to know, regardless of their area of study. Wilson explained that his Indigenous background as a member of the Heiltsuk Nation informs much of his work as well as the lecture he will be giving.

“My background as an Indigenous person growing up on a reservation — I think it gave me a unique perspective, especially when I moved away from that and I had to function in the mainstream and in the greater world. It gave me an interest in what other Aboriginal people go through.”

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Jack Thompson / Staff Writer

Graphic: Lesia Karalash / Graphics Editor