The Canadian Mental Health Association of Manitoba and Winnipeg has responded to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s: Calls to Action, through partnership, allyship and by building on a foundation of trust. With leadership from CMHA’s own Indigenous Mental Health and Wellness Specialist, we have established several partnerships with First Nations communities and Indigenous organizations, including the formation of CMHA’s Elder-led Indigenous Advisory Council. As these relationships strengthen provincially and nationally, we will continue to support Indigenous-led mental health initiatives and ensure cultural practices are recognized as key aspects of the recovery journey.
As a federated, national organization that has celebrated over one hundred years of service to Canada, we are deeply committed to responding to the truth and reconciliation calls to action. We recognize the need to reflect and analyze how we, as an organization, may have been silent at times about the harm that has been caused to the mental well-being of individuals, families, and communities who, through policy and practices, have been ravaged by poverty, racism, and ignorance. Like many others, we watched as children, youth, and adults experienced the horrors of residential schools, child welfare apprehension, imposed segregation and lack of meaningful investment and support.
We are authentically committed to learning, sharing our resources and skills, and building new relationships that will guide all of us to a better and stronger tomorrow as a nation. We recognize the resilience of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples and the power of their knowledge. We must create spaces where this knowledge, experience, and these skills, in collaboration with the capacity and commitment of CMHA, can create and innovate, while restoring and recognizing living and historical Indigenous knowledge and wisdom.
We honor and promote the prioritization of Indigenous methodologies and ways of knowing in the co-design of Indigenous mental health supports. In our efforts to provide Indigenous mental health and wellness programming, we support the utilization of land-based cultural activities, teachings, storytelling, ceremonies and Indigenous trauma-informed practices.
