PMHAC: Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Indigenous worldviews or “ways of knowing” that date back thousands of years, are learned through storytelling, and are inherently practiced. A core worldview is the concept of “interconnectedness”. It is the belief of indigenous people that everything in the universe is connected. Every creature, plant and even object has a purpose and is respected and cared for. This embraces the notion that people are tightly connected to their communities, ancestors, and future generations. So when immunization access was a problem for rural communities, it was innate for the Siksika Nation to step up and launch a Rural COVID Vaccination Clinic in the spirit of protecting indigenous and non-indigenous brothers and sisters. The clinic was extended to Siksika Nation’s neighbouring municipalities of Strathmore, Gleichen, Wheatland County, Vulcan County and Newell County. And, when Calgary’s most vulnerable needed help. Siksika Nation, once again, stepped up to help its neighbors by providing a mobile immunization clinic to the homeless.