Road To Your Name - Season 7, Episode 2: Visiting with Yotakahron Jonathan and learning about her journey to become a medical doctor

This episode was recorded in November 2024.Yotakahron Jonathan — From the Rez to Seven ContinentsRoad to Your Name | Season 7, Episode 2Episode DescriptionIn this episode, Lisa is joined by Dr. Yotakahron Jonathan, a Mohawk Bear Clan physician from Six Nations of the Grand River. What unfolds is a deeply honest conversation about the long road to becoming a doctor — one marked by determination, racism, heartbreak, and healing. From attending her grandmother’s appointments and noticing something was wrong with how doctors communicated, to becoming one of the very few Indigenous physicians working in rural and remote communities across BC and the Northwest Territories, Yotakahron’s story is one of perseverance and purpose.She opens up about the racism she faced in medical school, including a traumatic incident that led her to take a leave of absence and the cyber-bullying that followed. She talks about how Indigenous community support — even communities not her own — helped her heal. She also shares her role in pushing McMaster University to add Indigenous health content back into the curriculum, and the changes she’s seen since.Beyond medicine, Yotakahron is a traditional doula, a beader, a tiny house builder, and a traveller who has visited 51 countries and all seven continents — including Antarctica with National Geographic.What We Talk AboutHow Yotakahron knew from age four she wanted to be a doctor — and what she noticed in her grandmother’s appointments that shaped her approach to health careChoosing social sciences over health sciences for her undergrad, and why that decision made her a better physicianNot getting into medical school the first time, and what happened the very same day she found outThe racism she faced in medical school, including being singled out as the only visible Native student, the cutting of Indigenous health from the curriculum, and a traumatic public incident involving a residential school survivor panelTaking a leave of absence, healing through ceremony and counseling, and eventually going backTraining in UBC’s Indigenous Family Medicine program — the only one of its kind in CanadaWorking in coastal BC communities including Alert Bay, Bella Bella, and Haida Gwaii, and what it meant to be surrounded by Indigenous community during some of her hardest momentsThe complex question of practicing medicine in your own home communityTraveling to 51 countries and all seven continents — and why Antarctica was the trip that helped her close the chapter on medical schoolBeading as a stress gauge and creative practiceThe Heartberry Podcast — two seasons of conversations about navigating racism in post-secondary educationThe full-circle moment of realizing she had become the kind of Native doctor who inspires the next generationGuestDr. Yotakahron Jonathan — Mohawk Bear Clan, Six Nations of the Grand River. Family physician working in rural and remote Indigenous communities. Research and Project Coordinator for the Interactive Indigenous Research Ethics Repository at UBC’s Office of Research Ethics. Traditional doula, beader, tiny house builder, and world traveler.Resources MentionedHeartberry Podcast — available on major podcast platformsAboriginal Legal Services — aboriginallegal.caSupport the show: click Donate at the top of the ALS homepageFacebook: Road to Your NameRoad to Your Name is produced by Aboriginal Legal Services and hosted by Lisa VanEvery, Mohawk Nation, Wolf Clan. Recorded on Haudenosaunee territory with technical assistance from True Seed Media. Nya:weh for listening.