First Nations Health Disparities: Bridging Traditional and Western Medicine

A Tale of Two Health Systems

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples in Canada face some of the most pronounced health disparities in the developed world. Life expectancy on reserve is up to 15 years lower than the Canadian average. Rates of diabetes, tuberculosis, suicide, and chronic disease are dramatically elevated. These are not genetic inevitabilities — they are the measurable outcomes of colonization, poverty, and systemic neglect.

The Determinants of Health

Understanding Indigenous health disparities requires looking beyond individual behaviours to the social determinants that shape health outcomes:

• Clean Water: Dozens of First Nations remain under long-term drinking water advisories.
• Food Security: Remote communities often lack access to nutritious, affordable food.
• Housing: Overcrowded, mould-infested homes directly cause respiratory illness.
• Mental Health: Intergenerational trauma from residential schools and colonial violence continues to drive high rates of addiction and suicide.
• Access to Care: Many communities lack on-site medical facilities and must travel hundreds of kilometres for basic care.

"True healing begins when we can practice our own medicine alongside Western care — not instead of it, but alongside it."

— Dr. Evan Adams, Former Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority of BC

The First Nations Health Authority Model

British Columbia's First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), established in 2013, is North America's first province-wide Indigenous health authority. It has transformed health service delivery by integrating cultural safety into every level of care and supporting communities to develop their own wellness plans based on their cultural priorities.

Traditional Healing Practices

Across Canada, First Nations healers are reclaiming their roles as primary health practitioners. Traditional medicine — including plant-based remedies, sweat lodge ceremonies, and talking circles — addresses the spiritual and emotional dimensions of health that Western biomedicine often overlooks. Many community health centres now employ traditional healers alongside nurses and physicians.

Mental Health and the Healing Journey

Land-based healing programs, where community members spend time on traditional territory engaged in cultural activities, have shown remarkable results for addiction recovery and trauma processing. Programs in communities from Haida Gwaii to Nunavut are demonstrating that reconnecting with land and culture is itself a powerful form of medicine.