Dr. Robert Henry and Terri Hansen-Gardiner worked together for the Digital Storytelling Project. (Submitted Photos/University of Saskatchewan)

By Derek Craddock

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They are raw, they are real, and they are inspiring, and thanks to a new project from the University of Saskatchewan, they will finally be heard.

The Digital Storytelling Project, a collaborative effort between the University of Saskatchewan, McMaster University, the Saskatchewan Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (SK-NEIHR), Story Centre Canada, and Métis Nation-Saskatchewan launched earlier this month.

The goal of the project is threefold: to look at health and wellness in Northern communities in a new light, to explore and share the experiences of Métis patients navigating the Saskatchewan health-care system and dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and to work with SK-NEIHR to give those survivors a piece of legacy storytelling to share far into the future.

“The whole point of the digital storytelling is for individuals to talk about topics or issues that are close to them and utilizing multimedia, sound, visual aid and their voice to tell a story within these three-to-five-minute video clips,” said Dr. Robert Henry with the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

Henry, who is Métis and originally from Prince Albert, said this project resulted in several digital stories with first-person accounts of cancer survivors or their family members detailing the most important moments of their cancer journey.

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Henry said the participants in the stories were very open about their struggles to leave home to deal with their diagnosis.

“Some of the stories talk about what individuals had to give up to get treatment … We don’t normally think about that, and the impact that has,” he said.

“One of the biggest ones that for myself was one that I never even considered was the role of child welfare with individuals who are accessing cancer care and if they’re looking after children and there’s nobody else there that they would be apprehended within the strong family services.”

Some of the stories already being shared come from Métis men and women who detail their battles with cancers in the stomach, breast, and prostate, just to name a few. The storytellers also share how they overcame thanks to support from family, friends, Elders, health care providers and others.

In April of 2022, the Metis National Council published a report showing that cancer, particularly in the lungs was a major issue among Métis people in Canada.

The report pointed to several factors including high tobacco use, alcohol consumption, obesity rates, a lack of physical activity, and eating habits.

The report also noted that there was no evidence concerning differences in screening uptake between Métis people and non-Métis people. However, many barriers and facilitators exist with screening among Indigenous Peoples, including accessibility, education, and availability of culturally appropriate information.

The report concluded with many action plans including working with other governments to develop a Métis-based approach for tackling this issue.

According to a 2018 study by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), cancer rates were significantly higher among Métis adults than non-Indigenous adults. This was true for certain cancers including liver, breast, gallbladder, and larynx. The mortality rate was higher for Métis people diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Terri Hansen-Gardiner, a Knowledge Keeper with SK-NEIHR and a cancer survivor said one memory of her treatment was seeing Elders in waiting rooms, sad and afraid because they often didn’t speak English and didn’t understand what was happening to them.

It’s one of the many reasons she works with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency’s Northern Health Bus, which travels through more than two dozen communities to help with education and awareness of major health issues.

“It’s so important that you’re hearing it from me, you’re seeing me,” Hansen-Gardiner said. “I’m so grateful. That’s how people learn – seeing other people telling their journey, what they went through, the challenges they faced and how they overcame those challenges.”

Henry said they first started gathering stories during last year’s Back to Batoche event and found many similarities regarding access to care.

Now, he’s hopeful the storytelling project will allow people to empathize with the lived realities of cancer survivors and their families.

“Hopefully they can be taken up by individuals and policymakers to start thinking about how to support individuals dealing with, living with, and have survived cancer,” he said.

You can find out more about the project and see the stories on the project’s website.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com