Darlene Sanderson

Health and Well-being | Indigenous Peoples | Indigenous Health | Health Sciences | First Nations | Mental Health | Community | Health | Water | Indigenous health, water, traditional knowledge, Indigenous research.

I am of Nehiyaw (Cree) and Saulteaux ancestry from northern Manitoba, which is connected to Red River Métis ancestry and mixed-European ancestry on my mother side, and Doukhobor ancestry on my late father’s side. I am grateful to work and live on the unceded, ancestral, traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh, who have been in relationship with this land for millennia. I am honoured to have worked with Indigenous communities in British Columbia and internationally on water laws and protection, and language and cultural reclamation. I began my professional career as a registered nurse following a BScN from the University of Alberta (1981) and worked for 17 years as a cardiac nurse. I received my Master of Arts in the School of Youth and Care at the University of Victoria (1999), and then completed a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from Simon Fraser University (2008), listening to and learning from Indigenous Elders’ teachings on water. Dedicated to uplifting Indigenous peoples’ health and education through research, I work with Indigenous communities to support Indigenous self-determination in research design and delivery. My work connects health, education, and law through Indigenous-led research involving water and climate change. I am currently working with the Tl’etinqox and Secwépemc peoples on topics ranging from water issues, development of sovereign Indigenous research centres, COVID-19 response, and community responses to climate change impacts. I continue to work in partnership with Secwépemc people supporting their Water Guardians programme. I have supported indigenization of nursing curriculum development and implementation of on-the-land experiences for nursing students.