MD tickled by eagle feather

CMAJ 2000;162:397

Shah, a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the U of T, has helped support native Canadians' quest for appropriate health care for 25 years. "I'm a visible minority," he said, "and I've always been interested in marginalized groups."

Lillian McGregor, elder-in-residence at the University of Toronto's First Nations House, presents Dr. Chandrakant Shah with an eagle feather

Shah, a pediatrician and internist with a master's degree in public health, began his involvement by providing medical services in Sioux Lookout, Ont., for 1, and then 3, weeks a year. "Homelessness, child poverty, unemployment — these are the health problems of the marginalized," he said. In 1989 he realized that the community was looking to him for solutions, and launched an annual Visiting Lectureship on Native Health. Each year, 3 weeks of public lectures are delivered by native speakers to listeners from hospitals, public health groups, high schools and universities; 90% of those attending the lectures are university students. Shah's goal is to heighten sensitivity and maybe even incite action.

"If we are to promote self-determination or aboriginal rights we need champions outside the community," says Shah, who also works 2 half-days a week at Toronto's Anishnawbe Community Health Centre. The lectures and forum also help stop "the cycle of misinformation."

That's precisely what attracted lecturer Jim Morris, deputy grand chief for the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation, a Northern Ontario political organization linking 50 First Nation groups. "The most important thing is to educate urban mainstream Canadians about Aboriginal people, history, culture and health status," says Morris. "We are changing perceptions." During his week as the visiting lecturer he made about a dozen presentations. — Barbara Sibbald, CMAJ

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