Soup & Bannock Podcast

In this episode, we take a look at mental health fields which include both psychology and social work. With our three guests, Wanda Gabriel, Codey Martin, and Sage Goodleaf-Labelle, join us in our discussions on the present, and future of mental health fields for Indigenous individuals.

Professor Wanda Gabriel is a citizen of the Kanehsatake/Kanieke:hake community, working as a social worker and assistant professor at the school of social work at McGill University, holding almost 30 years’ experience working with residential school survivors, victims of sexual assault and intergenerational trauma. From the past, she was the program director of a healing program titled, “Breaking all Barriers,” which was a special initiative to provide healing of trauma to the community of Oka/Kanehsatake after the Oka crisis. In past years, she has also developed a family program for the Isuarsivik Recovery Center in Nunavik, Quebec. In the role of assistant professor, she is now providing teaching and supervision to students at the bachelor and master’s level of social work education. In practice her approach to helping she draws from an Indigenous model of healing, trauma informed practice and social work theories. She calls this, Walking in 2 worlds work.

Codey Martin is Mig’maq from the traditional territory Gespe'gewa'gi Listuguj, QC, currently living in Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. As a social work student at McGill University, he participates in the Indigenous community at McGill, as well as in Kahnawake, from advocacy to ceremonies. Being a life-long learner of Indigenous cultural practices and our oral knowledges, he also plays a part of his department's race caucus and McGill's VOICE Indigenous Youth Advisory Council (IYAC), while also organizing with relatives to light a nation-wide virtual fire with CASWE (Canadian Association for Social Work Education) to bring attention to the on-going issues facing Indigenous land and water defenders across Turtle Island. He also currently works as a Traditional support worker at the KSCS Family Wellness Center in Kahnawake for his field placement.

Karahkwinetha Sage Goodleaf-Labelle is a second-year Psychology and Neuroscience student. She was born to the Bear Clan of the Kanien’kehá:ka nation, part of the Haudenosaunee confederacy. Raised by two inspirational women, a psychologist and a teacher, both of whom identify as Two-Spirit, she developed an everlasting understanding of traditional values and an interest in helping others understand themselves.  Growing up in Kahnawake, she experienced first-hand some of the major social issues that affect most Indigenous peoples: substance abuse, mental illness and emotional numbness, perpetuated within a multi-generational chain of abuse. Confident that her experiences can provide a unique lens by which to maintain engagement in important discussions, she has worked with Indigenous youth as Project coordinator with the non-profit organization Youth Fusion at Dawson College, where she and her co-project coordinator help promote Okwehonwe youth to follow their own paths. She is also a member of McGill's Indigenous Youth Advisory Council, and the youth subcommittee of the Collective Impact project in Kahnawake.

In this episode, three guests in unique stages of their career development are interviewed to share their experiences and outlook towards the health sciences industry. From a prospective student to a student currently studying medicine, all the way to an industry professional, the significant stages of career development have been represented to allow for unique, personal, and thought-provoking conversations of the past, present and future.

Dr. Kent Saylor, a member of the Mohawk Nation, is a pediatrician in the Montreal area and currently stands as the Director of the Indigenous Health Professions Program (IHPP) within McGill University's Faculty of Medicine. In the episode, he details his experience within education, entering the field, and the realities of being only one of a handful of Indigenous pediatricians in Canada.

Jennifer Robinson, a member of the Timiskaming First Nation, is a current student in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University has had a unique professional experience, having worked in numerous areas before coming to McGill's Faculty of Medicine. She details her professional and classroom experience, sharing her winding road to the health sciences.

Madeline Yaaka is a U2 student pursuing a Bachelor of Science at McGill University. In the episode, she shares her experience growing up in the Nunavik community of Kangiqsujuaq, her experience with education, and retaining a connection to her culture within urban settings.