That is a great question, and it's great to hear.
One answer to that is that you can't do something about indigenous women and indigenous people without indigenous people. It can't be done. It will never be done successfully. That's yesteryear. That's a historical response. That's number one.
Second, you're tapping into indigenous scholars, physicians, health care providers and researchers. Given the historical approach to education and the marginalization of indigenous peoples in this country, that is a relatively small pot. We have to acknowledge that and support those who are willing to go into that space.
Third, we have to recognize and not lose sight of the fact that data has been absent—we have a bit of data—and then be patient and wait for it. In saying to be patient and wait for it, I really cannot stress enough that we should not have to prove we need it. The governments and funding bodies of the health systems that would pay, fund and resource the screening mammogram, for example, should have the burden finally fall on them, as the health care system, to prove that indigenous people will not benefit from this.
It's always like the data needs to be there to prove that the resources are warranted. As a first nations physician, a breast cancer surgeon and a breast cancer researcher, I hear it ad nauseam. Why? We don't have the data because we haven't had the resources and don't have the educational background based on residential schools and all that. Patience needs to mean that until we know otherwise, we're going to be very cautious and value indigenous lives in this country.
Finally, what's really emerging now is indigenous data sovereignty. When we generate data, start to get this knowledge and move together as a country in our health care systems and public health systems, we need to recognize that we need to protect the sovereignty of this data, which is owned by indigenous people and should be guarded by indigenous people. Knowing how that data will be used is very important. How do you do that? I'll go back to my original answer: not without indigenous people to help direct it.
I think we're at a place where I can trust, as an indigenous researcher and health care provider, that with the right people in the room, the whole room doesn't need to be indigenous people. I'm hearing all these questions and brilliant responses from elected officials—and you guys sound like you're listening, you sound like you care and you sound like you're hearing us—so you don't need to be indigenous to care or understand, but I think we need to move forward as a country, as a community.
The fact that you asked this question is in itself a step forward.