Indian Hospitals Foundation Engagement
Ways to Participate
We would be honoured for you to join us at one of the upcoming in-person engagements near you. Upcoming engagement locations appear below; however, if you’re unable, or prefer not to attend in person, Dr. DeGagné would appreciate receiving the input you have to share with him through any of the following:
Submit Online
Email Us
Phone Us Toll-Free
1-833-977-5668 and leave a voicemail. Someone will respond to you promptly.
Write to Us
Indian Hospital Foundation Engagement, PO Box 30068, Gatineau RPO Montclair, QC., J8Y 0B4
Upcoming Engagements
Engagement sessions will be held in Ontario, Québec (Nunavik), Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Check back if you do not currently see a community listed near you, as new locations will continue to be added over time. To stay informed about upcoming engagement sessions, please email us at info@ihfes.ca.
Below is a list of the next few engagements. Over the coming months, there will be many in-person sessions in locations from coast to coast to coast. If you do not see an engagement listed near your community, check back later as the list will be updated regularly with new locations. If you have any questions about current or future locations for engagement sessions, please email us directly at info@ihfes.ca.
Thunder Bay, Ontario — September 09, 2026
Kenora, Ontario — September 11, 2026
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories — September 22, 2026
Fort Qu’Apelle, Saskatchewan — October 06, 2026
North Battleford, Saskatchewan — October 08, 2026
Six Nations, Ontario — October 20, 2026
The Pas, Manitoba — November 10, 2026
Norway House First Nation, Manitoba — November 12, 2026
Arctic Bay, Nunavut — November 24, 2026
Iqaluit, Nunavut — November 26, 2026
Calgary, Alberta — December 15, 2026
Siksika, Alberta — December 16, 2026
Kanai/Blood, Alberta — December 18, 2026
Participation at in-person engagements is voluntary and no financial compensation will be provided. However, some travel expenses can be supported for registered participants. Participants must register for an engagement session in order to attend in person. Please do not show up without registering as we need to ensure there is space and appropriate services and support for the number of attendees. We will provide you with detailed information about the engagement sessions and what to expect after you register.
Register Here
This is a registration form for in-person engagement sessions for Survivors of Federal Indian Hospitals included in the Settlement Agreement and their families. Each engagement will be Indigenous-led and Survivor-focused. Please only register for one in-person engagement. In order to ensure people may participate meaningfully at the meetings, spaces are limited. We want to allow as many people as possible to share their voices and be heard.
In these facilitated sessions, participants will be asked to provide input on the creation of a Foundation for healing and wellness, education, research, commemoration, the preservation of history, protection of languages, and location of burial sites associated with Federal Indian Hospitals. Each session will respect cultural protocols and include culturally-appropriate Elders. Mental health support will be available to all participants free of charge.
For those Survivors and family members who cannot or do not wish to attend an in-person session, or if you have further thoughts to share after participating at an engagement, you can provide your input through our online submission form, by email, regular mail or telephone.
Registration Form for In-Person Engagement Session
Fields marked with * are required.
Summary of Engagements
Detailed handwritten notes will be taken at every session. While all notes taken will be utilized by Dr. DeGagné to prepare the Foundation Plan or any reports on the engagement sessions, shorter summaries of the feedback received at each session will be shared in this section.
Indian Hospital Foundation
Engagement Record
Session type:
Engagement Session
Venue:
Victoria Inn, Brandon, Manitoba
1. Session Orientation
This engagement session was held in Brandon, Manitoba on June 11, 2026 as part of the Federal Indian Hospitals Foundation engagement process. The session was conducted as a roundtable. It opened with prayer led by Elders, followed by participant self-introductions, an overview of the Settlement Agreement, including the engagement process in support of the creation of a future Foundation, facilitated discussion, and closing remarks by Elders. Participants shared their experience with Indian Hospitals, together with reflections, advice, and priorities related to the proposed Foundation.
2. Thematically Grouped Comments and Advice
Records, Documentation, and the Claims Process
- Concern that hospital records were incomplete or recorded differently than actually experienced.
- Records lost or destroyed in some cases (e.g., transferred to a church that later burned down).
- Reasons for hospitalization often unknown to patients and families.
Experiences in Indian Hospitals and Related Institutions
- Being taken to Indian Hospitals and sanatoria as children, including for tuberculosis.
- Accounts abuse, and prohibition on speaking Indigenous languages, described as similar to Indian Residential Schools.
- Descriptions of medical procedures and abusive conditions.
- Connections drawn between Indian Hospital experiences and Indian Residential Schools, Indian Day Schools, and the Sixties Scoop.
- Reflections on intergenerational impacts.
- References to unmarked burials in the Brandon Cemetery, understood to be associated with the Indian Hospital.
Healing, Mental Health, and Wellness
- Need for therapists and counsellors able to address trauma, with recognition that some individuals may not be aware they carry trauma.
- Importance of ongoing, sustained support for healing.
- Recognition that, if allocated to counseling, sustained mental-health supports may use Foundation funds quickly.
- Healing described as individual and varying by person and by Nation.
- Cultural and land-based practices as part of healing, including ceremony, sweats, and connection to the land.
- The importance of truth-telling and preservation of stories for healing. Importance of private and public options for sharing stories.
- Importance of grounding and self-care when carrying out this work.
Culture, Language, Identity, and Connection to Land
- Indigenous language and culture described as inseparable.
- Concern about the loss of fluent speakers and the decline of Indigenous languages.
- Transmission of language and culture to children and grandchildren.
- Land-based teaching and ceremony identified as priorities, including hunting and harvesting practices.
- Identity, including the distinctiveness of different Nations (e.g., Cree, Dakota, Ojibwe) and retaining identity in urban settings.
- Community responsibility for language revitalization and retention.
Healthcare Access, Systemic Racism, and Indigenous-Led Care
- Accounts of racism and inadequate treatment within the healthcare system, including in emergency and end-of-life care.
- Denialism and its impact on the history of Indian Hospitals.
- Barriers to care, including being required to demonstrate need.
Commemoration, Research, and Preservation of History
- Locating and recognizing unmarked graves connected to sanatoria and hospitals (e.g., Brandon, Sioux Valley, Ninette/Pelican Lake), including support for their upkeep.
- Commemoration options, including plaques, landmarks, monuments.
- The particular importance of commemoration on former Hospital sites and in graveyards.
- Preserving history through recorded stories and testimony, and through documentation in book form.
- Interest in access to archives, including the ability to see and personally handle historical items to aid understanding.
- A dedicated building or place to gather.
Youth, Education, and Future Generations
- Education about the history of Indian Hospitals, including curriculum from K–12 through post-secondary.
- Education identified as a response to denialism.
- Involving intergenerational participants, including the children of those affected.
- Doing something positive for youth with the Foundation money; leaving an inspiring legacy.
- Investing for the benefit of future generations.
Foundation Design, Funding, and Governance
- Support for investing the fund and using the interest to sustain ongoing programs.
- Questions about how the fund ($385.5M total; divided into $150M Healing Fund and $235.5M research and commemoration) would be spent.
- Preference for a smaller governing body to enable effective functioning.
- Keeping administrative and personnel costs low so majority of money can be used on programming.
- Support for operating in perpetuity.
- Fund a university professor to teach a course on Indian Hospitals.
- Partnerships with existing organizations and archives (e.g., National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, universities and colleges) and avoiding duplication of other programs.
- References to other settlements and funding models (e.g., Gottfriedson, Four Pillars Society).
Community Conditions and Capacity
- Current pressures in communities, including how future Foundation can best reach unhoused people and address housing need (e.g., in Brandon).
- Concern that those providing community support are over-extended.
3. Select Participant Quotes
Quote (Verbatim)
“There are a lot of old wounds – it will cause years of trauma – there will be a lot of healing needed, in many ways, and in many languages.”
“We need to know why individuals were placed in the Indian Hospitals. It is important for closure. What kind of sicknesses were they dealing with there?”
“We are a colonized people but we are taking that back. Really think from your heart what can be done with this money. What can you say for the next generation? Empower yourselves.”
“Let’s do something positive with this money so our grandkids and their children won’t have to carry this over and over and over.”
“I think about our homeless Survivors. They lost their language and culture. They are trying to find their identity. Their parents, their families they didn’t put them there. Their place is not out there. Their place is with us. They are trying to find their way back. They need help.”
“A part of healing is sharing and releasing what has been held.”
“We need the therapists and the counselors to deal with the trauma. I didn’t know the trauma. I didn’t know there was a place to heal. I though I’d just go on having nightmares. Sometimes we don’t know we are in that situation. We need to work with professionals.”
“Do we need statues and monuments? That’s a reminder of abuse and bad times every day.”
“Having an investment in our lifespan is not long. We need the money to be there for the next generation and those to come.”
“There’s a lot of trauma here. Even in this room, I can feel it. We have to have people in place to help people heal from it. We need a lot of healing.”
“A lot of support needs to be had. They are not good stories, but they need to be told.”
“With these programs, there has to be ongoing funding. So they don’t have to stop healing half-way. The money needs to be invested for the long term.”
“The other thing I am big on is education. I teach my language. I have been doing that for about 40 years. Language and culture are so important.”
4. Key Takeaways
- Language and cultural revitalization were raised throughout, including the view that language and culture are inseparable, concern over the loss of fluent speakers, and transmission to younger generations.
- Healing was described as individual and ongoing, requiring sustained, trauma-informed mental-health supports, with recognition that some people may be unaware they carry trauma.
- Land-based, ceremony-based, and culturally grounded approaches to healing.
- Education about the history of Indian Hospitals, including curriculum across K–12 and post-secondary, identified as a response to denialism.
- Commemoration and recognition of unmarked graves connected to sanatoria and hospitals, including their upkeep.
- Foundation design and funding as recurrent themes, including investing the fund to sustain programs, allocation questions, a smaller governing body, and operating in perpetuity.
- Connections drawn between Indian Hospitals and Indian Residential Schools, day schools, and the Sixties Scoop, including intergenerational impacts.
- Racism and barriers within the healthcare system, and requests for Indigenous-led care and patient advocacy.
- Legacy impacts of trauma, such as homelessness, mental health, addictions, loss of culture and identity and how the Future Foundation can reach these people.
- Current community conditions, including connecting to unhoused individuals, housing need and the strain on those supporting community members.
Indian Hospital Foundation
Engagement Record
Winnipeg, Manitoba
June 09, 2026
Session type:
Engagement Session
Venue:
Anish Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1. Session Orientation
This engagement session was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 9, 2026 as part of the Federal Indian Hospitals Foundation engagement process. The session was conducted as a roundtable. It opened with the sharing of medicines and prayer led by Inuit, Métis and First Nations Elders, followed by participant self-introductions, an overview of the Settlement Agreement, including the engagement process in support of the creation of a future Foundation, facilitated discussion, and closing remarks by Elders. Participants shared recommendations, advice, and priorities related to the proposed Foundation.
2. Thematically Grouped Comments and Advice
Records, Documentation, and the Claims Process
- Many records from Indian Hospitals do not exist, were handwritten, or cannot be located, in some cases because buildings were destroyed or records were not kept.
- Individuals’ names may have been changed over time (e.g. through marriage) or been recorded differently by different institutions; in some cases, numbers were assigned to individuals, making records difficult to trace.
- Difficulty obtaining personal medical records, including records requested but reported as not existing.
- Role of records in recognizing and understanding experiences, finding family members, and preserving the history of the Hospitals.
Experiences in Indian Hospitals and Related Institutions
- Indigenous children placed in Indian Hospitals and sanatoria, often without understanding why.
- Accounts of restrictive conditions, including temporary and permanent separation from family and community.
- Descriptions of experiences of abuse and mistreatment within hospital settings.
- Connections between these experiences and the Indian Residential Schools and Indian Day Schools.
- Reflections on the lasting effects of these experiences, including across generations, and how the impact on healing, wellness and the work the future Foundation should do for Survivors and families.
Healing, Mental Health, and Wellness
- The need for comprehensive, sustained mental health and addiction supports, including in communities further north.
- Land-based and culturally grounded healing approaches were priorities identified, including teaching people to live off the land.
- Importance of follow-up and ongoing support for those who share their experiences.
- Connection between healing and the mind, body, and culture.
Culture, Language, Identity, and Connection to Land
- Culture as a way of life, including teachings from Elders, family, and the land.
- Transmission of practices to children, including making igloos, preparing dried meat and smoked fish, and harvesting.
- Identity was connected to healing and described as foundational.
- Importance of Indigenous languages, including in institutional settings.
Healthcare Access, Systemic Racism, and Indigenous-Led Care
- Descriptions of racism within the healthcare system, including in treatment and staffing.
- Barriers to healthcare access for northern and remote communities, including travel for dialysis and treatment due to a lack of local technicians.
- The need for Indigenous-led primary care and Indigenous staff on the front line, including to explain medications to patients at discharge, especially in their Indigenous languages.
- The need to retain people in care rather than discharging them prematurely.
- Possible role/advocacy work for future Indian Hospitals Foundation in healthcare settings.
Commemoration, Research, and Preservation of History
- Commemoration options, including buildings, plaques, and a museum dedicated to the history of Indian hospitals.
- Preserving history through linking archives and records.
- Locating burial sites and recognizing unmarked graves connected to hospitals as a priority.
- Suggestions included naming a medical school, or units in hospital, e.g., dialysis unit, as a legacy and documenting stories and testimonies across regions.
- Participants noted that the general public is unaware of the segregated Hospital system that existed for Indigenous people; and education about the history of Indian hospitals is part of prevention.
Youth, Education, and Future Generations
- Participants encouraged programs supporting Indigenous youth entering healthcare and other fields.
- Supporting and funding students, including those pursuing higher education, especially in the sciences; and concerns about funding-eligibility rules.
- Focusing on ensuring conditions are better for future generations, including providing opportunity for children to participate in land-based learning.
Foundation Design, Funding, and Governance
- The Foundation’s funding model, including questions about spending only the interest versus spending the fund over a defined period.
- Need for Elder involvement, Survivors/descendants, and regional representation in the Foundation’s work.
- Need for representation and unique approaches for Inuit and other Northerners, whose realities are different than those down South.
- The sustainability and longevity of the Foundation, including the view that it will outlive current participants, thus the need for legacy investments.
Northern and Remote Communities
- Communities further north require dedicated resources, including for mental health, harvesting, and cultural programming.
- Support and programs delivered in Survivors’ Indigenous languages.
- Meetings are often held in larger centres (e.g. Iqaluit, Yellowknife) and more northern and remote participants can be disadvantaged.
- The distinct experiences and circumstances of Inuit, and Northern communities.
3. Select Participant Quotes
Quote (Verbatim)
“Coming together in a workshop like this is part of a healing process”
“I would really like to see Elders be part of all this work”
“We want to expose our kids and grandkids to a beautiful way of life – out in the bush, out on the land, out on the water”
“We should support Indigenous students interested in medical careers enrolled in second and third degrees, especially in sciences, because those are so much harder to fund than first degrees”
“We will be gone before all the funding is gone – the Foundation will outlive us”
“Education has to be part of this process but it has to come from Indigenous people”
“You need lots of passion and patience to work with Indigenous people because they are hurting so much”
“We should support the whole of people’s healing path because it takes many different journeys”
4. Key Takeaways
- The absence or loss of records was a recurring concern, affecting both recognition of experiences and preservation of history of the era.
- The importance of Indigenous-led healing — including land-based and culturally grounded approaches — alongside sustained mental health and addiction supports.
- Racism within the healthcare system and barriers to healthcare access, particularly for northern and remote communities.
- Indigenous staffing, Indigenous-led primary care, and supporting youth to enter healthcare fields.
- Commemoration, preservation of history, and locating/recognizing burial sites connected to hospitals were priorities.
- Education about the history of Indian Hospitals as part of prevention.
- Elder involvement, leadership, regional representation, and questions about the Foundation’s funding model and longevity were important considerations in discussions of its design.
- Northern and remote communities require dedicated resources and consideration, including advance materials and culturally grounded programming.
Pre-engagement Process
Prior to beginning the formal engagement process, the Indian Hospitals Foundation Engagement Support Team convened a series of small meetings with Dr. DeGagné and Survivors and their supports who were involved in the litigation and the settlement process. The sessions were designed to inform the broader cross-country engagement process. Sessions were held from December, 2025 to February, 2026 in Edmonton, Saskatoon, Iqaluit, and Vancouver.