Indigenous, People, Research, Student Profile

Charting a nonlinear path to transforming Indigenous health

Geraldine Manossa is on a mission to reimagine health frameworks

September 17, 2024

Geraldine Manossa’s academic journey is a testament to the belief that life is not always a straight line but rather a series of twists, turns and detours.

After embarking on various career paths, Manossa made the decision to pursue her doctorate, almost two decades after completing her master’s degree. She’s now a doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies program at UBC Okanagan.

Manossa’s educational journey first began amidst challenges within the public school system, where she says the portrayal of Indigenous culture was often negative and prejudicial.

“As a young person, I really struggled with it. I was pushing against the curriculum I was learning. I was challenging it. It was just so opposite of what I knew in my own family, how we see ourselves and how we talk about ourselves,” Manossa explains.

Motivated to redefine the narrative, she enrolled in the Native Communications Program at Grant MacEwan College after high school, where she was exposed for the first time to Indigenous academics who were addressing issues like colonization and intergenerational trauma.

Spurred by this new learning path, she registered for courses at the En’owkin International School of Writing and Fine Arts. There, she learned more about Indigenous history and connected with mentors such as Dr. Jeannette Armstrong, now an Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at UBC Okanagan.

“It’s taking that step back to build relationships so health partners can understand what a health framework looks like driven from, for example, a Cree worldview of health and wellness, and to utilize that framework to develop a specific cultural health model in primary health care settings. That’s my goal.”

These early experiences ignited Manossa’s passion for understanding and leveraging Indigenous knowledge systems to address contemporary issues.

“I was learning that as Indigenous peoples, we have these rich cultures and traditions and I wondered why we couldn’t use those knowledge systems to inform things like educational programs or health programs,” Manossa explains.

“That’s when I started connecting the dots in terms of the strengths of where I come from, and all the different Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of seeing and understanding the world.”

She went on to pursue her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Indigenous Studies at the University of Lethbridge. Her studies prepared her for roles as the Director of Education at the En’owkin Centre and a leadership position in primary care at the First Nations Health Authority, where she played a pivotal role in advocating for culturally informed health practices.

After two decades in the field, Manossa embarked on her doctoral journey, driven by the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Witnessing the gap between intentions and actions in health reconciliation efforts, she felt compelled to try and bridge this divide. Her academic research focuses on developing a land-informed health framework in collaboration with First Nations communities and health partners to integrate Indigenous cultural practices into mainstream health systems.

“Hopefully my findings will be useful and a good starting point within Indigenous primary healthcare centres, and beyond that as well, such as in mainstream healthcare systems.”

“It’s taking that step back to build relationships so health partners can understand what a health framework looks like driven from, for example, a Cree worldview of health and wellness, and to utilize that framework to develop a specific cultural health model in primary health care settings. That’s my goal,” explains Manossa.

Mentor and doctorate advisor Shawn Wilson says it’s Manossa’s approach to research that is so impressive.

“Geraldine has the fantastic ability to use her vast cultural knowledge to look at and pick apart Western health or education systems to see how they work.  She then uses what she finds there to rewrite how those systems work into something that better reflects Indigenous cultures.”

In recognition of her academic achievements, Manossa was recently selected as an exceptional scholar by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and will take part in the foundation’s esteemed three-year leadership program. As a scholar, Manossa not only receives financial support for her research, but will also benefit from the contribution of mentors.

“I have access to mentors who have tremendous experience, not only life experience, but also within academia, and I think that’s just such an amazing layer. It’s an incredible opportunity to learn from them.”

Manossa has another three years before she completes her doctorate, but is hopeful that her completed research will contribute significantly to a new health model that incorporates Indigenous worldviews and practices.

“Hopefully my findings will be useful and a good starting point within Indigenous primary healthcare centres, and beyond that as well, such as in mainstream healthcare systems.”