Advancing Indigenous Caregiving in Canada: Insights from an Elder Care Gathering in Maskwacîs

Learning from Elders, caregivers and community to strengthen culturally-grounded care

Supporting Indigenous Caregivers in Maskwacîs

On a sunny morning in May, our team had the opportunity to attend Elder Care Day in the Maskwacîs community near Edmonton, Alberta. The event was organized by the Indigenous Caregiving Collective (ICC), which was founded by Dr. Grant Bruno in 2024, with support from CCCE, in response to the need for culturally grounded research and supports for Indigenous caregivers.

The ICC is the first Indigenous-focused caregiving initiative of its kind in Canada. Its work brings together direct support, advocacy, research and community knowledge to better support Indigenous caregivers and the people they care for.

“The Elders take care of us, so we need to be able to take care of them,” says Dr. Grant Bruno, a member of Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacîs and professor at the University of Alberta.

As a part of their work, the ICC hosted a series of two-day workshops titled Honouring the Caregiver in Alberta, Manitoba, British Columbia and Ontario centered on wellness and self-care for over 120 Indigenous caregivers of neurodiverse children and adults. The workshops included an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy session led by Dr. Louis Busch of the University of Toronto, a registered psychotherapist and member of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in Manitoba. The response was so strong that Bruno and Busch adapted the approach for Elders in Maskwacîs. “What we wanted to do is give opportunities for Elders to learn how to practice that really meaningful self-care,” Bruno says.

Connection, Knowledge, and Care in Practice

As the Elders sit around tables covered with printed handouts and colour markers, Dr. Louis Busch invites them to close their eyes and think back on a memory of when they were caring for someone. An Elder shares about sitting at a bench overlooking the ocean with her son in Spokane, Washington and seeing the ships cruise by. Another shares about walking along the road with her late son while holding hands. As the day unfolds, so do the stories. There are bursts of laughter and conversation along with moments of quiet contemplation and reflection as Busch led a series of exercises to help accept the difficult emotions or experiences in our lives while holding onto what we truly value. 

Throughout the day, it’s clear that the shared bond of connection is the thread that ties everything together. At the start of the day, Bruno welcomes everyone and introduces himself with the names of his grandparents and his parents, sharing his relationship to the community and those in the room.

“At a really fundamental level, the way that Indigenous people, and in particular language speakers, think about the universe is they first think about how things are related to one another,” Busch says.  

Informing Stronger Care Systems Through Community Knowledge

This is seen not only in the conversations in the room but in the way that the ICC approaches their work, learning not only from Indigenous caregiving models but from the experiences and knowledges of Elders in the community. Their goal is to build a local and national network of Indigenous Elders, organizations, health practitioners and researchers to share knowledge and advocate for better policy. Now in its second year, the Indigenous Caregiving Collective is already making a tangible impact in the everyday lives of Indigenous caregivers. Chaynoa Chanin, their Care Navigator now supports over 70 families in Maskwacîs, whether it’s with navigating complex systems or being there to them when they need someone to talk to. They’re also planning to host similar self-care events across reserves in Alberta so that caregivers can take care of their physical, mental, spiritual and emotional needs.

As a partner in this work, we’re looking forward to learning from these insights to inform our ongoing work to strengthen the care system in Canada.