Cultural Safety and Humility

Many of the classic psychedelics are sacred plant medicines that have been used by Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial.

Even though psychedelic-assisted therapy also uses synthetic psychedelic medicines like MDMA, ketamine, and LSD, the approaches and framework used for psychedelic-assisted therapy is heavily informed by Indigenous traditional knowledge. As a result, it is important for health professionals working in the psychedelic-assisted therapy space to be aware of the history of how psychedelic medicines have historically been used and the significant harm potential for Indigenous Peoples.

Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Colour regularly die in healthcare due to lack of care, being ignored, and other reasons related to systemic oppression and settler colonialism. For example, in October 2021, Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old Indigenous mother, filmed herself on Facebook Live as she ensued horrific racism while at the hospital in Joliette, Québec. She ultimately passed away due to lack of care. After a 3-week inquiry into her death, the coroner concluded that it was an undeniable case of systemic racism and that she “would be alive if she were White” (Nerestant, 2021).

Cultural Safety

As health professionals, we must not only be aware of the differences between different cultures and be culturally sensitive, but we must create culturally safe environments where Indigenous Peoples can live their full sense of self and identity including emotionally and spiritually. It includes implementing actively anti-racist policies and programs. It also includes actively avoiding cultural appropriation, such as settlers burning sage and sweetgrass, a sacred plant medicine for many Indigenous Peoples in Canada and the United States.

Cultural Humility

Cultural humility complements cultural safety by contributing to a culturally safe environment. It is the life-long commitment to self-reflection and self-critique to understand our own privileges and continuously challenge our own assumptions. Cultural humility is also a commitment to ongoing learning.

Note

Because settling comes with free agency, “the term settler does not, and can never refer to the descendants of Africans who were kidnapped and sold into chattel slavery (King 2013). Black People, cut off and removed from their own Indigenous lands could not be agents of settlement” (Vowel 2018).

Learn More

If you would like to learn more about Indigenous Peoples, settler colonialism, Canada’s cultural genocide towards Indigenous Peoples, and the ongoing oppression faced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada, consider taking the free Indigenous Studies course designed by the University of Alberta.

References

King, T. J. (2013). In the Clearing: Black Female Bodies, Space and Settler Colonialism. PhD diss., University of Maryland.

Nerestant, A. (2021). If Joyce Echaquan were white, she would still be alive, Quebec coroner says. CBC.

Vowel, C. 2016. Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada. Highwater Press.