In this episode co-hosts Natalie Daniels and Mary Jack are joined by special guest, Lenora Starr, MSW, Indigenous Cultural Safety Practice Lead with Indigenous Partnerships.

Lenora Starr (Cílcelnak) is a member of the St'át'imc Nation and the community of Xaxli'p. She came to work with Interior Health in November 2024 and has been working diligently to uplift the current IH Smudging Guidelines into a formal policy to support Indigenous clients to have culturally safe and supported spaces to incorporate their traditional Indigenous healing practices into their wellness journey with Interior Health.

Listen in to learn more about the work Lenora is doing to guide a smudging policy at Interior Health.

Join Interior Voices podcast (IVP) hosts Mary Jack and Natalie Daniels in their first episode as co-hosts as they discuss the importance of Indigenous art and artists in IH facilities. For this episode, the IVP team reached out to the Indigenous artists who have worked within IH facilities and scheduled an interview. IVP hosts were joined by syilx artists, Clint George and Sheldon Louis.

Together talked about their journey as Indigenous artists, their body of work, and shared stories and personal experiences. Clint is an artist from the Okanagan Nation Territory in British Columbia born and raised on the Penticton Indian reserve in Penticton, B.C. Sheldon is a syilx (Okanagan) multimedia visual artist who resides at sənƛ̓uxuxtan on the Okanagan Indian Reserve near Vernon.

Clint has two steel sculptures at Penticton Regional Hospital, a steel sculptire at Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre and two steel sculptures at the Snxastwilxtn Health Centre. Sheldon has paintings at Kelowna General Hospital and Kelowna Cancer Care Clinic

Learn more:

• Clint George
• Sheldon Pierre Louis

After joining Interior Voices podcast (IVP) in September 2022, and with two seasons as co-hosts, Jade Chaboyer-Kondra and Nicole Taylor-Sterritt are saying goodbye to the podcast in this two segment episode.

Season 06 Episode 03- Segment 01: Farewell Nicole Taylor-Sterritt & Jade Chaboyer-Kondra: 00:00 - 21:00

Jade is lead, Indigenous engagement, Indigenous Partnerships. She identifies as Cree-Metis; her homelands are Saskatoon on Treaty 6 Territory. Jade joined IH in 2018 after working for the Saskatchewan provincial health authority for over seven years. Nicole Taylor-Sterritt was a lead with the Indigenous Health & Wellness team at IH. She left her position this spring to move to BC Cancer, where she now works as manager, Indigenous health promotion, Indigenous cancer control. She is mixed heritage, a member of the Kispiox Band (Gitxsan Nation) and European.

Season 06 Episode 03- Segment 02: Welcome Natalie Daniels & Mary Jack: 21:00 - 33:25

After previously participating in Interior Voices podcast (IVP) as guests in numerous episodes Interior Voices podcast welcomes to the team incoming co-hosts, Mary Jack and Natalie Daniels.

Mary Jack is an influential leader in the Indigenous Partnerships team, currently serving as the newest co-host of the Interior Voices podcast for Interior Health. A proud member of the Okanagan Indian Band, Mary brings her rich cultural heritage to her role, where she focuses a strong commitment to enhancing health outcomes for Indigenous communities.

Natalie Daniels has worked for Interior Health for over a decade in a variety of roles and couldn't be more excited to join the Interior Voices podcast as co-host. She works as a Lead on the Indigenous Health & Wellness team focusing on culturally safe and sacred spaces within Interior Health . Natalie is a member of Wiikwemkoong First Nation located on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Being a part of Indigenous Partnerships allows Natalie opportunities to enhance healthcare with inclusion and consideration of Indigenous culture and ways of being.

Episodes with Mary Jack and Natalie Daniels as guests:

• Interior Voices: Season 6 Episode 2: Heart Health and Cardiovascular Care
• Interior Voices: Season 5 Episode 10: Year in Review
• Interior Voices: Season 5 Episode 6: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day
• Interior Voices: Season 4 Episode 2: Aboriginal Patient Care and Quality Consultants

Join hosts Jade Chaboyer-Kondra and Nicole Taylor-Sterritt during heart month for an episode dedicated to heart health! In this episode, Jade and Nicole invited Dr. Laurie Main and syilx Elder Darlene, from Upper Nicola Indian Band with her support person and daughter-in-law, Mary Jack, Lead, Strategy & Accountability, Indigenous Health and Wellness.

Dr. Laurie Main is a General Internal Medicine Specialist, practicing in Salmon Arm since 2018. Laurie works hard to meet the needs of and improve access to cardiac care in Salmon Arm, where she is the President of Shuswap Cardiac Society, a not-for-profit dedicated to improving the quality of cardiovascular care in the Shuswap.

Elder Darlene lives in the area known as spaxmən (spugh-e-min), commonly known as Douglas Lake reserve in Merritt. She has five sons, with her late husband George, three biological and two adopted, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Darlene was born with rheumatic fever. As a child she was in and out of the Coqualeetza Indian Hospital in Sardis (Chilliwack), B.C. and Kamloops Indian Residential School (Kamloops B.C.).

Learn more

• Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
• Coqualeetza Indian Hospital
• Shuswap Cardiac Society

Join hosts Jade Chaboyer-Kondra and Nicole Taylor-Sterritt for the sixth season of the Interior Voices podcast. In this episode Jade and Nicole invited the Indigenous communications consultants Sheanna Williams, Communication & Engagement Consultant – Indigenous Partnership and Victoria Jaenig, Communications Consultant, Indigenous Partnerships.

Sheanna Williams/ Thunderhorse Woman, a Carrier Sekani woman from the Takla Nation (bear and wolf clan) with Ukranian and Icelandic ancestry, loves being on the land and in community, and is an advocate for Indigenous youth. She also has a five-year-old Rottweiler who loves being on the land with her.

Victoria Jaenig/ qwəɬxanaʔ (kwel-han-nah), is a member of the Penticton Indian Band and Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc communities. She is a wife, mother, aunt, sister, daughter, niece and syilx woman who is also a harvester, hand drummer and apprentice to the nsyilxcən language. She has a background in the arts, communications, Indigenous business and education sectors and an award-winning Indigenous storyteller.

Learn more

• Interior Health - Indigenous Partnerships
• Interior Health - Indigenous Health and Wellness

Join Jade Chaboyer-Kondra and Nicole Taylor-Sterritt, our magnificent hosts of the Interior Voices Podcast, in this informative episode with Janessa Collins as they discuss ways to positively support Indigenous employees at Interior Health (IH).

Janessa is the Business Partner for Indigenous Employee Experience at IH. Janessa Collins/Kʷista'yetko (kwis-teh-yet -koh), member of the Nlaka'pamux Nation from the Lower Nicola Indian Band (Merritt, B.C.), is a mother, daughter, granddaughter, , auntie, wife, and mother of chickens.

Learn More: Interior Health 2024-2029 Indigenous Employee Experience Strategy

Dearest gentle listeners! Did you miss us? Hosts Jade Chaboyer-Kondra and Nicole Taylor-Sterritt are back after a short pause followed by a soft re-launch with Part 1 of 2: Cultural Safety is for everyone where you heard how cultural safety and humility is for everybody.

In this episode we continue our conversation discussing how the role of allyship and being an ally is critical to advancing Indigenous health and wellnessm, cultural safety and humility.

Jared Basil is from yaqan nuʔkiy (Lower Kootenay Band) of the Ktunaxa Nation and wears many hats. He currently resides as Chair for the Board of Governors for the College of the Rockies, is an Entrepreneur/ CEO/ Business Owner for Native Pride Design, is a former an elected official of yaqan nuʔkiy, serving as Band Councilor from 2015 to 2021.

Learn more about

• Ktunaxa Nation

• Ktunaxa Nation Social Investment Sector Practice Framework

• Indigenous-led mental health and addictions facility underway

Welcome Back listeners! Join Interior Voices Podcast hosts Jade Chaboyer-Kondra and Nicole Taylor-Sterritt in this Part 1 (of 2) can't miss episode with Ktunaxa Cultural Framework Educator, Jared Basil as they discuss the importance of culture, being grounded in identity, how cultural safety is for everyone and the work Ktunaxa Nation is doing.

Jared Basil is from yaqan nuʔkiy (Lower Kootenay Band) of the Ktunaxa Nation and wears many hats. He currently resides as Chair for the Board of Governors for the College of the Rockies, is an Entrepreneur/ CEO/ Business Owner for Native Pride Design, is a former an elected official of yaqan nuʔkiy serving as Band Councilor from 2015 to 2021.

Learn more:

• Ktunaxa Nation

• Ktunaxa Nation Social Investment Sector Practice Framework

In a can't-miss episode for fans of the podcast, hosts Jade Chaboyer-Kondra and Nicole Taylor-Sterritt challenge three of Interior Voices' self-proclaimed biggest fans to a trivia contest based on previous episodes from this season! Listen to Natalie Daniels, Indigenous cultural safety and practice lead, Darcy Doberstein, manager, strategy and accountability, Indigenous Partnerships, and Becca Britton, Métis health systems advocate, show off their podcast knowledge for a chance at the crown.

Relive the best of the season, with fun, laughter, and conversation about the important themes and learnings Interior Voices brought to life in 2023. Are you an avid listener? We encourage you to play along!

As the fifth season draws to a close, we also acknowledge the work and legacy of two individuals who have been integral to Interior Voices throughout the years.

Beth Blew, one of the original co-founders of the podcast, edited Interior Voices for 4.5 seasons in addion to marketing the podcast. Her behind-the-scenes contributions allowed it to flourish and grow, to become the podcast it is today.

We also acknowledge Jody Wagner, one of our excellent hosts. Jody recently took a new position within Interior Health and will no longer be working as a host of the podcast - but her insight, creative ideas, and compelling questions will leave a legacy.

Have you enjoyed this trip down memory lane? Revisit Season 5 by listening to previous episodes:

Season 5, Episode 1 – Peer Inclusion Project

Season 5, Episode 2 – Aboriginal Partnerships Leadership Team

Season 5, Episode 3 – Indigenous Health Emergency Management Liaison Tamara Sommer

Season 5, Episode 4 – Indigenous Nurses Day

Season 5, Episode 5 – Moose Hide Campaign

Season 5, Episode 6 – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Season 5, Episode 7 – Climate Change

Season 5, Episode 8 – Métis Nation British Columbia

Season 5, Episode 9 – Indigenous Foods in IH Facilities

On today's episode, hosts Nicole Taylor-Sterritt and Jade Chaboyer-Kondra sit down with Savanna Brown, Direction, Quality Standards & Initiatives, to learn how Interior Health has integrated traditional Indigenous food options into Interior Health facilities.

The legacy of colonization in Canada can be felt through the systemic inequities that remain, such as the loss of traditional foods for Indigenous peoples - food which is integral to Indigenous culture. Through the Traditional Food Initiative, Savanna's work has started with her own learning and unlearning journey including a Ministry of Health led piloted learning journey to introduce Indigenous foods into health care. In partnership with the Support Services leadership team, she looks forward to collaborating with Indigenous community members to understand their needs and help create a menu that embraces traditional recipes and their history.

Learn more:

• Home on Native Land, an educational site recommended by Savanna