National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, honours residential school survivors, the children who never returned home, their families and communities. This movement extends to every child of all races, beliefs, identity and Gender.
As part of the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA's) commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and our CARES values, we continue to honour our commitment with initiatives we launched this month including:
In addition to these initiatives, we are excited to introduce SHA's new Indigenous Smudging Ceremony Policy.
SHA’s new Indigenous Smudging Ceremony Policy
The Saskatchewan Health Authority's (SHA) new Indigenous Smudging Ceremony Policy marks another important step in our ongoing journey toward reconciliation and the delivery of equitable and culturally-safe care. This policy reaffirms our commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action #22 that recognizes Indigenous healing practices and Indigenous knowledge in health care.
Smudging is a sacred Indigenous healing and cleansing ceremony that fosters a deeper connection to culture, identity, and spiritual wellness. For many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples, healing includes spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional dimensions, and ceremony may be an important part of care, comfort, connection, and wellness.This policy establishes expectations for smudging requests to be supported with respect, understanding, timeliness, and appropriate cultural guidance and is intended to help remove unnecessary barriers, reduce fear and misunderstanding, and support consistent responses across SHA facilities and programs.
As part of our CARES values, all SHA team members have a role in fostering inclusive, respectful, and culturally-responsive health care. I encourage each of us to continue to turn our commitment in action by reviewing and understanding this new policy.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to strengthening cultural responsiveness.
Reviewing the Indigenous Smudging Ceremony Policy
The SHA Indigenous Smudging Ceremony Policy (SHA-04-005) is now in effect. All SHA team members are required to review this policy, including:
- Staff
- Practitioner Staff
- Contracted Individuals
- Patient Family Partners
- Knowledge Keepers
- Volunteers
- Learners
- Contractors
SHA employees – Access E-Learn to review the policy
Practitioner Staff - Access Document Finder to review the the policy
Notice to SHA managers:
- ensure all team members review this policy,
- direct team members who do not have an SHA email to the policy, and
- track your team members’ policy review progress through e-learning reports
Notice to affiliates: This email applies to SHA employees only.
For affiliate organizations, a designated affiliate lead receives a copy of the policy and procedure documents. It may be necessary to clear your internet cache to see updated versions of policies.
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