The association's founders initially came together to pool their skills, education and cultural heritages to ultimately improve what they witnessed first hand as nurses - the appalling overall health conditions faced by their own people.

They soon discovered that if their association was to survive and grow and successfully achieve the objectives that first brought them together, they would also have to become familiar with the culture of politics and bureaucracy, they would have to learn the subtleties of funding criteria and to develop new skills in the arts of diplomacy and persuasion. The founders were also faced with numerous administrative and legal hurdles integral to incorporating the new organization. However, these and the many other obstacles would be overcome and the evolution and development of the association continue today as the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada.

• To act as an agent in promoting and striving for better health for the Indian and Inuit people; that is, a state of complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being.

• To conduct studies and maintain reporting, compiling and publishing of material on Aboriginal health, medicine and culture.

• To encourage and facilitate Aboriginal control of Aboriginal health, and involvement and decision making on matters pertaining to health care services and delivery.

• To offer assistance to government and private agencies in developing programs designed to improve health in Aboriginal health issues.

• To maintain a consultative mechanism with the association, band governments and other agencies concerned with Aboriginal health issues.

• To develop and encourage courses in the education system on nursing, the health professions, Aboriginal health and cross-cultural nursing.
  

• To develop general awareness in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities of the special health needs of Aboriginal People.

• To conduct research on cross-cultural medicine and develop and assemble material on Aboriginal health.

• To actively develop a means of recruiting more people of Aboriginal ancestry into the medical field and health professions.

• To generally develop a means of recruiting more people of Aboriginal ancestry into the medical field and health professions.

• To generally develop and maintain on an ongoing basis, a registry of Aboriginal Registered Nurses.

On another front, the existing Aboriginal political groups were unwilling to support the association's efforts to obtain funding. This was at a time when health was not a priority, or even an issue, on the agenda of most Aboriginal political organizations. It is to the credit of the association's early leadership that they persevered. Today, Aboriginal health conditions are a major issue that drives initiatives in many areas previously divorced from health concerns, including economic development, housing and Aboriginal self-government. Over time the common goal of improving Aboriginal health has naturally lead to ANAC working closely with most political organizations.

As with most new organizations, ANAC's formative years were complicated by the availability of funding. The new association was able to secure operational funding from the Native Citizens Directorate of the department of Secretary of State to cover one board meeting and one national conference a year. Funding was provided through the directorate's Native Women's Program and the funding mandate of this program created some unexpected problems. The association had chosen Tom Dignan, at that time the only known male nurse of Aboriginal ancestry, to serve as its Chairperson. This caused some Program Officers in Secretary of State to question the association's membership and their eligibility for funding.

Conversely, the association also had to counter suggestions that it was a strictly feminist group. This assertion came generally from those who held a negative view of feminism. In response, the nurses stressed that the organization was comprised of members joined together, as a professional association, in support of objectives designed to bring improved healing and health to Aboriginal peoples.

It was an association of and for people whose cultures have always given respect to the essential roles of medicine men and women in tending to the health needs of the community. In fact, as the association evolves, its growing membership has reinforced the importance of drawing on traditional healing practices and the skills of practitioners in carrying out their professional duties - irrespective if they be women or men.

Still, most great ventures, over the long haul, experience periods of growth and dormancy. Similarly, the building of a professional association for Aboriginal nurses went through times of strength and weakness. At a time when the organization seemed most vulnerable to collapse, it was rescued by Manitoba's Indian nurses under the auspices of their provincial association.

In 1978 Grace Easter of the Manitoba Indian Nurses Association assumed the presidency of the national organization and the first national office was established in Winnipeg. Then in 1982 with its vitality restored, the association's head office was moved to Ottawa where it could have ready access to government departments and other national organizations.

In 1983 the association changed its name from the original and exclusive "Registered Nurses of Canadian Indian Ancestry" to the "Indian and Inuit Nurses of Canada". This change was made to ensure that nurses of Inuit ancestry felt equally welcome to participate in the common cause.

Through better or worse the association actively pursued its objectives. They continued to hold national meetings whenever possible and conduct the vital community networking essential to building a strong national organization. However, in the formative years the attendance for some meetings was less than anticipated. The turning point came when new students became interested and other nurses associations started to take notice of the organization's efforts. The eventual influx of new nursing students can be credited in large measure to the emphasis placed on one of the association's founding objectives - the recruitment of more people of Aboriginal ancestry into the medical field and health professions.

From its inception the association considered this goal a priority and strongly advocated its actualization. Eventually the association influenced the former Medical Services Branch of Health Canada to recognize the need for the promotion and development of health careers for Native people in its 1979 Indian Health Policy. In turn this led to the creation of the Indian and Inuit Health Careers Program.

At that time, the nurses association represented the only group of Aboriginal medical professionals with sufficient numbers to champion this cause. There were about 200 identified Aboriginal nurses. Aboriginal medical doctors were few and there were no dentists, pharmacists, health educators, nutritionists or other medical professionals who were able to collectively bring an Aboriginal perspective to the delivery of health services to Aboriginal communities.

Today although more Aboriginal people have entered the health professions, many more are needed to strengthen the capacity of the Aboriginal health care system to control and deliver quality health care services to communities. The recruitment of more people of Aboriginal ancestry into the medical field and health professions remains an ANAC priority.

ANAC has been in the forefront in promoting better health for Aboriginal peoples, it has carried out numerous health studies and published valuable information on Aboriginal health, culture and traditional medicine. The organization has helped governments and other bodies develop programs to improve Aboriginal health. Its consultative component has proved useful to a variety of groups concerned with Aboriginal health and it has been able to influence the training of health professionals in the area of cross-cultural health care delivery to Aboriginal people while heightening awareness of the special health needs of Aboriginal people among the Canadian population in general.

Over the years, the positive image projected by the association's members has served to encourage greater numbers of Aboriginal people to aspire to a career in the health professions and strengthen our voice in the health field. Indeed, during its evolution and throughout its several incarnations first as the Registered Nurses of Canadian Indian Ancestry; then in 1983 as the Indian and Inuit Nurses of Canada and most recently in 1992 when it became the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada, the organization has been at the forefront in every issue affecting the health of Aboriginal people.

The association takes pride in its many accomplishments over the years. In this first quarter century ANAC conferences have focused attention on Aboriginal health issues. By consistently and thematically addressing sensitive problems like alcohol and the family; family violence; the abuse of women, elders and child sexual abuse ANAC gatherings have helped to inform, educate and break the silence.

ANAC has also assumed a key role in preparing communities for the transfer of health care services to band control by facilitating discussion on issues and concerns in a series of community based workshops. The transfer process and its implications for Band employed nurses was also the topic of one of the several surveys conducted by the organization. ANAC representatives had significant involvement in the development of the "Handbook on Transfer"' published by the former Medical Services Branch (MSB) of Health and Welfare Canada.

Other studies have examined Family Violence issues, the numbers and distribution of Aboriginal nurses and nursing students in Canada and obstacles to the employment and retention of Aboriginals within MSB and Health and Welfare Canada. Some more notable projects include the study of "Traditional Medicine and Primary Health Care Among Canadian Aboriginal People" and "HIV/AIDS and the Impact on Aboriginal Women in Canada". ANAC has produced a directory of Indian and Inuit Health Careers Program for use in Aboriginal schools. ANAC Board of Directors also served as Expert Consultants at workshops on the Aboriginal women's component of the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women.

The documented results of these and other initiatives published by ANAC over the years stand as part of our longstanding commitment to enhance awareness, understanding and knowledge of health issues among Aboriginal people and the general public.

In addition to special initiatives and various information pamphlets and regular program reports there is the association's newsletter, "The Aboriginal Nurse". The newsletter alone has been an invaluable communications vehicle for keeping Aboriginal nurses in all areas of the country connected. Since the association's start the newsletter has been the medium for a lively exchange of ideas between nurses in isolated communities, urban centers and everywhere in between. "The Aboriginal Nurse" has also served members by informing them of developments in their profession and new opportunities for employment and advanced education.

Since 1985, the association has had an additional inducement at its disposal to encourage Aboriginal nursing students. At that time, the Baxter Corporation invited the association to administer two annual scholarships, each worth $5000.00, to be awarded to Aboriginal nursing students who planned to pursue their professional careers in the north. This scholarship provides incentives to prospective Aboriginal nurses, and its name - The Baxter Corporation - Jean Goodwill Scholarship - acknowledges the generosity of the contributor and honours one of the founders of the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada.

• Canadian Nurses Association
• Provincial and Territory Registered Nurses Association
• Aboriginal Caucus on Family Violence
• Economic Development for Canadian Aboriginal Women
• First Nations Health Commission
• Joint National Committee on Aboriginal AIDS Education Prevention
• National Aboriginal Health Network
• Native Nurses Entry Program (Lakehead University)
• Canadian Council on Children and Youth
• Canadian Council on Social Development
• Canadian Diabetes Association
• Canadian Institute on Child Health
• Canadian Pediatric Society
• Canadian Public Health Association
• Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health
• Hearings on Mental Health and AIDS
• Hearings on New Reproductive Technologies
• Joint Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS

ANAC, through the active involvement of its members, often serves as advocate and advisor to both government and other agencies some of which are:

• Assembly of First Nations Health Commission (Ex-officio status)
• The Native Nurses Access Programs at the University of Saskatchewan and Lakehead University
• MSB's Indian and Inuit Health Careers Program
• The National Indian and Inuit Community Health Representatives Organization (NIICHRO)
• The Canadian Hospital Association

Support for the work of ANAC now comes from many quarters, both within the health community and Aboriginal organizations. Professional health groups such as the Canadian Association of University Schools for Nursing, the Canadian Public Health Association and the Indian and Inuit Health Committee of the Canadian Pediatric Society are active supporters of the work of ANAC. The Canadian Nurses Association, of which ANAC is now an affiliate, has been particularly supportive of ANAC's ongoing efforts. The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations has described ANAC as, "An invaluable source of support, information and technical expertise to First Nations communities across the country. In addition, the association both through role modeling and by direct promotional activities has encouraged substantial numbers of our young people to enter nursing and other health professions."

Only a portion of the history of ANAC is mentioned in this brief recounting. Yet all is significant and ANAC wishes to express acknowledgment and gratitude to our membership over the years who have helped shape and energize this organization.