Manitoba Indigenous Tuberculosis History Project

06/21/2026

Today, June 21st is Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada, while June is Indigenous history month. In honour of these two events, in our most recent blog we reflect on what Indigenous health historians do, and how their work can lead to meaningful changes in Indigenous health outcomes today and for the future.

You can read "Considering Change and Stasis Over Time in Indigenous Health History" on our project website: https://indigenoustbhistory.ca/news/considering-change-and-stasis-over-time-in-indigenous-health-history

05/21/2026

Today we are sharing a new blog post written by our project team members, available to read now on our website.

In “Life and Death Under the Indian Act: Coming to Know Lorna Blackbird in an “Indian Act” Way,” our research team reflects on how the archival records that document Indigenous lives impact what we, as historians can know, and how we see Indigenous people. Through the lens of the life of Lorna Blackbird, her access to and experiences with healthcare and through her death, we emphasize how the Indian Act not only shapes every stage of First Nations peoples’ lives, it also shapes how we as historians come to know about Indigenous family and communities from the past.

In April 1876, 150 years ago, Parliament passed An Act Respecting Indians, a document that brought together existing imperial Indian policy as Canadian federal jurisdiction. The act defined who an Indian was and what a reserve was; it defined laws that applied to Indians and to reserves and a struct...

05/19/2026

Patient and family experience is not a “soft” measure – it is a clinical and system indicator. For Indigenous Peoples, experience is where the impacts of history and ongoing colonialism are most visible. Policies, environments, and interactions can either reinforce mistrust or begin to repair it.

Advancing Indigenous health in hospitals requires more than isolated programs, it demands a fundamental shift in how care is defined, delivered, and experienced. Patient and family experience is where that shift becomes visible – and measurable.  

05/15/2026

Our new report, First Nations and Inuit Burials at Brookside Cemetery 1950s-1970s, explores some of the hidden Indigenous histories of Brookside Cemetery, histories that reveal key moments in Winnipeg’s Indigenous and colonial past that can help to inform present municipal understandings of truth and reconciliation. To learn more and to access the report, visit our website.