FORT SIMPSON - Participants in a forum in Fort Simpson are taking a serious look at how traditional healing practices can be integrated into the services offered by Dehcho Health and Social Services (DCHSS).

Dale Awasis, a traditional healer and researcher, along with Minnie Letcher, the director of community programs and services for Dehcho Health and Social Services are using the Two Medicines in the Dehcho forum to gain input about integrating traditional and western medicine. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

From June 5-7 approximately 50 people from across the Deh Cho are meeting in Dehcho Hall as part of the Two Medicines in the Dehcho forum.

The goal of the forum is to receive input from the communities on how they would like to see traditional healing practices used and integrated, said Minnie Letcher, the director of community programs and services for DCHSS.

Workshop topics will include protocols for traditional healing, traditional knowledge and mental health therapy and what a traditional and western medicine model would look like. Three traditional healers will be present at the forum along with an aboriginal physician, said Letcher.

"It's going to be a lot of dialogue and learning," she said.

The forum will help answer a number of questions, said Letcher including what people would like to see if a traditional healer was available and what arrangements you would need to make to see one. Health professionals also need to be introduced to what traditional healing is, said Letcher.

The forum is part of a project by DCHSS to develop a model to integrate traditional and western medicines.

Currently the traditional healing services that DCHSS offers aren't tied into the western medicine, said Letcher. The service is offered on a needs basis. Funding is available if a healer is requested by an individual or a community, she said.

At this point there are also no guidelines or parameters for how a traditional healer works and how a healer would interact with a doctor, Letcher said.

Traditional healing refers to practices done by aboriginal people including the Dene, said Letcher.

"Traditional healing has always been part of our aboriginal lives," said Letcher.

Traditional healing is holistic and looks at a variety of aspects of a person's life including the spiritual. In traditional healing, patients are also given a responsibility to look after their own health and well being, said Letcher.

In trying to develop a model for traditional and western medicine to work together, DCHSS is looking to provide a good outcome for clients, she said.

"It would give people choices," she said.

Holding the forum is an important step in the project, said Dale Awasis, a traditional practitioner who's been conducting research for the project.

"It's important to hear from the elders of the region and the practitioners," said Awasis, who is also the chief of the Thunderchild First Nation in Saskatchewan.

Through his research in the Deh Cho, Awasis said that he's seen a need for the service.

"Research is basically saying it's warranted and necessary and probably the way to go," said Awasis.

There are, however, still some contentious issues surrounding the subject, he said.

The way DCHSS wants to implement traditional healing might require the practices to be formalized. Some elders and healers are not sure that's an appropriate step, Awasis said.