SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Around 600 researchers, scientists and educators came together in Yellowknife last week to share knowledge on a variety of Northern medical and mental health issues, with an emphasis on indigenous peoples.

The International Congress on Circumpolar Health which is hosted in various regions of the circumpolar world every three years is an opportunity for medical professionals, government officials and researchers to discuss issues relevant to Northern jurisdictions.

"This whole thing of learning from each other is something that I guess we're walking away with," said Billy Archie, vice chair of the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research, and former mayor of Aklavik. "At the same time we're making those contacts with those recognized researchers to help with ongoing challenges with the circumpolar countries and the indigenous people."

Mental health in aboriginal cultures - specifically depression - was a major topic.

Keynote speaker Suzanne Stewart, a Yellowknives Dene who holds a PHD in psychology and teaches at the University of Toronto, held a workshop on a new approach to dealing with mental health issues in aboriginal communities.

Stewart said the Western medical model and the traditional ways of dealing with mental health are "completely conflicted in many ways."

"It's not to say there aren't some similarities, but there are also some key differences and the key differences are what really seem to matter in terms of creating and delivering adequate mental health care for native people."

"Most native people across Canada ... don't access available health services because those services, mental health services in particular, are just not adapted to native understandings of health and wellness."

Rajiv Rawat, communications for the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research, said that the scientific program of the Congress alone consisted of more than 450 presentations.