About Us

Building Capacity that empowers First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.

FPWC provides mentorship and resources to support First Nations mental wellness and trauma-specialized workforces in Indigenous communities, building their capacity and enhancing their skills. It also provides a central resource hub for sharing wise practices and resources and expanding membership within and beyond First Nations mental wellness workforces and organizations.

Fostering reciprocal relationships that honour First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
FPWC seeks to build and expand relationships with Indigenous groups, scholars, organizations and governing bodies to support wellness, healing and peacemaking using Indigenous knowledge. It also intends to develop criteria for relationships that are within or outside of the scope of FPWC in order to build relationships with non-Indigenous organizations grounded in reciprocity to advance Indigenous mental wellness and create equity.

First Peoples Wellness Circle has its roots in the good work and legacy of the Native Mental Health Association of Canada (NMHAC). This non-profit association was founded in 1975 by Canada’s first Indigenous psychiatrist, the late Clare Brant. Other pioneer leaders include Joan Glode, Dr. Marlene Brant-Castellano, Dr. William (Bill) Mussell and Robert Allen.

The NMHAC was built on a foundation of connectedness and relationships. Through its pioneering work, it offered Indigenous community workers and non-Indigenous alliances unique opportunities to explore, share, network and advance the dialogue on Indigenous ways of knowing and doing. The NMHAC always strove to highlight the successes of Indigenous communities in addressing mental health challenges by using cultural knowledge and evidence at capacity-building gatherings.

Although the NMHAC could not sustain its work, the passion, dedication and vision of its leaders led to investments in collaborative visioning and partnerships that culminated in June 2015 in the merger of the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation (NNAPF) and the NMHAC. This amalgamation resulted in the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and the First Peoples Wellness Circle. Together, these organizations represent some of the most current and promising thinking on mental wellness within the First Peoples of Canada.

FPWC promotes wellness based on traditions and cultures that support healing and wellness. The board co-chair states, “We are building on what we have learned from our forefathers and foremothers, while still evolving and learning from other traditions and practices around the world. Our work is based on the Indigenous value system of caring and sharing. We are committed to integrating the best of all worlds, using optimal tools to support the healing and wellness of our people.”

FPWC’s work promises Indigenous and mainstream approaches. In recent years, holistic models for health and wellness have begun to emerge in mainstream thinking, such as population health and the determinants of health model. As these approaches are more congruent with Indigenous concepts, we welcome these changes. We also believe that Indigenous traditions and practices have a lot to offer mainstream Canadian society.