When you think of health care, images of doctors in lab coats, hospital hallways and medical charts come to mind. But when Amelia Alfred, Bachelor of Social Work ’26, took a leadership class with Kealey Dube, the Métis student’s group project in partnership with the MacEwan University Health Centre (MUHC) focused on a facet of health care we might not think about – cultural health.

“When one of our group members did her practicum at MUHC, she noticed there was limited access to smudging and resources for Indigenous folks,” says Alfred. The group approached the MUHC to explore offering more cultural support for Indigenous patients.

The centre was open to making changes, but incorporating smudging into a space that wasn’t designed to accommodate the practice had its challenges. Without proper ventilation, there were concerns of harming patients with allergies or respiratory issues. Alfred took the setback as an opportunity to think a little bigger, thanks in part to the Indigenous Student Community Engagement Grant.

She found out about the grant during her fourth-year practicum with kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre and applied for it to expand the project.

“We started working toward bringing in a dedicated space for cultural practices – including Indigenous smudging – for healing,” says Alfred. While Alfred and her team weren’t able to reach their original goal of establishing a home for cultural practices in the MUHC, their work identified potential directions for setting up a space, including renovating space in the centre or working with MacEwan to use a room in the university’s new building, which is located directly across the street from the MUHC. But the grant money allowed for real changes and progress toward that future space.

“With the grant, we got some artwork for that future cultural room and did three facilitated professional development sessions with Knowledge Keeper Tom Snow for the staff at MUHC, so they could learn about what cultural safety is and what that entails.”

Though Alfred graduated this spring, the relationship between kihêw waciston and MUHC is continuing, she says. Staff from kihêw waciston are now helping MUHC staff learn about the importance of plant medicines in supporting Indigenous patients in the health-care system.

The project has also given Alfred skills and information that she applies in her current role as the lead, Indigenous reconciliation at the University of Alberta Students’ Union. She works with Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and staff at the university to help them learn the importance of integrating Indigenous ways of knowing, such as offering protocol, into their professions and education.

“Bringing that knowledge to help decolonize the space that I’m working in is really important,” she says. “This research project has helped me to feel more confident within myself, in my abilities and my skills, not only as a leader but as an Indigenous person as well.”