Rooted in culture. Guided by community.
Birchbark Health is an Indigenous-led not-for-profit improving access to high-quality, culturally safe primary care for Indigenous patients in Alberta. Everything we do is grounded in Kímmapiiyipitssini, the Blackfoot teaching of empathy and compassion.
Rooted in respect
An Indigenous-led not-for-profit committed to building healthier futures by advancing community-driven healthcare rooted in culture, compassion, and respect.
Care that lasts
Advance Indigenous healthcare through community-led, culturally grounded initiatives that create lasting impact and wellness for generations to come.
Access for all
A future where every Indigenous person has access to high-quality, culturally grounded healthcare, supported by strong local capacity and sustainable models of care.
Direction comes from the community.
Decisions at Birchbark Health are guided by our community partners, our Elder advisors, the unhoused community members we serve, and our Board of Directors. Based on observed community needs, we design training and ceremony around what each setting asks for, from naloxone to wound care to smudge.
EagleEye Lethbridge
Built after deep consultation with Elders, the Blood Tribe Department of Health, and the unhoused community, EagleEye works to reduce preventable deaths in southern Alberta by pairing emergency skills with cultural connection.
“Some see the way things are and ask why. Others imagine what could be and ask why not.”
Reduce mortality
Southern Alberta, Kainai Nation and Lethbridge, has carried the highest overdose rates per capita in the province. We meet that crisis directly: naloxone training, first aid certification, and doctor-led wound care, delivered where people are.
Increase protective factors
Culture and community are medicine, and so is knowledge. Smudge ceremony and belonging sit alongside mental health first aid, addiction education, and teaching the protective factors that keep people well long after a training ends.
Outcomes
Capture stories and extend impact. By working with many organizations, we naturally become a conduit for storytelling, and can advocate alongside large NGOs like Amnesty International for grassroots causes.
Our board.
Dr. Esther Tailfeathers
Family Physician; Medical Director, Blood Tribe Stand Off Clinic
Nola Wanuch
Councillor, Enoch Cree First Nation Chief and Council
Tony Day Rider Delaney
Former Councillor, Blood Tribe Chief and Council
Dr. Kat Chief Moon-Riley
Family Physician; Medical Director, Blood Tribe Lavern Clinic
Dr. Aidan Sander
Radiology Resident
Declan Sander
Investor, Builders VC & Treasurer, Amnesty International Canada
“Innovation isn’t always about creating new things. Sometimes it involves looking back to our old ways and bringing them forward to this new situation.”Murray Sinclair, Former Justice & Honourable Senator