[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/aboriginal-conference.jpg” caption=”Katsi Cook, Ovide Mercredi “]A diverse array of McMaster students, faculty, respected speakers on Aboriginal issues, members of the greater Hamilton community and Canadians from throughout country will be in town Saturday for McMaster's Aboriginal Health Conference 2004.

Organized by a group of students from the McMaster Student International Health Initiative (SIHI), the conference will focus on the inequities that are experienced by Aboriginal populations in terms of health.

Conference co-ordinator and SIHI president, Simi Arora felt compelled to provide a forum in which persons could share their ideas and experiences with respect to Aboriginal health.

“It is important that we come together to talk about these issues, instead of always focusing our attention outside of our own communities,” said Arora. “The injustices that Aboriginal populations have faced historically continue to the present, and we need to put them at the forefront of our discussions of health.”

The conference will bring together speakers from a broad range of disciplines. Keynote speaker for the conference is Ovide Mercredi, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Hamilton resident Andrew Orkin will also speak at the conference. Orkin has been a key partner in the litigation surrounding the Red Hill Valley expressway project.

Other speakers include Wayne Warry, McMaster anthropology professor; Katsi Cook, a Mohawk midwife and environmental activist; Jan Longboat, a Mohawk expert in herbal medicine, and Karen Hill, a member of the Tuscarora band at Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and medical resident at McMaster University.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. in the atrium of the McMaster University Student Centre, and the conference will run until approximately 5 p.m. The cost is $5 for students and $7 for others in advance, or $7 for students and $10 for others at the door.

For further information e-mail aboriginal.health@learnlink.mcmaster.ca or call Simi Arora at 905-525-9140, ext. 52099.