Abstract

In Canada, there are significant gaps and disparities between the health conditions of the urban Indigenous population and those who live on reserves, as well as those of the Canadian population as a whole. Far from being limited to epidemiological or biomedical manifestations, health issues as related to Indigenous people necessarily evoke dimensions that are of a systemic and structural nature, where their legal status, constitutional recognition, capacity toward self-determination, and legitimate role within society are all at stake. The initiatives to curb these inequalities must ensure a real contribution from these peoples in decision-making and the governance of their social and public affairs; these initiatives must propose a real division of powers and be based on a collective, democratic, and global vision of health for the benefit of those directly concerned. These are the founding principles of the Minowé Clinic project established in a small Mid-Northern Québec town by the Val-d’Or Native Friendship Centre.