Esther Tailfeathers

Last updated

Esther Tailfeathers
Born1960or1961(age 63–64)
Spouse Bjarne Store-Jakobsen (divorced)
Relatives Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (daughter)

Esther Tailfeathers (born 1960/1961) is a Canadian physician.

Contents

Raised on teetotal tribal lands, where she observed her father's struggles with alcohol, she became the medical lead at Alberta Health Services' Indigenous Wellness Core, where she developed Indigenous Health Commitments: Roadmap to Wellness. She married Bjarne Store-Jakobsen, with whom she had a daughter, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers.

Early life

Tailfeathers was born in 1960 or 1961 [1] and is a member of the Kainai First Nation. [2] She grew up on tribal lands, where alcohol is prohibited, and recalls other community members becoming bootleggers to earn money. She recalls at the age of 12 driving her father to the bootlegger's so he could buy gin to help with a hangover. Her father stopped drinking in the early 1980s after a court order to do so. Tailfeathers has described her approach to treating addiction as informed by her father's struggles with alcohol. [1]

She earned a bachelor's degree in Native American Studies from the University of Lethbridge, [2] before marrying Bjarne Store-Jakobsen, [3] whom she had met at the 1981 World Council of Indigenous Peoples assembly in Australia, [4] and moving to Norway. After the death of her brother, who had been a medical student and had encouraged her to study medicine, she earned a medical degree at the University of North Dakota and did a residency in family medicine at the University of Alberta. [2]

Career

Tailfeathers moved back to Alberta in 2000. [2] She worked in the emergency department on Montana's Blackfeet Reservation in Montana and in Alberta's Fort Chipewyan, [1] before becoming a family physician on the Blood Tribe, where she also lived. [1] [5] She became the medical lead at Alberta Health Services' (AHS) Indigenous Wellness Core (IWC), where she was instrumental in developing Indigenous Health Commitments: Roadmap to Wellness. She resigned in 2023 after a job offer to Deena Hinshaw to become the IWC's public health and preventive medicine lead was revoked by AHS after protests by Albertans who disagreed with Hinshaw's COVID-19 decisions while she was Alberta's top doctor. [5] Tailfeathers said the revoking of the job offer would negatively impact the health of Indigenous people in Alberta and the politicization of the decision would impact Alberta's ability to recruit physicians. [6]

In 2019, Tailfeathers was awarded the Dr. Thomas Dignan Indigenous Health Award for her contribution to improved Indigenous health care in Canada. [2] In 2023 the University of Lethbridge gave her an honorary degree. [2]

Personal life

Tailfeathers is the mother of Norwegian-Canadian filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers. She and her former husband, Sami politician Store-Jakobsen, are the subject of their daughter's 2014 film Bihttoš (Rebel). [7] [3] The film, narrated by Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, details the couple's "mythical love story" [8] after they met at the 1981 World Council of Indigenous Peoples assembly in Australia [4] and the family's struggles, which eventually ended in their divorce. [7] [9] [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kennedy-Glans, Donna (21 May 2023). "'Do whatever it takes' First Nations doctor has different way of thinking about addiction". National Post .
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Medical doctor and changemaker, Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, to receive University of Lethbridge honorary degree | UNews". University of Lethbridge . Archived from the original on 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  3. 1 2 Caspersen, Linda (2016). "SÁMI NATIONAL DAY: FEB. 6TH" (PDF). The Scandinavian Scene (1). Scandinavian Cultural Center at Pacific Lutheran University: 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 Crossen, Jonathan (2014). Decolonization, Indigenous Internationalism, and the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (PDF) (Doctor of Philosophy in History thesis). University of Waterloo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  5. 1 2 Marczuk, Carson (22 June 2023). "Medical lead walks away from Indigenous Wellness Core after Hinshaw's job offer is revoked". CTV News . Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Lisa (23 June 2023). "AHS reversal on Hinshaw job offer will hurt public health efforts: Tailfeathers". Edmonton Journal . Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  7. 1 2 Storfjell, Troy (1 November 2019). "Elsewheres of Healing: Trans-Indigenous Spaces in Elle-Máijá Apiniskim Tailfeathers' Bihttoš". Nordic Film Cultures and Cinemas of Elsewhere: 279–286. doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438056.003.0021. ISBN   978-1-4744-3805-6 . Retrieved 10 May 2024– via Academia.edu.
  8. ↑ "Filming your family's past". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. CBC Radio. 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  9. ↑ Takeuchi, Craig (6 April 2016). "Vancouver filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers' emotional memoir screens at the Reel 2 Real Film Fest". The Georgia Straight . Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  10. ↑ Haig-Brown, Helen; Jackson, Lisa; Tailfeathers, Elle-Máijá Apiniskim (2016). "A Conversation with Helen Haig-Brown, Lisa Jackson, and Elle-Máijá Apiniskim Tailfeathers, with Some Thoughts to Frame the Conversation". Biography. 39 (3): 277–306. ISSN   0162-4962. JSTOR   26405101.
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