June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and the London Health Sciences Centre is celebrating by creating a traditional Indigenous menu for the cafeteria and hosting a music and dance ceremony.
“It was an opportunity to share the rich history and share the traditions and the dances that have lived on for many generations in our communities,” says Chantel Antone, senior director at the office of Indigenous health with LHSC. Several steps were taken in the creation of the menu and bringing it to LHSC, starting with the Compass Group reaching out to LHSC asking how to include Indigenous foods on the menu. LHSC then connected with Marley Fisher, the community dietician with Chippewas of the Thames.“As we talked about this, I feel like it became a bigger thing,” Fisher says.