Six Nations of the Grand River to open hospice facility

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New facility touted as first Indigenous-run, on-territory hospice facility in Canada

What is being billed as the first Indigenous-led, on-territory hospice in Canada will bring culturally appropriate end-of-life care closer to home for those in Six Nations of the Grand River, near Hamilton.

The five-bed hospice will incorporate Haudenosaunee teachings to provide physical, emotional and spiritual support.

The Ontario government will invest $1.25 million in the facility, along with a $5.5 million investment from the Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council, according to a news release. There is no date when construction is to begin or when the hospice will officially open.

Katie Maracle, who is Mohawk from Six Nations, lost her mother in June to complications from breast cancer.

Maracle said when she heard the announcement from the province and Six Nations council earlier this week, she was pleasantly surprised.

"It's been in the works for years; like they've been fundraising forever and my mom was on the committee right until even when she was sick," she told CBC Indigenous.

She said there are still pillows and bags in the basement leftover from her mother's fundraising efforts for a hospice in the community.

Maracle's mother was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in February. She said once her mother started her treatment, "it was like her body just betrayed her."

"We still don't totally understand what happened," she said.

Her mother's cancer treatments landed her in the hospital each time "on death's door" and they were forced to stop. Her mother had a double mastectomy to treat the aggressive cancer in May.

After that, Maracle and her sister cared for their mother at home, with nurses who came in from Home and Community Care in Six Nations, until she collapsed one night and was taken back to the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton.


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https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indi ... -1.7356071