Western medical system believes their ways are better than traditional medicines
Dr. to Ojibwes, "anyone who says that traditional medicine works should be thrown in jail"
Makayla Sault read her letter to the Band Council, who also shared with the family another letter of support sent by the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI) Grand Chief Gordon Peters to Andrew Koster, Executive Director of the Brant CAS.
By Nahnda Garlow - May 13, 2014
NEW CREDIT FIRST NATION - McMaster Children's Hospital delivered a message to the Sault family Wednesday with an ultimatum; either bring their daughter Makayla back to McMaster or another hospital for chemotherapy, or treat the child with exclusively with alternative therapy via Ongwehowe Onongwatri:to (traditional medicines) and get reported to the Children's Aid Society for failure to protect your child.
McMaster Children's Hospital staff are aware that the Ojibwe family has been treating their 11 year old daughter with Ongwehowe Onongwatri:yo: (indigenous medicines) via a traditional healer on Six Nations. However they said that because there are no studies done to give hard statistics on the efficacy of using Ongwehowe Onongwatri:yo in treating Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia with a positive Philladelphia chromosome, the hospital is viewing the Sault family's choice of following Makayla's wishes to use traditional medicines instead of chemotherapy as failing to provide proper medical care for the child.
Makayla's mother Sonya Sault spoke with the Two Row Times this morning and said that during an early meeting in discussing Makayla's care the lead physician Dr. Barr told the family he disagrees with the use of indigenous medicines. Sault told the New Credit First Nation Band Councillors in a meeting held Monday that the lead oncologist assigned to Makayla's case tried to convince the family that Onongwatri:yo: was "100% ineffective" and "so expensive". During the meeting Sault told the Band Council, "[Dr. Barr] said to us '...anyone who says that traditional medicine works should be thrown in jail.'"
Now, the family has taken additional steps to protect their rights and Makayla's rights to use culturally appropriate alternative medicines. The New Credit First Nation Band Council has issued a letter of support to the family and stated in a meeting on Monday that they would unequivocally support the Sault family, and not permit anyone to forcibly remove the child from the reserve.
Makayla Sault read her letter to the Band Council, who also shared with the family another letter of support sent by the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI) Grand Chief Gordon Peters to Andrew Koster, Executive Director of the Brant CAS.
The letter from Peters states that the Sault family decision to treat Makayla with traditional medicines is not of inaction, but of action. It reads, "The suggestion by hospital officials that using our traditional methods of healthcare is "irrational" or "not of a sound mind" is beyond insulting and must be rejected outright."
Six Nations Elected Band Council Chief Ava Hill also spoke with the Two Row Times about the story saying," McMaster should be working with the family to help the young girl cope with this terrible disease and to recover as quickly as possible. For them to threaten to take the child away from her loving family because they want to use traditional medicine is totally unacceptable in this day and age."
A community group has also been assembled, called the "Makayla Defense Force". This is a peaceful group made up of community members from both Six Nations and New Credit adults and youth who have promised to peaceably protect Makayla should authorities from other territories try to intervene and remove the child from her family.
The family also shared with the New Credit First Nation Band Council that Makayla's spiritual encounter was ridiculed by hospital staff. Since the story has broken across news media, the family has been contacted by a representative who is seeking to bring the family to New York to present this case before the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues which is taking place this week. The family has invited Chief Bryan LaForme to act as a representative for them in that forum.
Makayla had major adverse reactions to the numerous chemotherapies that she was administered and as a result asked her parents to stop the treatments and instead give her traditional medicines. Current pharmaceutical protocol involving the type of cancer Makayla has is aggressive and involves a number of chemotherapies administered simultaneously. In one case, her mother says the 65lb child was given the adult dosage.
Sault said that McMaster presented options via a mediator Wednesday morning, saying while Makayla is being treated exclusively with Onongwatri:yo: on the New Credit First Nation the oncologists at McMaster still want to monitor her bloodwork through the family's physician. However the hospital says they are now obligated under the Child and Family Services Act to report Makayla to the Children's Aid Society as a "child in need of protection".
Representatives from McMaster Children's Hospital have not responded to our requests for comment at this time, however in similar cases where families refused chemotherapy and the CAS has been involved, the children have been apprehended and sent back to the hospital for treatments. Makayla Sault however, may be the first indigenous child put in this situation.
According to Article 24 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Canada officially endorsed in November 2010, indigenous people have the right to utilize traditional medicines without discrimination. Article 10 of the declaration also states that indigenous people cannot be forcibly removed from their traditional territory.
Numerous consultants were brought to Makayla's medical team at McMaster Children's Hospital by the Sault family to explain the validity of Onongwatri:yo: in treating indigenous patients; including three Aboriginal Patient Navigators that work for Hamilton Health Sciences. During a meeting held at the hospital, these navigators engaged in conversation with the medical team overseeing Makayla's case, trying to educate McMaster of the possible larger scale detrimental ramifications that pushing this matter over to the CAS could entail.
The Saults also invited Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill, an Associate Professor at McMaster University and one of the founders of the institution's Indigenous Studies Program. Her presence was requested to help explain to Dr. Barr and the rest of the medical staff why the involvement of the CAS, removal of the child and forced chemotherapy could create the "perfect storm" in a community that is just now generations later able to move toward reconciliation after years of intergenerational trauma from Canada's Residential School System and implementation of the Indian Act. Children in residential schools across Canada were not only forcibly removed from the care of their parents, but were also subject to medical testing and sterilization with the complicity of the federal government.
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First Nations girl chooses traditional medicine over chemo
Makayla Sault faces possible apprehension by Children's Aid, which family and First Nation vow to fight
By Connie Walker, Posted: May 16, 2014
First Nations girl favours traditional medicine over chemo 4:27
Makayla Sault glad to be home 4:10
Makayla Sault is only 10 years old, but has already had to make life and death decisions.
She and her parents, Ken and Sonya Sault, have decided to forgo chemotherapy and instead use traditional medicine to fight leukemia.
"I am writing this letter to tell you that this chemo is killing my body and I cannot take it anymore," she wrote to her doctors at the McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton.
The Sault family say they will do 'whatever it takes' to ensure that their daughter Makayla is not apprehended by the Children's Aid Society. (Sault family)
Makayla was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in January. Her doctors told her family that she would have a 75 per cent chance of survival if she continued treatment. If not, they warned that her situation could become dire.
"They basically said she would have 100 per cent relapse and she would die if we discontinued chemotherapy. And that going the route of traditional medicine has zero per cent success rate," said Sonya Sault.
Children's Aid Society investigating
The hospital has referred Makayla's case to the Children's Aid Society, sparking fears that she may be apprehended and forced back into treatment.
"We just felt so scared that they could actually come in and remove our children from a home where we are loving them and caring for them and we want what's best for them," said Sonya Sault.
The Saults are from the New Credit First Nation near Caledonia, Ont. Their chief and council are supporting the family's decision.
"We're not going to allow any other agency to come in and apprehend our children. We went through that in the '40s and '50s and we're not going to allow that again," said Chief Bryan Laforme.
The Saults said their community has also created a group called the "Makayla defence force," a group of hundreds of community members ready to act if Children's Aid attempts to apprehend her.
Chief Bryan Laforme says New Credit First Nation will do whatever it can to support the Sault family's decision. (Connie Walker/CBC)
"If someone does try to take Makayla away we are assured 100 per cent that people will be there to stop apprehension," said Sonya Sault. "People know the consequences and they're willing to stand in and protect her at all costs.... If that's what it comes down to, they need to be physical. We're going to do what it takes to make sure that our daughter is protected."
The Children's Aid Society says it has a good working relationship with the New Credit First Nation and hopes to find a compromise. However, if a child is deemed to be in imminent danger, the society can act to remove a child.
"Obviously, we try to bring kids into care with the knowledge and consent of the chief and council. But there are situations when we are allowed to do what we need to do to save a child's life." said Andrew Koster, executive director of the Children's Aid Society of Brant.
Decision made after spiritual encounter
During the 11 weeks of chemotherapy, Makayla experienced severe side-effects that landed her in the intensive care unit.
"It's a mother's worst nightmare.... I remember I would just watch her, and listening to her pray, 'Oh, God. Come and get me, come and take me from here.' She said, 'Mom,
[it's] not the leukemia but it is the chemo that is going to kill me.'"
After Makayla suffered severe side-effects from chemo, Sonya Sault and her family decided to rely on traditional medicine alone to treat her daughter's leukemia. (Connie Walker/CBC)
After Makayla said she had a spiritual encounter in her hospital room, she begged her parents not to make her return.
"I know that what I have can kill me but ... Jesus came into my room and told me not to be afraid, so if I live or if I die, I am not afraid."
The Saults won't elaborate on the exact medicine Makayla is using but they feel it is already working.
"There are people in our community who have been on traditional medicines and are well today and are thriving. We know that our traditional medicines work. We know that our daughter is going to be OK." says Sonya Sault.
The Children's Aid Society is hoping to schedule a meeting with the family next week to discuss a possible compromise.
In 2008, a Hamilton boy was taken into care after he and his family refused chemotherapy for leukemia.