Is there a connection between cultural continuity and mental health for Métis people?

Monique Auger, a proud Métis woman from Vancouver Island, thinks there is. She is using her Graduate Aboriginal Scholarship to pursue a master of science, in the Faculty of Health Sciences, to explore this issue.

“There is a problem with mental health in the Métis community,” she says. “The epidemiological data show that Métis people suffer from mental health disparities such as depression and anxiety disorders. But there’s not a lot of contextual information as to why this is the case. That’s a gap I would like to address.”

Métis people are the descendants of the first unions between European settlers and Indigenous women. Today, the Métis are seen as a distinct nation, separate from First Nations and Inuit communities. In speaking about the impacts of ongoing colonialism with regard to her own family’s cultural discontinuity, Auger thinks this may be a contributing factor toward high rates of mental health problems.

She says there is a lack of overall health research addressing Métis health issues, and she would like to be at the vanguard of researchers who can address this issue.

Currently a consultant in Indigenous program evaluation with Reciprocal Consulting, she holds a BA in First Nations Studies from the University of Northern B.C. She has held a number of positions in community-based Aboriginal health research across the province, including with Indigenous Research Partnerships at UBC, and the Centre of Aboriginal Health Research at the University of Victoria. She also completed a community-based research project for her honours thesis at UNBC.

“At UNBC I conducted a qualitative study working with First Nations people with lower literacy levels. I looked at access to eye care and the social context of vision. That was such an amazing experience that I knew I wanted to continue with research, learning and working with community to build meaningful relationships—because that’s what leads to successful research.”

Auger is very involved in B.C.’s Métis community. She sits on the boards of the Unified Aboriginal Youth Collective as a youth representative for Métis Nation B.C., as well as the Knowledgeable Youth Association, which works to strengthen cultural connections within Vancouver’s Aboriginal youth population.

She chose SFU for her master’s program because she wanted to learn under the supervision of John O’Neil, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences.

“He has done some amazing work in Aboriginal health,” she says. “He’s culturally competent and forms meaningful partnerships. It was important to me to find someone like that.”