We Are the Medicine: Healing through Culture, Connection and Crisis Work

Rae Dawn Whitney and Bruce Dumont

Panel 14 – Indigenous Health Stream – Indigenous Healing Paradigms: Culture, Connection, and Land-Based Recovery

September 25th Day Three – Exhibition Hall C North Building 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm

We Are the Medicine: Healing through Culture, Connection and Crisis Work

Rae Dawn Whitney

Background

My name is Rae Dawn Whitney, and I am a proud Tsuut’ina Nation member. I currently serve as the Outreach Supervisor for Tsuut’ina Child and Family Services. I bring to this conference not only professional experience but lived experience as someone who has walked the road of addiction, healing, and recovery.

In this presentation, I will share my personal journey from substance misuse and disconnection to cultural reconnection, healing, and leadership. My path forward wasn’t linear or easy, but it was rooted in Indigenous knowledge, ceremony, community support, and the power of peer-led crisis work. I started out as a frontline worker in a grassroots Indigenous peer support team, responding to community members in crisis. Today, I support Child and Family Services by leveraging my experience in mental health and addictions. I assist the agencies programs including Post- Majority Services, Intervention, Family Support and the community, by providing direct referrals and support to healing from substance misuse.

Recovery, in our ways, is not just about abstinence. It’s about coming home to ourselves. It’s about reclaiming our identity, honouring our ancestors, and walking with others in a good way. Through this talk, I hope to highlight the strength of Indigenous-led recovery, the power of peer support, and the importance of making space for lived experience and culture in all systems of care.

Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how recovery capital can be built through Indigenous frameworks of healing and why it’s critical to include grassroots voices in leadership roles.

This is a message of hope and resurgence, a reminder that we, as Indigenous people, are not broken, we are the medicine.

Purpose

This presentation, We Are the Medicine: Healing Through Culture, Connection, and Crisis Work, will share my lived experience as an Indigenous woman from Tsuut’ina Nation who has journeyed through addiction, recovery, and into a leadership role for recovery. My story reflects the power of Indigenous healing, grassroots crisis response, and peer-led support systems grounded in culture and community.

  • To Inspire Hope Through Lived Experience and Cultural Resilience. Attendees will hear a firsthand account of the realities of substance misuse and the transformative journey of recovery. I will share how cultural reconnection through ceremony, traditional teachings, and community served as a powerful foundation for healing. My story will highlight the message that recovery is possible, even when it feels out of reach.
  • To Advocate for Peer-Led, Culturally Grounded Systems of Care. I will discuss my work journey with a grassroots Indigenous peer crisis team, illustrating how lived experience and community knowledge are essential tools in crisis response and addiction support. The presentation will show how Indigenous-led systems create trust, meet people where they are, and deliver culturally safe, effective care.
  • To Challenge and Expand the Narrative Around Recovery. Recovery for Indigenous people is more than sobriety it’s a reclamation of spirit, identity, and land. I will invite service providers, policy makers, and allies to expand their understanding of recovery capital by integrating Indigenous frameworks, supporting grassroots leadership, and creating systems that reflect our truths.

References

  • Best, D., & Laudet, A. (2010). The Potential of Recovery Capital.
  • Gone, J. P. (2013). Redressing First Nations historical trauma: Theorizing mechanisms for Indigenous culture as mental health treatment.
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2012). Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) Resource Guide.
  • Barker, B., Goodman, A., & DeBeck, K. (2017). Reclaiming Indigenous identities: Culture as strength in health research.
  • In my presentation, I’ll speak from lived experience, walking through addiction, reconnecting with culture, and finding my purpose by helping others in their recovery. This approach reflects what’s known in the literature as a recovery-oriented model, where healing is not just about abstinence, but about rebuilding identity, relationships, and hope. Best and Laudet (2010) describe this as recovery capital—the internal and external strengths a person uses to support their recovery journey. For me, that includes cultural teachings, ceremony, family, and meaningful work. My story is living proof that these forms of capital can transform lives.
  • I’ve learned that for Indigenous people, recovery has to include culture and community. Gone (2013) explains that cultural practices are more than traditions, they are mental health treatments that help us address the deep impacts of colonization and trauma. Through ceremony and land-based healing, I began to see myself clearly again. When I joined a grassroots Indigenous peer crisis team, I realized that walking alongside others in recovery wasn’t just helping them, it was helping me, too. That’s why the Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care framework (SAMHSA, 2012) is so important. It calls for culturally safe, person-centered supports that are often led by people with lived experience, exactly the kind of work I’ve done and will continue doing.
  • As Barker, Goodman, and DeBeck (2017) point out, reclaiming Indigenous identity and creating peer-led spaces fosters strength, pride, and healing. That’s what I hope to share in this presentation: a message that recovery is not just personal, it’s cultural, it’s collective, and it’s possible. We are not broken, we are the medicine. And when we lead with love, culture, and lived experience, recovery becomes a movement, not just a goal.

Bio

Danit’ada siza Rae Dawn Whitney, I am a proud Tsuut’ina Nation woman, mother of two amazing sons, and grandmother to two beautiful granddaughters who inspire everything I do. I currently serve as the Outreach Supervisor at Tsuut’ina Child and Family Services, where I apply my knowledge and lived experience in recovery to implement visionary programs and resources. My work focuses on supporting my community by providing access to holistic care. 

My work is rooted in lived experience. I am in recovery from addiction, and my healing journey has been deeply shaped by culture, ceremony, and community. I know what it means to feel lost, disconnected, and unseen and I also know the strength that comes from being reconnected to culture, spirit, and purpose.

I began my frontline work with a grassroots Indigenous peer crisis team, walking alongside community members experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges. That experience grounded me in the power of peer-led, culturally safe support. Over time, I stepped into leadership roles, helping guide system navigation while holding firm to community values and lived experience.

Today, I continue that journey of service and healing. My goal remains the same, to walk alongside others, hold space for healing, and build recovery pathways rooted in culture and connection.

I carry my story with love, as a survivor, a helper, a mother, a grandmother, and a community role model and leader. I believe we are not defined by our struggles, but by how we rise and how we choose to lift others as we climb.

Other Panel Members

Join us for the Alberta Recovery Summit, hosted by the 9th Annual Recovery Capital Conference taking place on September 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 2025.

 Session Streams

  • Health Care and Recovery
  • Indigenous Health
  • Occupational Health and Safety

 Key Details

  • DAY ONE September 23rd – 5:30 pm 6:30: Early Badge Pick Up and Networking Reception, 6:30 pm to 8 pm Pre Conference Presentation
  • DAY TWO September 24th – 8:45 am to 5 pm: Keynote Speakers and Breakout Sessions
  • DAY THREE September 25th – 9 am to 5 pm: Keynote Speakers and Breakout Sessions

 Hotels

Book your hotel at one of our host hotels and save money. Click on the links for the discount rates and book early as rates will go up, and they always sell out.

Schedule

Speakers

Registration

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