National day for Truth and Reconciliation: Recognizing the experiences of Indigenous victims and survivors of the residential school system
With guest speaker Dr. Sheri McKinstry, Assistant Professor, College of Dentistry, University of Saskatchewan
Join us on Zoom, September 30 at 12pm EDT
Dr. McKinstry is Anishinaabekwe from Treaty 1 territory, and proud member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. She has been with her life partner for thirty-two years and is a mother to four grown children.
She is honoured to live and work on Treaty 6 territory and the Homeland of the Métis where she is an Assistant Professor in the College of Dentistry at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. McKinstry completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Manitoba in 2001; and went on to attain a Bachelor of Science in Dentistry and a Doctor of Dental Medicine in 2005, also from the University of Manitoba.
Upon graduation from dental school, she provided dental care in First Nation communities for over a decade until she left to specialize in paediatric dentistry. During this time, Dr. McKinstry started a Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies and obtained a Master of Public Health in 2017, specifically in Indigenous Peoples’ Health from the University of Victoria. Her area of focus was in Reconciliation and Cultural Safety in Dentistry. In 2020, she completed the Master of Dentistry / Paediatric Dentistry Residency program at the University of Manitoba, where her research focus was on the oral heath experience of First Nations children. Her goal is to use her knowledge and expertise to benefit First Nation children and communities while transitioning into an academic and research career.
Dr. McKinstry will be starting a Ph.D.-Community and Population Health Science program at the University of Saskatchewan for the Fall 2021 term. She will become a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada following convocation on September 18, 2021.
September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. It is a day to recognize and commemorate the intergenerational harm that residential schools have caused to Indigenous families and communities, and to honour those who have been affected by this injustice.
For the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, members of the My Healthy Workplace team pledged to learn more about residential schools, and created an Orange Shirt Day Knowledge Self-Assessment to support other McGill colleagues in learning more about the history and impact of residential schools. Feel free to share this self-assessment with colleagues and friends. For a complete list of events taking place on September 30th, please visit McGill’s Indigenous Initiatives’ National Day for Truth and Reconciliation page for more information.