Colonial Geographies: Indigenous Access to Primary Care in British Columbia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article considers the demonstrated lack of access to primary health services in remote Indigenous communities in British Columbia as a form of structural exclusion shaped by the history of settler colonialism. Drawing on collaborative research conducted with an Indigenous nursing organization, I link ethnographic case studies with historical research demonstrating how racially segregated health care developed within an assimilatory political mandate. I argue that access to and quality of care must be understood as two inter-related dimensions of health equity, which must be regarded by decision-makers as a key site for addressing the health disparities faced by Indigenous populations.