‘Always working for my people’: DrPH Student Cheyenne Joseph wins Indigenous healthcare grant
December 1/2025
DLSPH student Cheyenne Joseph wins 2025/26 Kausattumi Grant from the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network.
By Ishani Nath
DLSPH student Cheyenne Joseph has held many titles. Nurse. Instructor. Piluwitahasuwin. Director of Health for the Assembly of First Nations. But no matter the role, First Nation community is at the heart of Joseph’s work.
“Being in community is when you build relationships. That’s really where that frontline prevention happens. That work is what keeps people out of the hospital,” says Joseph, whose home community is L’sitkuk First Nation in Mi’kma’ki (in the area also known as Nova Scotia).
Joseph’s deep commitment to improving First Nation health and wellness, specifically in Atlantic regions, was recently recognized with a 2025/26 Kausattumi Grant from the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network. The $15,000 scholarship is awarded to First Nations, Métis or Inuit doctoral students conducting “community-informed and supported health research that serves to benefit Indigenous communities in Atlantic Canada.”
Joseph’s passion for healthcare began in a remote fly-in community in northern Saskatchewan. It was the early 1990s, she was a teenager, and she couldn’t believe that while visitors, like teachers and RCMP officers, had potable water, community members were taking pails down to the lake to get water for their families.
“Realizing that there are Canadians in this country who don’t have running water and that they were First Nations people was so appalling; that really was the driver to get into the healthcare field, to be part of making sure that First Nations communities have healthcare and health outcomes that are comparable to the rest of Canada,” says Joseph.
She pursued nursing because she saw how nurses really got to know their community and their stories. She noticed how nurses would become trusted advocates to help community members navigate the healthcare system.
Cheyenne Joseph
Despite pressure to work in a hospital after nursing school, she was determined to work in a First Nations community — especially since she saw the need and demand for First Nations nurses.
“It’s one thing to have a nurse and it’s another thing to have a nurse from your community or a First Nations nurse because they share the same historical connections and traumas, and you don’t have to explain your story,” says Joseph.
She ended up starting her career in Elsipogtog First Nation in Mi’kmaki (in the area also known as New Brunswick), which is now the setting of her doctoral research in the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program at DLSPH. When Joseph heard about the DrPH program, the first of its kind in Canada, she was immediately intrigued by the opportunity to further her public health education and conduct research rooted in community.
The Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network 2025/26 Kausattumi Grant will support Joseph’s arts-based exploration of how Mi’kmaq men in Elsipogtog navigate and view Mi’kmaq masculinity. To conduct this research, Joseph is spending time with Mi’kmaq men, teaching them how to sew and helping them make a traditional ribbon shirt. Some men have adorned their shirts with lobsters, reflecting a common livelihood for many in the area. One participant, who is also a sports fan, added the logo of his favorite team. Another gravitated towards the four traditional colours of black, red, yellow and white. Joseph’s goal through this project is to challenge stereotypes and glean insights that can help shape programs tailored to the unique needs and strengths of First Nations men.
“Indigenous men’s health and wellbeing are not as well researched or discussed,” explains Angela Mashford Pringle, Joseph’s PhD supervisor. “Cheyenne’s work provides Indigenous men with an opportunity to discuss their experiences and roles in our communities.”
A requirement of the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network scholarship is that students must be supervised by an Indigenous or allied health scholar. Joseph notes that having Mashford Pringle, a member of the Timiskaming First Nation (Algonquin/Bear Clan), as her supervisor has made a significant difference to her experience.
“Not every university or every First Nations student has the privilege of having a supervisor who is from a First Nation. Prof. Mashford Pringle has been immensely helpful in guiding and supporting me,” says Joseph, adding that Mashford Pringle has helped her find scholarship opportunities and encouraged her to have an Elder in community guide her research.
Joseph has carved her own path with the support of mentors like those provided through this scholarship and at DLSPH.
“Here I am, 22 years later, having always worked in community and having never worked in hospital because I’m always working for my people with the vision of contributing to improving the health of First Nations People in Canada.”