Dr. James Makokis has returned home to Saddle Lake, where he will now be practicing medicine in the community. With a background in community nutrition, public health and family medicine, Makokis is focused on providing balanced, integral healthcare for people living in the First Nations community, and giving back to the community where he grew up.
Something that makes Dr. Makokis unique as a medical practitioner is that he’s looking to refine and integrate two separate systems of medicine together to provide a holistic treatment method that draws from both systems to provide enhanced healthcare benefits to his patients.
“My goal after I finished my education has always been to become fluent in Cree, so whenever I’m not in the office that is what I'm trying to do by working with our own local resources,” explains Makokis. “I’m going to work with traditional Cree and modern western medicine, trying to integrate the two of them together.”
Makokis wants to learn Cree so that he’ll be able to communicate with the Cree elders, to foster a stronger understanding of traditional Cree medicine.
“I focused on my own interests during my medical education,” says Makokis, who has worked at numerous indigenous communities including Haida Gwaii, Seabird Island and Alert Bay in British Columbia, during his practicum with the Aboriginal Family Medicine Program.
“I’ve lived away from home for a long time. In 1998 I was in Edmonton, getting my Grade 12, then University of Alberta for my bachelor’s, then University of Toronto between 2004 and 2006, for my master’s, and between 2006 and 2010 for my medical degree. I then did my residency in Victoria from 2010 to 2012,” explains Makokis.
Though he moved away from the reservation to get his education, Makokis took every opportunity he could to show support to his community, often visiting his childhood home for ceremonies and community functions.
“People at home were always supportive, particularly the elders. I want to learn Cree because I believe it’s important to our identity and health. We have the tools within our community to be healthy and whole human beings by eating our traditional foods, practicing our ceremonies and speaking the language. I’m trying to develop that at our clinic,” says Makokis. “Cree life is seen in stages. A progression of life from pre-childhood to elderhood. Often, western medicine can alienate traditional indigenous medicines like plant medicines that have been used long before western medicine became a mainstay.”
Makokis admits he’s always wanted to return to Saddle Lake.
“I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was four years old, and it’s surreal that 27 years later I’m a doctor and back at home in Saddle Lake.”
