Rooted in Gwekwaadziwin: Season 1, Episode 10 - Craig Abotossaway

In this final episode of Season 1 of Rooted in Gwekwaadziwin, Matt and Sam sit down with Craig Abotossaway, Executive Director of Mnaamodzawin Health Services, for a conversation that challenges how we understand Indigenous wellness, identity, and the systems that surround them.

Drawing from both lived experience and leadership in community-based health services, Craig speaks to the complexity of navigating identity in a modern context — and how colonization continues to shape how we see ourselves, each other, and the services we build.

This episode explores:

• What it means to reclaim and redefine Indigenous identity
• The ongoing impacts of colonization on worldview and systems of care
• The difference between cultural practices and spiritual understanding
• The concept of “two-eyed seeing” and applying multiple ways of knowing
• How land, spirit, and perspective are central to healing

Throughout the conversation, Craig challenges the idea that meaningful change can come from simply adding cultural elements into existing systems. Instead, he invites a deeper shift — one that requires rethinking how those systems are built and whose knowledge they are grounded in.

As the closing episode of Season 1, this conversation brings forward some of the deeper themes that have run throughout the series — connection, identity, and the importance of looking at wellness through a broader lens.