“My name is Marley Fisher. My spirit name is Red Sky Woman, my clan is Sturgeon. I
am Lenape, from Munsee-Delaware Nation. I am the eldest child of 5 and the first-generation
in my family to receive a post-secondary education.”
That’s Marley Fisher ’19, a proud Brescia University College alumnae and an Indigenous
Registered Dietitian (RD) working at Chippewa Health Centre.
Ms. Fisher shares that her road to becoming a RD wasn’t easy. Having started her undergrad
at Brescia in 2013, she found navigating the education system was “tough but achievable with
family support and financial assistance through federal funds for Indigenous post-secondary
education.” Ms. Fisher enjoyed her time at Brescia, in particular, the “women as leaders’
aspect” because as she shares, “in many Indigenous cultures, women were the leaders in
their communities and continue to be the matriarchs of their families today.”
During her time at Brescia, Ms. Fisher became the youngest female (at 22 years old)
to be elected onto her First Nation’s (Munsee-Delaware Nation) council as a Councillor. That
year, she was also able to attend the inspiring Dietitians of Canada Aboriginal Nutrition
Network mentorship event, where she met current and future Indigenous RDs from across
Canada.
Upon graduating in 2017, Ms. Fisher received the Applied Indigenous Scholarship from
Western Social Sciences for her contributions to the Indigenous community. For the
remainder of the year, Ms. Fisher spent her second year as a first term Councillor fully
immersing herself in learning and understanding First Nation’s governance and leadership.
In 2018, she applied to the highly competitive world of dietetic internships and found
success in the Diploma in Dietetic Education and Practical Training (DDEPT) program at
Brescia. While completing a very demanding internship, Ms. Fisher was able to continue her
work on Council and also ran for re-election on the Munsee-Delaware Nation Council where
– with the highest votes – she was elected as Head Councillor for her second term.
As an extension of her research internship rotation, Ms. Fisher and her colleagues
presented their research results at the Canadian Nutrition Society conference. Their
research – titled Does the Ontario public understand the difference between registered dietitians and
unregulated “nutritionists?” Results from a cross-sectional mixed methods study with
implications for healthcare policy and law – has recently been accepted for publication in Healthcare Policy.
In 2019, Ms. Fisher graduated, completed the Canadian Dietetic Registration Examination (CDRE),
and became licensed as a RD in 2020!
She then used her education in dietetics and knowledge of First Nation’s governance
to lobby to the surrounding First Nation Health Centres, asking them to consider hiring
a RD to complement their health teams. The Chippewa of the Thames First Nation Health
Centre reached out, and after successfully applying to the position, Ms. Fisher began
working as a RD in January. In this new role, Ms. Fisher was asked to establish a Community
Nutrition Services, which included one-on-one nutrition counseling and nutrition education
programs in partnership with other on-going health and social services.
Ms. Fisher shares, “As an Indigenous person who was raised on my First Nation, I feel
like I can relate to and understand personally many of the food insecurity and social
issues that plague First Nations people which has helped me build rapport and deliver
culturally-safe programming.”
In March, Ms. Fisher celebrated her first Nutrition Month as a RD with a “More than
food” bulletin board that she believes was culturally relevant and timely due to the
impact of COVID-19. Having the opportunity to now work from home, Ms. Fisher has been
busy developing resources and keeping up-to-date with the latest research through
webinars. Ms. Fisher notes, “although I know things will look a little different than pre-COVID-19,
I’m excited to get back to the Health Centre to continue showing how I can make a
difference for the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation community.”