use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place = , burial_coordinates = , monuments = , nationality = , other_names = , siglum = , citizenship = , education = , alma_mater = , occupation = , years_active = , era = , employer = , organization = , agent = , known_for = , notable_works = , style = , height = , television = , title = , term = , predecessor = , successor = , party = , otherparty = , movement = , opponents = , boards = , criminal_charges = , criminal_penalty = , criminal_status = , partner = , children = , parents = , mother = , father = , spouse =

Bjarne Store-Jakobsen Bjarne Store-Jakobsen (born 12 January 1944) is a Norwegian politician, activist, and journalist. In 2005, he was elected to the Sámi Parliament of Norway as a member of the Labour Party. He was selected by the Sámi parliament to serve as a r ...

(divorced) , relations =

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Elle-Máijá Apiniskim Tailfeathers (born in 1986) is a Canadian filmmaker, actor, and producer. She has won several accolades for her film work, including multiple Canadian Screen Awards. Born in Cardston, Alberta, Tailfeathers began acting i ...

(daughter) , callsign = , awards = , website = , module = , module2 = , module3 = , module4 = , module5 = , module6 = , signature = , signature_type = , signature_size = , signature_alt = , footnotes = Esther Tailfeathers (born 1960/1961) is a Canadian physician. Raised on

teetotal Teetotalism is the practice of voluntarily abstaining from the consumption of alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler (US) or teetotaller (UK), or said to be ...

tribal lands, where she observed her father's struggles with alcohol, she became the medical lead at

Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services (AHS) is the single Health regions of Canada, health authority for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the "largest integrated provincial health care system" in Canada. Headquartered ...

' Indigenous Wellness Core, where she developed ''Indigenous Health Commitments: Roadmap to Wellness''. She married

, with whom she had a daughter and son,

, and Piinaakoyim Tailfeathers.

Early life

Tailfeathers was born in 1960 or 1961 and is a member of the Kainai First Nation. She grew up on tribal lands, where alcohol is prohibited, and recalls other community members becoming

bootleggers A bootleg is the upper part (or shaft) of a boot. Bootleg, bootlegging or bootlegger(s) may also refer to: Common meanings * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages * Moonshine, illicitly made an ...

to earn money. She recalls at the age of 12 driving her father to the bootlegger's so he could buy gin to help with a hangover. Her father stopped drinking in the early 1980s after a court order to do so. Tailfeathers has described her approach to treating addiction as informed by her father's struggles with alcohol. She earned a bachelor's degree in Native American Studies from the

University of Lethbridge The University of Lethbridge (also known as uLethbridge, uLeth, and U of L) is a public comprehensive and research university located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with a second campus in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in the liberal arts traditio ...

, before marrying

, whom she had met at the 1981

World Council of Indigenous Peoples The World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) was a formal international body dedicated to having concepts of aboriginal rights accepted on a worldwide scale. The WCIP had observer status in the United Nations, a secretariat based in Canada and r ...

assembly in Australia, and moving to Norway. After the death of her brother, who had been a medical student and had encouraged her to study medicine, she earned a medical degree at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

and did a residency in family medicine at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

Career

Tailfeathers moved back to Alberta in 2000. She worked in the emergency department on Montana's Blackfeet Reservation in Montana and in Alberta's

Fort Chipewyan Fort Chipewyan , commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is an unincorporated hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada, within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. History Fort Chipewyan is one of the oldest European settlements in the Provi ...

, before becoming a family physician on the Blood Tribe, where she also lived. She became the medical lead at

' (AHS) Indigenous Wellness Core (IWC), where she was instrumental in developing ''Indigenous Health Commitments: Roadmap to Wellness''. She resigned in 2023 after a job offer to

Deena Hinshaw Deena Hinshaw is a Canadian doctor who serves as a Deputy Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia and served as Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of Alberta from January 28, 2019, to November 14, 2022, after being removed by ...

to become the IWC's public health and preventive medicine lead was revoked by AHS after protests by Albertans who disagreed with Hinshaw's

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

decisions while she was Alberta's top doctor. Tailfeathers said the revoking of the job offer would negatively impact the health of Indigenous people in Alberta and the politicization of the decision would impact Alberta's ability to recruit physicians. In 2019, Tailfeathers was awarded the Dr. Thomas Dignan Indigenous Health Award for her contribution to improved Indigenous health care in Canada. In 2023 the University of Lethbridge gave her an honorary degree.

Personal life

Tailfeathers is the mother of Norwegian-Canadian filmmaker

. She and her former husband, Sami politician Store-Jakobsen, are the subject of their daughter's 2014 film ''

Bihttoš ''Bihttoš'' ''(Rebel)'' is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and released in 2014. The film, narrated by Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, details the couple's "mythical love story" after they met at the 1981 World Council of Indigenous Peoples assembly in Australia and the family's struggles, which eventually ended in their divorce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tailfeathers, Esther Living people Kainai Nation people First Nations academics Physicians from Alberta 1960s births University of North Dakota alumni University of Lethbridge alumni University of Alberta alumni