Listuguj mother shocked by 'Greetings, Native Savages' sticker

Raquel Barnaby of Listuguj First Nationsays she has never experienced anything like what happened to her recently at the CampbelltonRegional Hospital.

• Doctor gives FirstNations child 'Greetings, Native Savages' sticker

"It was like a slap in the face.It was so disrespectful and insulting.I was just ... I really could not believe they would have anything like this at a hospital," she said.

Barnaby, 31, was at the hospital with her youngest child, an18-month old girl who was suffering from croup. Barnaby said at the end of the visit,the doctor on call handed her daughter a sticker that said, 'Greetings, Native Savages.'

She said she put the sticker in her pocket and didn't look at it until later when she was back athome. She said whatshe saw left her in disbelief with a number of questions.

"Nobody goes through the things that they're distributing to kids? I don't get it ... Why didn't anybody at the hospital see this before it was given to us?" she said.

Barnaby said she wasat the IWK in Halifax with her daughter from October to January of this year "and nothing like this was given out."

She took a photo of the sticker and posted it on social media to get feedback from her community. Many people posted angry comments, or stories of their ownencounters with racism.

The incident prompted Scott Martin, chief of the Listuguj First Nation, to send a letter to Gilles Lanteigne, president and CEO of VitalitHealth Network,requesting a meeting about this and other incidents, including allegations of discrimination and unprofessional behaviour.

Martin says the issue is more widespread than just a sticker slogan.

"It's a big problem for sure. I mean, for a hospital to do something like that ...what kind of message does it send to the surrounding area? Because of the fact that it's not just in Campbellton, it's across Canada where aboriginals are being treated like this," said Martin.

On Thursday,Lanteigne said he has spoken with the chief and is prepared to meet, but no date had yet been set.

Lanteignesaid the stickers were ordered in bulkand are from aDreamworksmoviecalledHome.He said the doctor who handed out the sticker did not realize what was on it.

"The physician did call the mum, and the head nurse did call the mum twice, to explain that unfortunately we had bought these stickers without realizing what wasreallywritten on them and that it could be insulting," he said.

"We apologized, we even called the company. We retrieved all these stickers from all our sites," Lanteigne said, pointing out these stickers have been given out, in error, in other parts of the country.

When asked if he believes there is a problem with racism and discrimination at the Campbellton hospital, Lanteignesaid he believes the situation at the hospital "is considerably improved."

However, somein the Listuguj community say theproblem with racism at the hospital is serious and ongoing.

Debbie Dedam-Montour,an anti-racism co-ordinatorat Listuguj, says there have been other incidents.

"Some of it is not beinggiven proper medications because they're assuming you're a drug addict as soon as you go in there. Some people are even being told, you know, you're not getting any prescriptions or any meds from us ...any painkillers, so we are having issues," she said.

Lanteigne saidhe has asked the Listuguj chiefformore information about incidents such as the one referenced by Dedam-Montourand has promised to look into the matter.

Raquel Barnaby said she decided to speak about the stickerbecause she wanted to provide a good example to her children, that when something is wrong, it's important to speak up.

"I made sure that it was known that thiswasn't right, and I want her to be able to stand up when she feels that things aren't right, to stand up and...do something about it."