Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, born and raised on the Blood Reserve in southern Alberta, graduated from the University of North Dakota, School of Medicine and completed her Family Medicine residency at the University of Alberta. 

Esther has worked with many First Nations including in the Emergency Department on the Blackfeet Reservation (in Montana), with the Blood Reserve for almost 20 years, and in the Northern Alberta community of Fort Chipewyan. She is most proud of organizing a relief mission to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010, leading a team made up of Blood Tribe paramedics, nurses and health care workers who took care of more than 2,000 patients during their relief efforts.

Most recently, Dr. Tailfeathers has focused on the Blood Tribe’s response to the opioid crisis including harm reduction and treatment, and addressing the upstream determinants of health. Dr. Tailfeathers is currently the Senior Medical Director, Provincial Indigenous Wellness Core, at Alberta Health Services.