Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority and Nishnawbe Aski Nation Demand Accountability in the Death of Miranda Mamakwa

Sioux Lookout / Thunder Bay, ON — Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority (SLFNHA) and Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) are demanding immediate, public accountability following the death of Miranda Mamakwa, a mother of three young children from Fort Severn First Nation, after Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program repeatedly failed to arrange the medical travel she needed to attend life-saving follow-up care. Miranda’s death was shared with delegates at SLFNHA’s Annual General Meeting by NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler.

On April 23, 2026, Miranda underwent open-heart surgery. In the months following NIHB failed to arrange travel and accommodations for follow-up appointments on May 28, June 11, July 2, and August 6, 2026. These appointments were mandatory for her recovery and survival.

Over this past weekend, Miranda was taken to the local nursing station in Fort Severn First Nation and transported by Ornge to Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. Her family arrived Monday evening, and on Tuesday afternoon made the difficult decision to remove her from life support. The family is calling for accountability regarding the handling of her denied travel requests.

This is not another call to “fix the system.” Miranda Mamakwa is dead, and someone needs to answer for it. Four appointments that could have caught and treated her condition in time were missed. Not because the care did not exist, but because the federal program responsible for getting her to that care failed to do its job, appointment after appointment.

“Miranda Mamakwa should still be here today, raising her three children. Her death is not something that simply happened to her, it is the result of a system that failed her, appointment after appointment, for months. SLFNHA and NAN have raised these gaps for years, and we are done accepting apologies with no accountability behind them. Indigenous Services Canada owes Miranda’s family, and every family across Kiiwetinoong, a straight answer: who is responsible, and what is being done right now so this never happens again.”

– Sonia Isaac-Mann, President & CEO, SLFNHA

“It is outrageous that Miranda’s travel was denied on four separate occasions. There is no doubt in my mind that her life may have been saved if she had been allowed to travel to her appointments. The circumstances around her passing are extremely troubling and the denial of travel by NIHB demands accountability. Those in charge of NIHB need to understand that medical transportation is not just a paper exercise – these are matters of life and death. The officials responsible should be asking themselves why our members are still subject to such a horrific bureaucracy that denies them access to life-saving care? Days before she began her Spirit Journey, Miranda posted to social media that ‘If I die, please go after them’.  We will honour her dying wish by demanding full accountability.”

– Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, Nishnawbe Aski Nation

On August 19, 2026, weeks before she died, Miranda posted publicly on Facebook, naming each appointment NIHB had failed to arrange travel for. She closed with a line her family and community will not let go unanswered:

“If I die, please go after them.”

— Miranda Mamakwa, in a Facebook post dated August 19, 2026

Those words are now a demand SLFNHA and NAN intend to see answered.

SLFNHA and NAN have spent years warning that delays and administrative failures within the NIHB program put lives at risk in Kiiwetinoong and across NAN territory. From cancelled medical travel to appointments booked, and missed, with little or no notice. Miranda Mamakwa’s death is the clearest and most devastating proof yet that these were not exaggerated warnings.

SLFNHA and NAN are demanding:

• An immediate, independent investigation into the circumstances of Miranda Mamakwa’s death, including which NIHB staff and decisions denied or failed to arrange her medical travel.
• A full public accounting from Indigenous Services Canada of what went wrong, and who is responsible.
• A direct meeting between the federal Minister of Indigenous Services, NAN, and SLFNHA leadership, without delay.
• Concrete, funded fixes to the NIHB medical travel and appointment system for the 33 First Nations SLFNHA serves and the 49 First Nations of NAN before another family loses someone they love.

About Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority

SLFNHA serves 33 First Nations across Kiiwetinoong in Northwestern Ontario, delivering a wide range of health programs and services in partnership with communities. SLFNHA is committed to improving health outcomes through culturally safe care, strong partnerships, and community-driven approaches that support wellness in the communities SLFNHA serves.

About Nishnawbe Aski Nation

Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) represents 49 First Nations communities across James Bay Treaty No. 9 and the Ontario portion of Treaty No. 5, covering two-thirds of the province of Ontario.

For more information please contact:
Nick Sherman
Communications Manager, SLFNHA
807-356-4684
communications@slfnha.com

Michael Heintzman
Director of Communications, Nishnawbe Aski Nation
807-621-2790
mheintzman@nan.ca

For more information please contact:
Michael Heintzman,
Director of Communications
Cell: (807) 621-2790
mheintzman@nan.ca