About us
Our Purpose
Ḵulus was created to address one of the most urgent health challenges facing Indigenous communities today, diabetes, through a model that returns ownership, respect, and voice to the people most affected.
This is not charity. It’s self-determination.
We work with communities, not on them, building tools that align with traditional values, local capacity, and intergenerational knowledge.
Why It Matters: Diabetes affects Indigenous communities at up to five times the national average, not by chance, but because of systemic barriers and lost connection to traditional foods, activity, and self-determination.
Built in Community. Guided by Culture. Grounded in Science.
At its heart, Ḵulus is a movement of collaboration, where Indigenous knowledge, Western medicine, and technology meet to imagine a healthier, more connected future.
What is Ḵulus?
What is Ḵulus?
Ḵulus is the younger brother of the Thunderbird, a symbol of protection, learning, and renewal.
Guided by this spirit, Ḵulus Health helps communities protect their people through data sovereignty, education, and connection.
Our Approach
Our Approach
We believe the future of healthcare must be community-owned and culturally intelligent.
Ḵulus combines continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), data visualization, and traditional knowledge to make health care more personal, preventive, and empowering.
Vision
Vision
We imagine a future where Indigenous communities define what wellness means, guided by data, strengthened by culture, and connected through technology.
Because when we own our health, we own our future.
Ḵulus is a Collaborative Project
Ḵulus is a collaborative health innovation, rooted in Indigenous leadership, community partnership, and cultural respect. It brings together First Nations communities, healthcare professionals, technologists, and researchers to co-create a new model of diabetic care, one that honours traditional knowledge while using modern tools like continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and accessible digital platforms.
Rather than imposing external systems, Ḵulus is built with communities, not for them. Each aspect of the platform, from data governance to nutrition and fitness, is guided by local voices and cultural values. By blending traditional wellness practices with data sovereignty and technology, Ḵulus aims to restore balance, ownership, and self-determination in community health.
Why Use Ḵulus
Ḵulus empowers Indigenous communities to take charge of their health through culturally grounded, community-led, and data-sovereign health care.
Data Sovereignty
Data sovereignty to us means communities own, control, and benefit from their own health information.
Longevity
Longevity begins with balance, balance of body, mind, culture, and community.
Improved Health Outcomes
Improved health outcomes start with community-led care rooted in culture and connection.
Our Method
Ḵulus is part of a growing global movement, reconnecting communities to their traditional foods, self-determination, and technology designed to empower, not extract.
Join the Movement.
If your Nation or organization is interested in piloting Ḵulus or partnering to support community health, we’d love to hear from you.
Our Team
The Ḵulus team brings together Indigenous leaders, healthcare professionals, technologists, and cultural advisors united by a shared vision, to restore balance in metabolic health through Indigenous innovation. Rooted in Y’alis (Alert Bay, BC), our collaborators include Elders, doctors, and digital designers who bridge traditional knowledge and modern science. Together, we’re building a model of care that is community-led, culturally grounded, and ready to scale across all Nations.
Duncan Kennedy
team coordinator
Bill Wasden (Sebaxola)
elder and community coordinator
Dr. Troy McLeod
Community Doctor & Research Lead
The Crisis In Numbers
Rising rates of processed food consumption, sedentary lifestyles, and inequitable access to healthcare have created a global epidemic that is hitting Indigenous and low-income communities the hardest.
While the disease is universal, its impact is not equal. In many Indigenous Nations, diabetes has become five times more prevalent than in surrounding populations, a direct outcome of colonial disruption, nutritional displacement, and systemic underfunding of care.
diabetes Worldwide
numbers
830M
indigeneous Prevalence increased
+3-5x
Indigenous Health
North america
8.5B
savings if 1m cases are diagnosed early
9B
Ḵontact us
Want to bring Ḵulus to your community or learn more about our pilot in Y’alis? Reach out, let’s build health, culture, and community together.
Ḵulus is currently supported by INDIGENEXT, the Indigenous Business Accelerator. Indigenext began work in 2015 on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) working alongside our cousins and neighbors the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen), q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie) sɛmiˈɑːmu (Semiahmoo), and sc̓əwaθən məsteyəx (Tsawwassen) First Nations. We continue work in those territories as well as holding space and expanding with team members in Kwakwaka’wakw, Lënapehòkink (Lenape) and Tsilhqotʼin (Chilcotin) Territories with the deepest gratitude towards the land, and all it’s beings and people, past, present and future.