Acknowledging the occurrence of family violence in our community is an integral step along the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh pathway toward healing and wellness for our families and community members. Within this work, it has been important for us to give cultural context to what we mean by “family violence”, better held in the language as kwétsiwit na wa ḵeyátnewas—violence toward one another. This short film was created as an offering of space for this context, while upholding our Sḵwx̱wú7mesh traditions of oral storytelling as a generative knowledge practice during the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw Family Wellness Week in November 2022. This short film honours the ancestral wisdom of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Elders and Knowledge Keepers as they share stories of traditions, teachings of love, connection, and hope. For us, it has allowed us to create safe space for both truth and hard conversations in our understandings of kwétsiwit na wa ḵeyátnewas. The stories within highlight the resilience of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh families to remember where we came and how we are moving forward on a pathway to healing. Community should be a place where people & families feel safe & secure. Restoring dignity, redressing harms & learning from the past as we see each other with renewed understanding in the need to move forward. Sḵwx̱wú7mesh cultural practices and traditions serve many purposes - often these traditions not only help define our community; they help create community. We are Sḵwx̱wú7mesh strong. While rooted in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh context, we know that there are echoes of this story and healing path in First Nations communities across the country. It is for this reason it feels important to share. This work was created within community, guided by the wisdom of Yataltenat, Kelley McReynolds— Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation member and Director of Ayás Mén̓men. Hannah Rushton—Team Leader of the Ayás Chap Program & Wellness Team; and Calder Cheverie, filmmaker and (former) Team Leader of Youth Services are invited guests into this community, both honored and grateful to be helping relatives. Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw is located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia with traditional territory extending from Vancouver to Gibsons Landing, and north of the town of Squamish into the Elaho and Squamish Valleys. We hold our hands up to the knowledge keepers for their stories & teachings in this video.
Many community leaders in Canada have asserted the need for improved school attendance to promote educational success and well-being among Indigenous students. This paper reviews the extant literature from researchers, government agencies, school districts, and other organizations that have identified factors that improve school attendance among Indigenous students in Canada. The reviewed literature and reports indicate a need for more culturally relevant supports, as well as a more holistic approach for Indigenous students and their families. This review also highlights the dearth of research on this topic and demonstrates the need for studies and initiatives that closely examine contributing factors at various levels (i.e., administrative, policy, community, classroom, household, individual), and that deeply engage families and communities.
In many Indigenous communities, wellness is a holistic balance of spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing through connections with self, family, community, and environment. Interventions to promote mental wellness (as a means of suicide prevention) with Indigenous youth thus need to focus on strengths and promoting these relations. First Nations and Metis communities in Alberta and the Northwest Territories in Canada partnered with academic researchers to adapt Forum Theatre as a mental health intervention for Indigenous youth. Forum Theatre, developed by Brazilian activist Augusto Boal, is based on playing games that encourage laughter, trust, and cooperation to build a community. The games lead to creating images with participants' bodies to reflect different life events, which are developed into a play with conflict and oppression. Through interaction with the play, community members explore solutions to the conflict. Indigenous community partners handpicked community members to train in facilitating Forum Theatre activities to deliver this mental health intervention. Our video showcases the reflections of a group of community facilitators and researchers on the process of being trained in Forum Theatre and indigenizing it for delivery to the participating communities. Community facilitators explain how they came to understand the potential and power of Forum Theatre activities. They describe their training experiences and briefly explain how they indigenized Forum Theatre in a manner that prioritized each community's assets and needs. Their description of the impact they saw in themselves, participants, and communities emphasizes the transformative nature of delivering indigenized Forum Theatre in communities.
This paper reports data from a research study and workshop about reclaiming Indigenous sign languages and cultures, and strengthening services for Indigenous deaf children and their families and communities. The purpose of this workshop was for presenters to share their lived experiences and knowledge as deaf and hearing Elders, parents, and youth, including what resources were and were not available to them. Findings revealed themes including the importance of support for accessibility and inclusion from First Nations political and community leadership; the importance of supporting children’s intersectional identities; the need for greater resources for First Nations communities to access services and supports for deaf children; and youth experiences of learning about deaf culture and sign language, and attending deaf schools. These findings also suggested innovative models for including deaf children and their families.
This study brings forward new evidence regarding child protection (CP) intervention for First Nations children and contributes to a longitudinal understanding of their trajectories within CP services. It raises questions regarding the persisting, unmet needs of First Nations children, families, and communities by identifying the CP factors associated with a first decision to provide post-investigation intervention and a first decision to close a case following post-investigation intervention among First Nations children. Anonymized administrative data (2002–2014; n = 1340) were used to conduct multivariate analyses, including longitudinal analyses using Cox proportional hazards modeling. Among First Nations children, those who were very young, who were reported for serious risk of neglect, and whose situation included indicators of repeated individual or family contact with CP services were more likely to receive post-investigation intervention. Similarly, those who were very young, provided services for neglect or serious risk of neglect, and whose situation was investigated at least twice before intervention was provided were more likely to have a longer first episode of intervention. The longitudinal analyses also revealed that more than one in two First Nations children (51.7%) receiving post-investigation intervention experienced a placement in out-of-home care during their interaction with CP services. This study contributes to a better understanding of intervention for First Nations children in Canada. It highlights how First Nations children receiving CP intervention live in situations in which their needs persist over time and how current services do not appear able to respond to these situations adequately, supporting the move towards autonomous, Indigenous–led CP services.
First Nations children in Australia remain vastly over-represented in the child protection (CP) and out-of-home care (OOHC) systems, and in juvenile detention and adult incarceration systems. To change this, we need to tackle the problem at the source; by maintaining our efforts for the implementation of First Nations rights, so that self-determination and cultural safety are embedded into the child protection system from a family’s first contact and by constantly identifying opportunities in the current system to keep our children safe. Using policy and research literature, this paper identifies the principal barrier to change as the continuing failure of settler governance to recognise the fundamental importance of First Nations rights, including the need to embed self-determination and a specific, First Nations cultural framework into the child protection system. The article also offers personal reflections on the essential role of self-determination in keeping our children safe, drawing on Aunty Glendra Stubbs’ experiences in community-based advocacy and support of families for nearly three decades. Her reflections are linked to the literature and First Nations advocacy that support the findings and opportunities for change proposed in this paper.
There is consensus that quality services to Indigenous children and families involve the transmission, preservation, and promotion of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultural connections and must be delivered within specific First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultural frameworks led by Indigenous people. This view is expressed across research and service reports, in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 2015 Report and Calls to Action, and in the Government of Canada’s newly enacted An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (2019). This article reviews support for this viewpoint, drawing from primarily Indigenous scholarship and illustrated with reference to Indigenous-led services across Canada.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, led particularly by Grandmothers and Aunties, have persistently challenged statutory child protection systems and the harms they inflict on our children, families, and communities. Reflecting on our own experiences advocating for Aboriginal families and communities at the practice and systems level, this paper explores a reflective commentary approach concerning opportunities and challenges of community-based advocacy toward substantive sustained change. We note how the voices, experiences, and expertise of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be marginalised or ignored by non-Indigenous authorities, colonial systems, and practice. Despite the apologies and promises of successive governments, contemporary systems continue to reflect “past” approaches. In this context, we honour the strong women who have, and continue, to stand up for their children, families, and communities, further rallying for ongoing resistance and reform.
Children and youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have limited access to assessment, diagnostic, and treatment resources – a distinct disadvantage in meeting their care needs in Australia. Limited knowledge exists on the intersection of FASD, Indigeneity, racism, trauma, and child welfare involvement. Notably, the lack of support for children with FASD increases the risk of adverse outcomes, including incarceration, homelessness, mental health problems, and early mortality. Children with FASD are often cared for in the child protection system by kinship carers, many without a diagnosis or the benefits of FASD informed care. Rarely considered is the Australian response to FASD or the Aboriginal worldview on disability. Qualitative research was utilized to conduct semi-structured interviews with six carers of Indigenous children with FASD–three foster carers and three relative or kinship carers. Seven core themes identified by carers included: FASD awareness, caregiver health, advocacy for the child, mothers of the children with FASD, loss and grief experienced by the carer, social costs, and children in child protection care. Carers identified that limited resources existed to address the disabilities and care needs of children, including training and respite. Financial disparity exists with relative carers receiving less income than foster carers. Carers demonstrated advocacy, resiliency, and resourcefulness in providing care. A lack of knowledge of FASD and core resources in child welfare services were identified as major challenges in providing care. This research examined the caregiving experiences of foster and Aboriginal kinship carers, caring for children with FASD in child protection.
First Peoples continue to face intergenerational harms as a result of settler systems of intervention in the lives of their families, including the forced removal of children. First Peoples resistance includes advocacy for systemic change, in particular, focused on foundations of greater accountability in child welfare systems, and recognition of First Peoples’ right to self-determination. However, achieving these necessary structural changes remains a pressing challenge. Using the example of the recent Aboriginal-led review of child welfare in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, ‘Family is Culture’, this paper explores the cycle of inquiry and response, and the repeated failures to enable self-determination or strengthen public accountability and oversight. Drawing on concepts including legitimacy and the rule of law, we conceptualise this pattern of reviews as a ritual of redemption by settler child – welfare systems, distancing themselves from ‘past’ wrongs while refusing to address the harmful foundations of these systems, thereby perpetuating the violence imposed on First Peoples children, families and communities. This contrasts with First Peoples’ frameworks for child welfare reform, which must be urgently realised in order to establish such systems on more just and effective foundations.
isihcikêwinihk kâkî nâtawihon (Healing through Ceremony) is an audio-visual learning experience created in ceremony and in relationship with knowledge-keepers, wisdom-holders, language speakers, and the survivors of Indian Residential Schools and their descendants. In ceremony and in language, the authors met with 23 knowledge-keepers and Indigenous community members who shared their experiences of “healing through ceremony.” Through protocol and relationship, the knowledge-keepers and Indigenous community members gave permission to the authors to have the teachings and stories recorded and documented. The audio-visual learning experience came to be understood as an experience of kiskinowapahtam – to heal, teach, and learn by watching and doing. The teachings and stories shared in isihcikêwinihk kâkî nâtawihon guide social workers toward understanding how to support Indigenous communities in healing from the legacy of Residential Schools and the lasting intergenerational impacts of colonization. isihcikêwinihk kâkî nâtawihon supports the preservation of Indigenous knowledge regarding healing and ceremony and directly impacts current and future generations through providing this knowledge to social workers serving Indigenous communities. From this teaching experience, the knowledge-keepers, community members, and authors share a collective vision that Indigenous children, families, and communities encounter social workers who understand, honour, and trust the healing that happens in ceremony.
This article illustrates perspectives on Métis cultural identity, belonging, and positionality, within the context of wellness. As authors, we have the privilege of sharing stories from 24 Métis women, Two-Spirit, and gender diverse people—living or accessing services on the unceded territory of the Lək’ w əŋən-speaking peoples (in so-called Victoria, British Columbia). Their stories illustrate personal and intergenerational journeys of reclaiming Métis identity, while also highlighting the importance of culture, community, family, land, and location. As Métis researchers conducting Métis-specific research, we also share our own positionalities and reflect on our responsibilities to community and to the original caretakers of the land.
The values of “Responsibility, Respect, Relationality and Reciprocity (the 4Rs)” in Indigenous research methodologies inform the core principles of Indigenous kinship systems. This is most often understood as the interconnectedness to land, relatives, animals, and spirits. Despite ongoing systems of oppression, Indigenous kinship values have not only survived but continue to demand a rightful a place within our education, health, justice, and welfare systems. Through critical self-reflective praxis, I explore how the values of “Responsibility, Respect, Relationality and Reciprocity” that guide Indigenous research methodologies (IRM) can disrupt Western based psychotherapies and counselling practices that too often reproduce harm onto Indigenous peoples. The 4Rs upheld in IRM strengthen kinship by centring the values that promote the beauty and intelligence of Indigenous knowledge systems and generations of knowledge holders.
This critical reflection is based on my practice encounter as a white settler social worker within the context of Child Welfare, in rural Canada during the late 1990s. This paper is in line with Karen Healy’s (2001) notion of critical social work, as a means to enhance systemic and related child welfare social worker practice. More specifically this paper addresses, through a specific case encounter with an Indigenous mother, how white settler social workers are systemically entangled in perpetuating acts of oppression. This critical reflection enables the reader to become aware of how mainstream social work practice, has the ability to unintentionally harm those service receivers that it actually intends to help. This paper critically addresses discourse around professional innocence, the risks of professional knowledge, representational violence and ethical practice dilemmas, within the context of a disguised practice encounter. The relevance of this critical reflection may be seen as a social justice initiative, catered predominantly towards white settler front line practitioners. These challenges are originating from within our own practices. Our practices are historically embedded in systemic colonial forms of discrimination and racism against First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities. I bring light to how white settler social workers should confront their own personal and professional pre-conceived notions, biases, and misconceptions and instead, implement anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practices within their work. This process begins with critical self-reflection.
isihcikewinihk kaki natawihon (Healing through Ceremony) is an audio-visual learning experience created in ceremony and in relationship with knowledge-keepers, wisdom-holders, language speakers, and the survivors of Indian Residential Schools and their descendants. In ceremony and in language, the authors met with 23 knowledge-keepers and Indigenous community members who shared their experiences of "healing through ceremony. " Through protocol and relationship, the knowledge -keepers and Indigenous community members gave permission to the authors to have the teachings and stories recorded and documented. The audio-visual learning experience came to be understood as an experience of kiskinowapahtam - to heal, teach, and learn by watching and doing. The teachings and stories shared in isihcikewinihk kaki natawihon guide social workers toward understanding how to support Indigenous communities in healing from the legacy of Residential Schools and the lasting intergenerational impacts of colonization. isihcikewinihk kaki natawihon supports the preservation of Indigenous knowledge regarding healing and ceremony and directly impacts current and future generations through providing this knowledge to social workers serving Indigenous communities. From this teaching experience, the knowledge-keepers, community members, and authors share a collective vision that Indigenous children, families, and communities encounter social workers who understand, honour, and trust the healing that happens in ceremony.
In my video, I (James Schlonies) tell the story of how I struggled when I was younger. I went through all mental health services available in my town, but sometimes I just felt worse after. When I was in grade 7, I started going to M’Wikwedong. My family and I received help from M’Wikwedong to cope with what I was going through. Drumming helped me learn to speak up for myself. Now I am a member of the Board of Directors at M’Wikwedong and I am an advocate for other youth in my area. This video was created through a research project entitled: Promoting healthy urban environments for young Indigenous peoples: The case of M'Wikwedong Native Cultural Resource Centre. The research team was formed by the M’Wikwedong Youth Group (Ryerson King, Kaitrina Harrisson, Steven Schlonies, Nikita Jones, and James Schlonies) and the Centre for Environmental Health Equity at Queen’s University (Carlos Sanchez-Pimienta and Jeffrey Masuda). This video displays a previous iteration of the name of this project. M'Wikwedong recently changed its name to "M'Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre."
