Chapter 8 Chapter Overview & Learning Objectives

Chapter Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the role of social work in the lives of Indigenous Peoples. There has always been a troubled relationship between the social work profession and this population, as social work has mostly served as an element of social control and an arm of colonization throughout history to the present day. Prior to colonization, Indigenous Peoples cared for their families and communities in accordance with general values held within Indigenous worldviews. With the arrival of European settlers came the diffusion of colonial policies, including residential schools and the Sixties Scoop, into Indigenous communities, which disrupted traditional patterns of helping and resulted in a suppression of culture. The chapter discusses how colonial policies and practices, including social work as an agent of social control, have contributed to the many social problems facing Indigenous Peoples. The trauma suffered by the victims of colonization is passed down from generation to generation, resulting in the current challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples. Particular attention is paid to the high numbers of disappeared and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The chapter then presents the ways in which Indigenous Peoples are recreating their original ways of helping within their communities and their successes in doing so. Through instruments such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, programs developed by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and use of the Medicine Wheel, Indigenous Peoples in Canada have developed effective approaches to community care and healing. Effective healing principles that are in accordance with Indigenous beliefs are outlined as a guide for the social work profession.

The chapter explores how Indigenous worldviews, in the context of helping and healing, can, in part, work together with social work theories such as postmodern, postcolonial, and anti-oppressive social work. These theories align with Indigenous worldviews because they recognize how certain populations, including Indigenous Peoples, are marginalized in society and that there are many ways of seeing the world and assisting marginalized groups. The chapter discusses the value of Indigenous ways of helping to all people and the role of non-Indigenous social work allies in working with Indigenous Peoples. Allies can help to heal the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada by seeing the strengths, resiliency, survival, and resistance of Indigenous Peoples today. The chapter concludes by relating allyship to the Idle No More movement, the concept of the eighth fire, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Learning Objectives

The goal of this chapter is to do the following:

1. Identify who Indigenous Peoples are.
2. Apply appropriate terminology to diverse populations of Indigenous Peoples.
3. Identify Indigenous values and ways of helping.
4. Acquire basic knowledge of Canadian history from an Indigenous perspective.
5. See current social and economic challenges of Indigenous Peoples as the impacts of colonization.
6. Identify challenges of Indigenous Peoples living in urban settings.
7. Become more informed about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
8. Introduce roles of Indigenous helpers such as Elders and traditional counsellors.
9. Gain an understanding of Indigenous worldviews within helping/social work.
10. Appreciate the strengths, resistance, and resiliency of Indigenous Peoples.
11. Come to view yourself as a helper and ally.
12. See how all Canadians are part of truth and reconciliation.