Beyond the Textbook - My Reflection

Walking the path

It’s been quite the semester I have to say! I’m glad to soon be taking a break and gathering strength for semester two. Even though I come to the table with some education as well as numerous years of front line work experience in the Aboriginal health field, as a first generation student, the learning curve for being a university student has been a steep one to say the least. Upon entering the social work program I had expectations of what the student body would be like. Three and a half months later, sitting here reviewing the semester in my mind, I was presented with many challenges from fellow students. I see these as opportunities to learn, grow stronger and gain a new understanding. So many new ideas and social issues were taught over the span of the course. I could write pages on what I learned in that respect, but my biggest learning came from outside of the course content.

Personally I witnessed some derogatory comments amongst students that were unsettling and could really be labeled as racist. However, I could see that over the course of the semester attitudes shifted for many students, in a more positive direction. That shift in thinking is paramount because it is important to understand that we don’t all arrive at the same place with the same teachings and understanding. For those that haven’t had a paradigm shift in their thinking, you never know, it may happen down the line yet. The fact that there is room to adjust our belief systems and change our opinions is a positive notion. I have done my share of pushing the limits in order to challenge people’s thinking and I have appreciated the challenges to my thinking as well. It’s ok to be different. It’s ok to disagree and it’s ok to challenge each other so that we move forward towards a better place. If we don’t grow, we become stagnant. The biggest test is how do we negotiate all this learning, challenging, debating, and growing and keep ourselves and others intact? Respect. Showing respect for ourselves and others. By not being so quick to judge but to think that there may be another angle to look at situations from. We don’t all have the same lens or perspective but we can take the time to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. By comprehending that we most often don’t have all the information – we can understand that there is so much more to each of us below the surface. We all have room to grow but we also all carry gifts that we can utilize for the good.

Speaking of gifts, one in particular that the group I belonged to was able to utilize was an Anishinaabe healing approach. Our group experienced some challenges working together to accomplish our tasks. I am happy to say that in order to move past this hurdle we participated in a healing circle that helped to clear the air, refocus us, and created some positive momentum for the group. For those that had not participated in healing or sharing circles before, they expressed gratitude for being exposed to such a gentle way of healing and for the opportunity of the circle to be a part of their learning experience during this course. The good energy created and shared amongst the group was one of the most memorable moments but by far, for me the ultimate experience was when we were able to bring seven voices together to sing a traditional women’s song. That my friends, is empowerment. The power of bringing voices together to create something positive and much bigger than any one of us could create on our own.

So, without a doubt, after reflecting on my learning in this course, the most valuable pieces of learning did not come from a textbook or lecture. These are the pieces that I will take with me on my path to becoming a social worker.

A'ho!  Miigwetch.  Baa Maa Pii.

Lisa

BONUS BLOG ASSIGNMENT 

The blogging assignments were very informative.  Many key issues and points were addressed in all of the groups.  This was all very new to me because I have never blogged before.  Its an excellent way to put your thoughts, ideas, objectives, researched topics and other points out there for people to view and make comments about.

I learned so much this past year in this class.  The class presentations were all done very well.  However, some groups powerpoint presentations were a bit better than others.  It saddens me that many topics discussed during the presentations are still a major problem in Canada.  We are one of the wealthiest countries in the world and yet we still have many First Nations and Non-Native people still living in poverty.  These assignments have made me aware of the so many social issues in our country.  Covering many things such as poverty, addictions, elder abuse, feminism, gay and lesbian rights and so on and so forth.  There are many problems in the north when it comes to living conditions.  The blog about the housing conditions in Northern First Nations hit a nerve with me because our Canadian Government took long to help these people.  I live on the Garden River First Nation and their is lack of funding for new dwellings and renovations.  Many non-native Canadians don't realize the suffering our people have been through and are still going through.  I'm glad that the Prime Minister, Steven Harper made an apology to the First Nations people that went through abuse while in Residential Schools, but there is still so much healing that has to be done.

I have still to read many more blogs from the other groups and am looking forward to making final comments.  Working in the groups got classmates closer together.  We have to learn to accept one another no matter what colour of skin we have, our religion, sexual orientation, gender, race etc.  Every human being has a right to live and breathe where ever they choose without being discriminated against.  Thanks for giving me the opportunity to express myself through these blogs and learning more about current social issues.  It has been a great learning experience and am glad to have met everyone in class and Mrs. Straka for being patient.

Meegwetch,

Jennifer

Reflection...

I am not a person who is very technologically savvy, nor do I have the desire to be so when I first heard about this blogging assignment and how all of our blogs were to be done online I was a little apprehensive.  After learning about how to do the blogs and shown how to navigate my way through the postings my apprehension turned into excitement!  

The first blog really provided me with a sense of what the Aniishnaabe culture was like before there was any sort of contact between them and the Europeans.  There was a sense of community collectivism which I really thought was great because everyone is treated equally and no one is marginalized or “lesser than” anyone else in their community.  Absolutely everything was shared among everyone from food, to shelter, to stories, to child rearing.  The Aniishnaabe culture seemed so humble and traditional to me, so I find it difficult to read about what is going on for this community of people presently.

After writing my second, third and fourth blogs I was quite discouraged and saddened about the lack of education and knowledge some people acquire about what has been going on and still is going on today for this group of people.  Prior to European contact, the Aniishnaabe people did not face the vast amount of social issues that they do today such as inadequate housing, lack of funding, unsafe water and poverty.  I find it very disheartening that this culture of people was living their way of life off of the land very contently for that matter, when some outside forces needed to barge in and insist on projecting their way of life on the Aniishnaabe.  This causes me to pose to question “Was this assimilation a success considering all the aftermath that still continues on today?” 

After this blogging assignment I still find myself asking mnay questions about what is going to be done for this culture of people because I feel if something is not done soon, there will not be a future for the Aniishnaabe.  It angers me that few people are stepping up to advocate for this culture and that the government refuses to acknowledge their part in this creation of history.  I have great respect for this culture of people and my future plan is turn these negative feelings about what has happened to the Aniishnaabe people into advocacy for them in my practice.  Thank you for this valuable learning experience.

Kristin*

In The Child's Best Interest

     Colonialism has created many barriers for Anishnaabek people in Canada.  The Children's Aid society can be a very difficult organization to avoid for families who live in poverty, have suffered abuse or have used drugs to cope with trauma. First Nation's communities have faced apprehension for generations with respect to colonization and the 60's scoop (Blackstock & Trocmé 2005).  I was reflecting on the whole process that these families have been forced to live through.   Life for most Anishnaabek families was good and healthy before European contact.  They had set ways  and traditions to solve problems overcome obstacles.  Anishnaabek culture was invaded and interrupted  by the Europeans and children were taken from thriving homes for reasons that had nothing to do with how well they had been cared for and nurtured. (Hand, 2005) 
   
     Centuries later families are still being divided (Blackstock & Trocmé 2005), even though there are so many other ways of approaching families who are facing difficulties.  I was deeply thinking about why this would be.  I think of my own perfectionism and in the face of adversity, how I often seek to do everything exactly right.  That's just on my level though.  Is is safe to assume that people in Anishnaabek communities have given up?  It might be just me, but it seems that they are sabotaging their lives to be legitimately responsible for the way that they have been forced to suffer in the past centuries, or in other words, actually doing what their families had been accused of in previous generations. Their ancestors did nothing to deserve their children to be ripped from their breasts (Hand, 2006).  It pains me to think that these traumas are not being remedied by new ways of treatment.  We are still apprehending their children.  Women are suffering and are having to live through compound traumas each generation that children are taken from families who are trying to heal.  I don't have all the answers, however I know we aren't providing a holistic approach to child welfare.  A socialist ideology emphasizes freedom, collectivism, and equality and it should be organized according to to social criteria and distributed according to need. (Hick, 2007)  When Aboriginals learn the effects of historical oppression, they can begin to understand how they have been subjected to such harsh social, political and economic conditions, and the healing process can begin. (Blackstock & Trocmé, 2005)
     In addition to all of these barriers, First Nation families have bigger problems to contend with, such as neo-conservative programs that underfund native child welfare programs,  22% below provincial  levels. (Schoffield, 2012)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ottawa-spends-3-million-to-battle-first-nations-child-welfare-case/article4581093/

     So we are taking aboriginal children from their families, again/still, and then giving them less than adequate care.  How can this help?  How does this even bandaid anything?  Wouldn't it make more sense for everyone involved, to create programs that actually empower families, not destroy them further?  There are obvious lessons that can be learned from the past.  In order to create lasting change, we will need to start paying attention to our history, and at some point, (hopefully sooner rather than later) begin to right our wrongs.

~ Tara

References:

Blackstock, C., & Trocmé, N. (2005). Community-based child welfare for Aboriginal children: Supporting resilience through structural change. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 24(12), 12-33.

Harper, J. (2003). Divided we fall, United we stand: Internalized oppression and its affects on Community Development within Aboriginal communities. Native Social Work journal, 5, 113 Hand, C. A. (2006). An Ojibwe perspective on the welfare of children: Lessons of the past and visions for the future. Children and Youth Services Review,28(1), 20-46. Scoffield, H. (2012, October 1). Ottawa spends $3-million to battle first nations child welfare case. The Globe and Mail.  Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com Hick, S. (2007) Social Welfare Theory. Worden, J., Stuckey, R., & Carroll, A. (Eds.)  Social Welfare in Canada: Understanding Income Security/Second Edition(p.61). Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.

Descendants of Residential School Survivors - The Best Approach for Healing

Sunset Dancers

The history of the Indian residential school system is infamous for the gross neglect and abuse of Aboriginal children.  The residential schools were an attempt to erode the existence of Aboriginal families and communities.  This objective has impacted not just on the residential school survivors but also their descendants.  The goal of the federal government was to assimilate Aboriginal people into Canadian society (Funk-Unrau, Snyder, 2007).  According to Duncan Campbell Scott, the main architect of Indian residential school policy, “Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic, and there is no Indian question and no Indian Department… I want to get rid of the Indian problem” (Titley, 1986).

Federal government assimilationist policy, in the form of the Indian Residential school system removed the children, the youth and the adolescents, severely disrupting the Aboriginal family and affecting its balance (Funk-Unrau & Synder, 2007).  Those children were removed from loving, caring and nurturing environments, and were placed in institutions.  Instead of being taught their native language, culture, and traditions, the children were taught domestic skills and under many circumstances were subjected to neglect, abuse, rape and even torture.  Funk-Unrau and Synder state (2007) “as devastating as all this was, perhaps the most extreme form of abuse was the deliberate attempt to tear young, impressionable students away from their families and communities and indoctrinate them into a language, a worldview, and a culture completely alien to their home experience.”

The impacts have been felt and have been passed on to the descendants of survivors today.  This not only impacted those who attended the residential schools but also affected Aboriginal people for the generations that followed.  As the residential school survivors became parents, they lacked the proper parenting skills that they would have been taught had they remained at home (Anisman, Bomby& Matheson, 2011).  These new parents passed on what they learned at the residential schools –anger, hatred, pain, abuse and neglect.  The children of these survivors then grew up learning from their parents’ dysfunctional ways believing them to be normal and acceptable.  Anisman, et al (2011) concludes “these experiences disrupted the transmission of culture from one generation to the next and undermined parenting skills and the capacity to provide a healthy environment for their children.” These children of survivors then may have gone on to residential schools themselves, but if not, they were still the products of a dysfunctional upbringing – a life cycle out of balance (Anisman, Bombay & Matheson, 2011).

          We know from our course that a Liberal ideological approach to social reform comes in the form of providing services and programs for individuals in order to get one back in balance, but does not change the nature of the problem (or reach the root cause of social problems).  Liberals with their institutional model see individuals rather than social groups or communities and do not seek to change society but assist the individual to be able to cope.  This Band-Aid solution to social problems will not be enough for Aboriginal people.  Healing of our people will only come when root causes of social issues are addressed.

 Since the Residential schools continue to affect us today, we, the descendants must look to healing based on our Aboriginal traditions.  Michael DeGagne (2007) states that “trauma experienced repeatedly over generations by aboriginal people reverberates through tight-knit community networks and has laid down layers of psychic pain and community disruption.  Healing methods that touch both individuals and communities are required” (DeGagne, 2007).  I feel that when social problems are addressed, such as addiction for example, simply treating the issue of addiction in individuals will not heal Anishinaabe people.  The underlying causes of such social conditions must be addressed by looking at the individual within their community and healing the deep roots of issues.  Some people may not even know how the residential school system has affected them.  In Aboriginal treatment centres the first step to healing for those with addictions is to learn about residential school and the intergenerational trauma.  My belief is the best approach for healing Aboriginal people experiencing the intergenerational trauma is a holistic, Indigenous approach based on the Medicine Wheel. 

Lisa
 

Resources:

Anisman, H., Bombay, A., & Matheson, K. (2011). The impact of stressor on second generation indian residential school survivors. Transcultural Psychiatry, 48(4), 368-370. doi: 10.1177/1363461511410240

Degagne, M. (2007). Toward and Aboriginal Paradigm of Healing: Addressing the Legacy of Residential Schools. Australasian Psychiatry, 15(Supplement), 49. doi: 10.1080/10398560701701114

Funk-Unrau, N., & Snyder, A. (2007). Indian Residential School Survivors and State-Designed ADR: A Strategy for Co-optation. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 24(3), 289-290. doi: 10.1002/crq.175

Titley, E. B. (1986). A Narrow Vision:Duncan Campbells Scott and the Administration of Indian Affairs in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

Youngfox, C. (Artist). (2012). Sunset Dancers. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.whetung.com/shop/cards/C-CY-SunsetDancers.jpg

 

BULLYING IN CANADA AND FIRST NATIONS

There are many social issues that need to be addressed, but bullying in one way or another has affected everybody.  Bullying is classified as "aggressive behaviour" where a dominant individual or group abuses their greater power of threatening or teasing a less dominant individual.  Bullying usually has a large impact on how a person perceives and presents themselves in society.  The main issues associated with bullying are self-harm, poor mental and physical health and social isolation, as well as suicide, educational problems and relationship problems.

There is a "myth" that children grow out of bullying.  In fact, without intervention, a majority of youth who bully others in childhood will continue to use their power negatively through adolescence and into adulthood.  The nature of bullying changes as children mature.  The four most common types of bullying are: 

Verbal Bullying - ( name calling, sarcasm, teasing, spreading rumours, threatening, making negative reference's to one's culture, ethnicity, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation).

Social Bullying - ( mobbing, scapegoating, excluding others from a group, humiliating others with public gestures or graffiti intended to put others down).

Physical Bullying - ( hitting, poking, pinching, chasing, shoving, coercing, destroying or stealing belongings, unwanted sexual touching).

Cyber Bullying - ( using the internet or text messaging to intimidate, put down, spread rumours or make fun of someone).

Some people think bullying is just part of growing up and a way for young people to learn to stick up for themselves.  However, it isn't normal, it is a learned behaviour that hurts everyone.  Those who get bullied, those doing the bullying, and the people watching.  It damages our schools, our communities and our society at large.  Remember, both genders engage in bullying and even adults bully.

According to an article in the Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2011, there are no data on the prevalance risk indicators and impact on bullying on First Nations youth on-reserve in Canada.  Even the First Nations Regional Longitudnal Health Survey, a survey specifically designed for First Nations living on-reserve, does not address bullying in the youth questionnaire.  But they have found that bullying is more common for First Nations youth living on-reserve, compared to other Canadian youths.

We can all play a role in preventing bullying.  Step one is to learn what bullying is, step two is to decide that it is not acceptable and step three is for students, schools, workplaces, districts and communities (including First Nations) to take action by developing effective bullying strategies.  There is no one prevention program, resource or approach.  It will take a concerted sustained effort by all of us to stop bullying in our schools and communities.

Meegwetch,

Jennifer 

References:    Canadian Public Health Association 2011

                       Bullyingcanada.ca

An Increasing Issue

             The HIV/AIDS disease is deadly if it is left untreated and unfortunately for some individuals the means for detecting and treating the virus are unknown.  Without this detection and treatment the Human Immunodeficiency Virus will severely weaken the immune system making the individual affected more susceptible to other diseases because their bodies will simply not allow itself to fight it off (Health Canada, 2010).  The AIDS disease has become increasingly prevalent within First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities and can be attributed to factors that are occurring today such as ongoing poverty, lack of access to health services and more recently intravenous drug use (Health Canada, 2010). 

                In my opinion the First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities of people are prime examples of how neo-conservative ideologies have failed people instead of fostering growth within them.  When looking at a health/social issue such as HIV/AIDS I think it is unfair and unjust to put the responsibility of looking after oneself solely on that individual (Mullaly, 2007) when medical, psychological and sometimes financial assistance are needed.  Also saying that poverty is a good thing, that it teaches discipline and that it provides incentive (Mullaly, 2007) is an illusion because in my experience it has never been a good thing for anyone involved and the “incentive” received barely provides the minimum and the government is unable to guarantee that it is being used for what it is intended for. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackbird_hollow/3591982589/

                The HIV virus can be spread from person to person in a few different ways such as unprotected sexual intercourse, breastfeeding, pregnancy and needle sharing (Health Canada, 2010).  Among many First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities, intravenous drug use has become a massive issue not only due to the addiction itself but also because with IDU many Anishnaabe individuals are contracting the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.  In fact in 2008, 63.8% of positive HIV screenings among Aboriginal people were because of injection drug use (Public Health Agency of Canada), this statistic is alarming. 

It was mentioned before that the First Nation communities have lack of, or limited access to health care services (Health Canada, 2010), this statement to me, is an acknowledgment by the conservative government that these communities are indeed at a disadvantage.  Pulling from my own knowledge I think it is definitely unjust to ask an Anishnaabe individual dying of HIV/AIDS and their family to take care of themselves with their acquisition of property and savings (Mullaly, 2007) considering they themselves have minimal control over these aspects of their lives.  Perhaps engaging in a selfish behaviour such as “shooting up” is the only control these individuals feel anymore because they have been so controlled for centuries.  Ignorance may cause someone to believe that the issue of drug addiction is one of their own making and that they do not deserve intervention from the government or responsible, honest taxpayers (Mullaly, 2007) but truly, I think at this point something does need to happen and the realization needs to be made by everyone that these current issues stem from generations of residential schooling and systemic abuse.  If Anishnaabe people were given the same opportunities and were not marginalized in every aspect of their lives they would have the chance to show they are hardworking and responsible.

With the HIV/AIDS disease becoming an increasing concern for Anishnaabe communities and copious amounts of research to support this statement I think it is absurd to say that the onus is on them and their families and the problem is their own fault (Mullaly 2007).  Throughout my blogging and researching it has become more and more evident that the government is committing a silent genocide (consciously or uncouciously, I do not know).  I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way or sees it this way, so why is this all STILL happening?

Kristin*

 

References

Health Canada. (2010). First Nation and Inuit Health: HIV/AIDS. Retrieved from: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/diseases-maladies/aids-sida/index-eng.php

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work.  Canada:  Oxford University Press.

Public Health Agency of Canada. (2010). HIV/AIDS Among Aboriginal People. Retrieved from: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/aids-sida/publication/epi/2010/pdf/EN_Chapter8_Web.pdf