scholarly journals Structural Genocide and Institutionalized Racism in Canada: The Department of Indian Affairs and Framing of Indigenous Peoples

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-37
Author(s):  
Laura Mudde
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Institutionalized Racism ◽  
Canadian Government ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Cultural Genocide ◽  
Indian Affairs

This review problematizes the health and socio-economic disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, which I argue is due to the role of the Canadian government. Specifically, I analyse the continuous process of Indigenous administrative subjugation under Canadian rule to uncover the intrinsic racial predilections of Canadian government policy toward First Nations peoples in Canada’s Prairie West provinces through the application of diagnostic frame analysis as a multidisciplinary research method to analyse how people understand situations and activities. My research results reveal the racialized marginalization of First Nation peoples through the administrative regimes in Canada as a continuous contemporary process established in the late nineteenth and twentieth century. In exposing the structural discrimination of First Nations peoples, my research introduces the reader to the concept of political master narratives, or ‘imaginaries’. These imaginaries foster the health and socio-economic disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups in Canadian society. The critical analysis of these historically structural government instituted imaginaries and the indirect, exponentially higher chances of tuberculosis and related diseases and deaths among Indigenous peoples’ challenge conclusions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on cultural genocide. This study proposes structural genocide as a more accurate and inclusive term for the continuous institutional marginalization of not only Indigenous peoples as seen in this case study of the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) but for all Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Missiological implications for Taylor Seminary arising from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-413
Author(s):  
Allan Effa
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Cooperative Effort ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Cultural Genocide ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada ◽  
Set Up

In 2015 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada concluded a six-year process of listening to the stories of Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. More than 6000 witnesses came forth to share their personal experiences in listening sessions set up all across the country. These stories primarily revolved around their experience of abuse and cultural genocide through more than 100 years of Residential Schools, which were operated in a cooperative effort between churches and the government of Canada. The Commission’s Final Report includes 94 calls to action with paragraph #60 directed specifically to seminaries. This paper is a case study of how Taylor Seminary, in Edmonton, is seeking to engage with this directive. It explores the changes made in the curriculum, particularly in the teaching of missiology, and highlights some of the ways the seminary community is learning about aboriginal spirituality and the history and legacy of the missionary methods that have created conflict and pain in Canadian society.

scholarly journals Jordan’s Principle: Reconciliation and the First Nations Child

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Colleen Sheppard
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Residential Schools ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Child Welfare Services ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Nations Child ◽  
The Individual

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was mandated to “document the individual and collective harms” of residential schools and to “guide and inspire a process of truth and healing, leading toward reconciliation.”  The stories of survivors revealed the intergenerational and egregious harms of taking children from their families and communities. In seeking to redress the legacy of the residential schools era, the TRC Calls to Action include greater recognition of self-governance of Indigenous Peoples, as well as numerous recommendations for equitable funding of health, educational, and child welfare services.

scholarly journals Indigenous land-based interventions and nature-oriented wellness programs: Commonalities and important differences.

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Sommerfeld ◽  
David Danto ◽  
Russ Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Wellness Programs ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Task Force Report ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Indigenous Mental Health ◽  
Indigenous Land

The importance of Indigenous mental health has been highlighted and affirmed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report (2015), the Canadian Psychological Association and The Psychology Foundation of Canada’s Task Force report responding to the TRC findings (2018), as well as numerous recent studies. Unfortunately, Indigenous Peoples in Canada continue to suffer from a lack of appropriate mental health care. Land-based interventions have been cited as one culturally appropriate approach to wellness; nevertheless, given the diversity of nature-oriented wellness programs, confusion exists over the qualities unique to and common across each program. As such, this paper will discuss the qualities of nature-oriented wellness programs currently in use by Indigenous communities (e.g. landbased interventions) with land-based approaches outside of Indigenous communities such as forest bathing, Outward Bound programs, and green or blue space research. The authors will then explore what sets Indigenous land-based interventions apart from these other wellness programs and discuss why land-based interventions hold a deeper meaning for Indigenous Peoples.

scholarly journals Sustaining Cultural Genocide—A Look at Indigenous Children in Non-Indigenous Placement and the Place of Judicial Decision Making—A Canadian Example

Laws ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Peter Choate ◽  
Roy Bear Chief ◽  
Desi Lindstrom ◽  
Brandy CrazyBull
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Judicial Decision Making ◽  
Raising Children ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Cultural Genocide ◽  
The Sixties

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has called upon Canada to engage in a process of reconciliation with the Indigenous peoples of Canada. Child Welfare is a specific focus of their Calls to Action. In this article, we look at the methods in which discontinuing colonization means challenging legal precedents as well as the types of evidence presented. A prime example is the ongoing deference to the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Racine v Woods which imposes Euro-centric understandings of attachment theory, which is further entrenched through the neurobiological view of raising children. There are competing forces observed in the Ontario decision on the Sixties Scoop, Brown v Canada, which has detailed the harm inflicted when colonial focused assimilation is at the heart of child welfare practice. The carillon of change is also heard in a series of decisions from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in response to complaints from the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations regarding systemic bias in child welfare services for First Nations children living on reserves. Canadian federal legislation Bill C-92, “An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families”, brings in other possible avenues of change. We offer thoughts on manners decolonization might be approached while emphasizing that there is no pan-Indigenous solution. This article has implications for other former colonial countries and their child protection systems.

scholarly journals Rethinking Representation: Indigenous Peoples and Contexts at the University of Alberta Libraries

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Farnel ◽  
Denise Koufogiannakis ◽  
Sheila Laroque ◽  
Ian Bigelow ◽  
Anne Carr-Wiggin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Library Of Congress ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
The University

Appropriate subject access and descriptive practices within library and information science are social justice issues. Standards that are well established and commonly used in academic libraries in Canada and elsewhere, including Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and Library of Congress Classification (LCC), continue to perpetuate colonial biases toward Indigenous peoples. In the fall of 2016, the University of Alberta Libraries (UAL) established a Decolonizing Description Working Group (DDWG) to investigate, define, and propose a plan of action for how descriptive metadata practices could more accurately, appropriately, and respectfully represent Indigenous peoples and contexts. The DDWG is currently beginning the implementation of recommendations approved by UAL’s strategic leadership team. In this paper we describe the genesis of the DDWG within the broader context of the libraries’ and the university’s responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action; outline the group’s activities and recommendations; and describe initial steps toward the implementation of those recommendations, with a focus on engaging local Indigenous communities. We reflect on the potential impact of revised descriptive practices in removing many of the barriers that Indigenous communities and individuals face in finding and accessing library materials relevant to their cultures and histories.

scholarly journals Re-Thinking Housing: From Physical Manifestation of Colonial Planning Policy to Community-Focused Networks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelagh McCartney
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Planning Policy ◽  
Existing Housing ◽  
Physical Manifestation

Current housing systems and policies for First Nations communities in Canada produce a physical manifestation of ongoing colonialism: the house. Examinations of the physical community and house yield an understanding of deeply systematized imperial struggles between Indigenous communities and planning as a discipline. Indigenous families are in crisis as the housing system and Federal planning policies have not allowed for the provision of adequate nor appropriate homes. The recent independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission has begun a civic discussion, accompanied by a new federal government looking to begin a new relationship with Indigenous peoples—here we explore how planning can be a leader in this shift. The ‘contact zone’ is used as an operational lens to examine the ways discourse is used to shape the existing housing system. An interdisciplinary and global approach informs interventions in the existing housing system and policies, creating a community-driven model, and uncovering a reimagined role for the planner.

scholarly journals Re-Thinking Housing: From Physical Manifestation of Colonial Planning Policy to Community-Focused Networks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelagh McCartney
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Planning Policy ◽  
Existing Housing ◽  
Physical Manifestation

Current housing systems and policies for First Nations communities in Canada produce a physical manifestation of ongoing colonialism: the house. Examinations of the physical community and house yield an understanding of deeply systematized imperial struggles between Indigenous communities and planning as a discipline. Indigenous families are in crisis as the housing system and Federal planning policies have not allowed for the provision of adequate nor appropriate homes. The recent independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission has begun a civic discussion, accompanied by a new federal government looking to begin a new relationship with Indigenous peoples—here we explore how planning can be a leader in this shift. The ‘contact zone’ is used as an operational lens to examine the ways discourse is used to shape the existing housing system. An interdisciplinary and global approach informs interventions in the existing housing system and policies, creating a community-driven model, and uncovering a reimagined role for the planner.

Rhetorical versus Substantive Reconciliation After Cultural Genocide in Canada

Postgenocide ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 255-279
Author(s):  
Maureen S Hiebert
Keyword(s):  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Selective Listening ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Cultural Genocide ◽  
Canadian Politics ◽  
New Nation

The Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (‘TRC’) report calls for the Canadian government and (settler) Canadians to acknowledge the painful past of the Indian Residential Schools (‘IRS’) (1890s–1990s) and to chart a new nation-to-nation(s) relationship with Canada’s Indigenous peoples. However, the reconciliation discourse replicates unequal power dynamics between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities endemic in Canadian politics and society. The selective listening of the IRS story is grounded in a constructed identity that paints Canada and (non-Indigenous) Canadians as an inclusive and tolerant society. This self-conception has led various levels of government to emphasize the idea of reconciliation as a process by which settler colonialism is conceptualized as a closed historical event that is now firmly in the past. There is little acknowledgement that the logic and structures of settler colonialism, which as the TRC notes amounts to cultural genocide, are still foundational to contemporary Canadian politics, law, economy, and society.

scholarly journals Re-Thinking Housing: From Physical Manifestation of Colonial Planning Policy to Community-Focused Networks

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 20-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelagh McCartney
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Planning Policy ◽  
Existing Housing ◽  
Physical Manifestation

Current housing systems and policies for First Nations communities in Canada produce a physical manifestation of ongoing colonialism: the house. Examinations of the physical community and house yield an understanding of deeply systematized imperial struggles between Indigenous communities and planning as a discipline. Indigenous families are in crisis as the housing system and Federal planning policies have not allowed for the provision of adequate nor appropriate homes. The recent independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission has begun a civic discussion, accompanied by a new federal government looking to begin a new relationship with Indigenous peoples—here we explore how planning can be a leader in this shift. The ‘contact zone’ is used as an operational lens to examine the ways discourse is used to shape the existing housing system. An interdisciplinary and global approach informs interventions in the existing housing system and policies, creating a community-driven model, and uncovering a reimagined role for the planner.

scholarly journals Miýo-pimātisiwin Developing Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness Theory (ICRT): Improving Indigenous Health and Well-Being

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
JoLee Sasakamoose ◽  
Terrina Bellegarde ◽  
Wilson Sutherland ◽  
Shauneen Pete ◽  
Kim McKay-McNabb
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Responsiveness ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Collaborative Relationships ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
The Status

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada calls upon those who can effect change within Canadian systems to recognize the value of Indigenous healing practices and to collaborate with Indigenous healers, Elders, and knowledge keepers where requested by Indigenous Peoples. This article presents the Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness Theory (ICRT) as a decolonized pathway designed to guide research that continuously improves the health, education, governance, and policies of Indigenous Peoples in Saskatchewan. Decolonizing practices include privileging and engaging in Indigenous philosophies, beliefs, practices, and values that counter colonialism and restore well-being. The ICRT supports the development of collaborative relationships between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous allies who seek to improve the status of First Nations health and wellness.

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