The Nova Scotia College of Social Workers (NSCSW) recognizes National Indigenous History Month in June, and National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21. NSCSW is in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq, whose inherent rights were recognized in the Peace and Friendship Treaties. While Nova Scotia also commemorates Mi’kmaq History Month in October, June offers its own opportunities to reflect on the lives, cultures, stories and traditions of the first people of Mi’kma’ki, and First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities from sea to sea to sea, as well as the unique obligations of the social work profession regarding the TRC 94 Calls to Action.
Given the history, present, and future roles for social workers in addressing the harms of colonization, it is important we recognize National Indigenous History Month and Indigenous Peoples Day, while striving to move beyond recognition, towards reconciliation and resurgence. We call on social workers and helpers across Mi’kma’ki to engage in recognition, celebration, and support for Indigenous resurgence in June and through the year.
Our ongoing commitments to decolonization and Indigenization are reflected in our relationships and activities with our Indigenous colleagues and partners, including an upcoming session on Indigenous Ethics. It is the responsibility of all social workers to strive towards decolonial practices for better tomorrows. This can be done in your practices, in your community, and through your relationships.
Decolonizing, Indigenizing
Social Work has a historical and present-day relationship with settler colonization. Joseph Gone writes, “Mental health professionals are the missionaries for a new millennium” (Gone, 2008). Social work as a profession is complicit in multiple harms in the past, and social workers are always at risk of perpetuating colonial harms in present day practice. To move towards reconciliation, we must recognize the history of our profession, which is guided by legislation enacted through provincial systems of power, that are rooted in and directly connected to the harms of colonization. With this in mind, what does it mean for social workers to strive for decolonization and championing of Indigenous social work and helping practices?
In Mi’kma’ki, early roots of social work practices were deeply present in the community healers’ traditions. These healers, revered as Elders or Medicine People, possessed extensive knowledge of medicinal plants, spiritual practices, and holistic healing passed down through generations. Their practices showcased the Mi’kmaq people’s reliance on their healers for comprehensive well-being through natural remedies and spiritual guidance, emphasizing interconnectedness and balance within oneself, the environment, and the community past, present, and future.
Rebuilding our foundations
With nearly 3000 social workers engaged in practice across Nova Scotia, we have an incredible opportunity to further commit to decolonial practice and support for Indigenous resurgence and resistance. Beyond social work practice, we have Land Defenders and Water Protectors throughout Mi’kma’ki and across Turtle Island engaged in resistance and resurgence.
As social workers, the new Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice we will launch this year guide us towards respecting the status, rights, diversity and needs of Mi’kmaq, First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Peoples (Guiding Principle 1.5). Social workers must value the importance of community involvement, relational accountability, cultural humility, trauma-informed practices, and the integration of Indigenous ways of knowing and being in social work practice. Social works are called to champion social justice and to advocate for the rights of Mi’kmaw and Indigenous peoples to be free from racism, systemic racism, and discrimination (Guiding Principle 2.2).
Value 3: Pursuing Truth and Reconciliation guides social workers towards the pursuit of Truth and Reconciliation. To do this, social workers must uphold the values and principles of Reconciliation and decolonization (Guiding Principle 3.1) and acknowledge Indigenous world views in their practice (Guiding Principle 3.2).
Values in practice
We can recognize Indigenous Peoples and history across the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of social work practice, as guided by our upcoming Safe(R) Social Work Practice Framework.
At the micro level, we are guided to uphold individual professional conduct. This includes ensuring we live into our values and ethics and practice competently with respect for relational accountability, trauma-informed practice, and grounding our work in Mi’kma’ki.
At the mezzo level, we can collaborate and partner with Indigenous communities, bridge trust, and ensure Indigenous people, especially Mi’kmaq community members are represented and supported in social work practice.
At the macro level, all social workers must advocate against racism and towards justice, while also striving for holistic health approaches.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action outlined TRC education that is necessary for all those working in public service, education, health care and child welfare. Members may pursue formal training related to these TRC recommendations, or informal activities designed to build resilience, reconciliation, healing and understanding. All social workers in Nova Scotia are required to engage at minimum one hour of annual professional development grounded in principles of Truth and Reconciliation. However, we encourage you to do even more.
Opportunties for learning & relational action
Social workers across Nova Scotia have a role to play in recognizing National Indigenous History Month and Indigenous Peoples Day. Whether you are a settler or an Indigenous social worker, you can recognize these important moments through engaging in your local community activities, participating in professional development opportunities, and through reflexive practice.
Below are resources and opportunities for engagement in honor of National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day.
A book to read:
Living in Indigenous Sovereignty by Elizabeth Carlson-Manathara with Gladys Rowe
“Living in Indigenous Sovereignty lifts up the wisdom of Indigenous scholars, activists and knowledge keepers who speak pointedly to what they are asking of non-Indigenous people.”
Videos to watch:
Etuaptmumk: Two-eyed Seeing – Rebecca Marshall
“Etuaptmumk – Two-Eyed Seeing is explained by saying it refers to learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing … and learning to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all.”
Mi’kmaw Culture & Heritage series
In 2022 and 2023, Gerald Gloade of Millbrook First Nation, an artist, educator, storyteller, naturalist, and Elder, offered a series of webinars to introduce non-Indigenous social workers to Mi’kmaw history, traditional knowledge, and current cultural context.
Upcoming professional development:
NSCSW Lunch and Learn (Webinar): Indigenous Ethics with Veronica Bernard
Indigenous Ethics come from beyond colonial ways of knowing and being and can be applied in social work and helping practices. This session will be grounded in Mi’kmaw teachings, spirituality, and practices and offer insights to how social workers and helpers can apply Indigenous ethics in their practices. This explores the questions:
- How might the ideas of time, sacred medicines, spirituality, and the Seven Sacred Teachings relate to ethical social work and helping practices?
- What are the ways we can move forward with both western methodologies and Indigenous methodologies towards greater ethical and equitable practices?
Community connection:
Participate in local events like the ones offered by the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre or your local libraries and community centres. Engage with local First Nations and participate in public events offered in community (this Mawio’mi etiquette primer might come in handy if you get the chance to attend one). You can also engage with The Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia Archives Collection of transcribed interviews with Mi’kmaq Elders by Dr. Trudy Sable.
National resources:
The Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) recognizes that social workers’ responsibility to truth and reconciliation calls for continually deepening our knowledge, challenging colonial systems, and advocate for meaningful change.
Visit CASW’s Reconciliation Hub for resources including webinars, statements, and publications that center Indigenous voices and advance reconciliation.
Here’s a selection of CASW webinars that explore the role of social work in advancing truth, reconciliation and culturally grounded care for Indigenous Peoples:
- Foundations for Reconciliation in Social Work
- Bigidendan – “Release it from your Mind”
- Two Spirit Knowledge
- Pursuing Truth and Reconciliation / Valeur 3: Établir la vérité et la réconciliation
Changing direction
Wherever you are in Nova Scotia, please strive to participate in community events and engage in learning that deepens your commitment to truth and reconciliation and decolonization. Advocate and work to shift policy, systems, and practices in support of decolonization and Indigenization. It isn’t enough to just recognize, we must move towards shifting resources and systems of power so that the colonial harms of the past and present do not become the harms of the future.
References
Sable, T. (n.d.). Transcribed Interviews: The Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia Archives Collection. Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre: Archives. Retrieved from https://www.mymnfc.com/transcribed-interviews
Gone, J. (2008). “So I Can Be Like a Whiteman’: The Cultural Psychology of Space and Place in American Indian Mental Health.” Culture and Psychology 14 : 369–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X08092639