Healing,Empowering,Engaging,Learning,and Decolonizing Through Culture: Living Wellness,Resilience,and Resurgence in the Classroom Through Creative Arts

Abstract

Art and Indigenous culture are inseparable. From the immaculately decorated lodges and war shirts of thousands of years to contemporary mixed and digital media images, Indigenous arts are expressions of survivance. Creative arts have sustained Indigenous ways of knowing, being, doing, and healing through attempted cultural genocide. Research has shown that art engages youth in life skill-building, learning, emotional regulating, and spiritual healing, supporting art as an intervention for wellness. Culturally-based artistic expression and the process of creating promotes wellness among Indigenous youth. As primary sites of assimilation and colonialism, educational institutions have a responsibility to enact reconciliation through culturally-rooted arts-based approaches to wellness. School psychologists are wellpositioned to support these approaches. This study took place in Kainaiwa in Southern Alberta and explored Niitsitapi artists’ and educators’ perspectives on the impacts of culturally-rooted arts-based interventions with Niitsitapi middle school students in the classroom. Over 2 days, professional Indigenous artists shared their art practices with students at a middle school in Kainai First Nation in Alberta. We had research conversations with 12 Niitsitapi community members involved in the event using a decolonizing, community-based approach. Indigenous storywork was used to understand research conversations, highlighting information and guidance for school psychologists to inform their engagement with Indigenous students and community members in schools. Findings emphasized art as healing, particularly given its connection to culture. Further, cultural engagement through art supports student wellness and educational engagement. Art can be used to empower voice, overcome deficit narratives, create new stories, and cope with disharmony. Art can also engage youth in discovery and learning, providing an alternative to a lecture style of learning, increasing enjoyment in the classroom experience. These findings have practical implications for future interventions and the integration of art pedagogically. This paper offers recommendations that highlight stark distinctions between culturally-rooted art practice and conventional Eurocentric art approaches in education.

Keywords

Indigenous student engagement education program and leadership school psychologists/counselors education professionals pedagogy and philosophy culture/crosscultural health and wellbeing coping decolonizing educational psychology culturally-based intervention art

As the roles of school psychologists expand from conducting assessments to providing consultation and intervention services, they can be instrumental in fostering community relationships and advocating for equity, diversity, and inclusivity. School psychologists can also play a pivotal role in decolonizing psychological services through culturally relevant practices. To ensure equitable rights and opportunities for all youth, school psychologists must amplify the voices of those who have historically been silenced and ignored, including Indigenous peoples (NASP, 2021b). A social justice approach is required to enact culturally responsive practices that promote the welfare and educational engagement of Indigenous youth (Jacob et al., 2018). A key method in this approach is partnering with local Indigenous Elders and knowledge holders to design programs and services. Given school psychologists’ roles in individual student well-being, classroom level interventions, and systems level change, they are in a unique position to collaborate with Indigenous peoples to effect change on multiple levels. The current study enacts this community collaboration and social justice framework by partnering with a local Indigenous community, Kainaiwa (the Blood First Nation) in Southern Alberta, to develop and evaluate a culturally-based art intervention for middle school youth. Culturally-based art interventions may support youth resilience as art contributes to holistic health and connections youth to cultural traditions (Pepic et al., 2022). This community-based research aims to prioritize Indigenous voices and ways of knowing so as to contribute to decolonization in the research and practice of school psychology (Smith, 2012).

Historical and Ongoing Colonization and the Need for Decolonization

School systems have been a primary site for colonization and attempted assimilation of Indigenous peoples (TRC, 2015a). From 1831 to 1996, Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes to attend Indian Residential Schools and/or Indian Day Schools (TRC, 2015a). These schools prohibited Indigenous languages and cultural practices, and many children were physically, socially, emotionally, spiritually, and sexually abused by school personnel and spiritual leaders (TRC, 2015a). While Indigenous scholars and community members have made great strides in addressing colonial practices in education, overall these systems remain steeped in dominating Western Eurosettler ways of knowing, being, and doing (Fellner, 2019). Currently, education is deemed a basic human right, yet Indigenous children face many challenges with accessing education and receiving equitable programs and services. Indeed, the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples’ educational attainment is alarming as approximately 34.8% of Indigenous adults have not completed high school education, compared to 11.5% of the general population (First Nations Information Governance Centre, 2018). This discrepancy can only be understood in the context of colonialism and the imposition of assimilative Western Euro-settler education and interventions (TRC, 2015b). Through the education system and other means of colonialism, historical and ongoing colonization continues to impact Indigenous peoples’ health, social, and economic statuses (Henry & Tator, 2012; TRC, 2015b). Indigenous concepts such as intergenerational trauma, the soul wound, colonial trauma, and historical trauma are used to encompass the socio-psychological determinants across generations of people with a shared identity (Brave Heart, 1998; Duran, 2006; Gone, 2013; John, 2004). Given that educational systems have been a primary site of invoking this trauma, they may also be a primary site of healing, survivance (Vizenor, 1999), and wellness when community wisdoms are enacted and engaged (Fellner, 2019).

Shifting to a Strengths-Based Narrative

It is critical to shift focus to inherent strengths and Indigenous self-determination as communities navigate environments shaped by colonization and acts of genocide. Yet, Indigenous peoples are highly overrepresented in deficit-based mental health literature, which neglects the survivance and strengths of Indigenous communities (Fellner, 2019; Sanders & Munford, 2014; Stewart et al., 2008).

By convincing people that they are pathological or disordered in some way, deficit narratives reinforce oppression and suppress the tremendous wisdom that Indigenous people have to offer the world today. This wisdom includes all the knowledge that emerges through surviving 500 years of attempted genocide, resistance to violence and oppression, countless generations of living and thriving with the land and traditional teachings pre-contact and since, as well as contemporary Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing that are continually (re)emerging and evolving. (Fellner, 2019, p. 163)

Utilizing educational paradigms and intervention programs based in the strengths of Indigenous peoples is both empirically and culturally supported (Anuik & Gillies, 2012; Rakena et al., 2016; Zhao, 2016). School psychologists’ expertise in child development and ethical obligations to children and youths’ well-being positions them to advocate for strengths-based practices, especially in light of ethically-grounded directives such as the Canadian Psychological Association and Psychology Foundation of Canada’s (2018) joint task-force on addressing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. As one avenue of responding to such directives, cultural expression and engagement is a source of strength for Indigenous youth that warrants exploration in research (McMahon et al., 2012; Pulla, 2013).

Art as Intervention in Schools

Arts are an integral part of Indigenous cultures in North America and include countless forms such as traditional and contemporary visual arts, mixed media arts, beading, singing and drumming, dancing, and more (L. Archibald & Dewar, 2010). In the wake of the Indian Residential Schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015b) calls for “culturally appropriate curricula” (p. 2) to redress past and ongoing harms in the education system. One avenue where schools can expand culturally appropriate programs and services to benefit all children includes creative arts. Indigenous arts are a powerful act of decolonization and healing (Martineau, 2015). Culturally-rooted creative arts comprise both culturally appropriate curricula and interventions that are likely to positively impact Indigenous students’ school experiences and overall wellness (Fellner, 2016; McMahon et al., 2012; Waldram, 2008).

Research to date has shown that culturally-based artistic expression fosters healing among Indigenous youth (Indigenous Services Canada, 2018). Further, art appears to facilitate learning, emotional regulating, and spiritual healing (Flicker et al., 2014; Rapp-Paglicci et al., 2009; Victor et al., 2016). Specifically, L. Archibald and Dewar (2010) found that art connected Indigenous peoples to their culture and spirituality and had a positive influence on identity.

School psychologists and allied professionals are well-positioned to support art and cultural engagement in schools. According to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP, 2021b) practice model, school psychologists are encouraged to “identify strengths and [. . .] develop effective interventions, services, and programs” (para 2). As such, school psychologists should account for context and advocate for culturally relevant programs and services. Indeed, negative perceptions about one’s Indigenous identity has been associated with poor school engagement (Dunstan et al., 2017). Affirming educational practices that showcase and center Indigenous cultures may be instrumental in improving Indigenous children’s educational outcomes, as well as addressing historical and ongoing issues with the education system. While advances have been made in exploring the role of art in wellness, the impact of Indigenous arts with youth in the classroom remains largely unknown.

Self-Location

Seminal texts on conducting ethical Indigenous research share the importance of understanding positionality, as research “is filtered by our own beliefs about the world” (Collins & Stockton, 2018, p. 3). In striving to do good work, we acknowledge that each author’s various lived experiences and intersecting identities shaped the development of this study.

Three authors acknowledge that, as non-Indigenous researchers, their worldviews are limited by Euro Western ways of knowing. The co-first authors (Shannon Tabor and Marisa Van Bavel) are cisgender heterosexual women of Eurosettler ancestries completing their doctorates in applied psychology (counseling psychology and school and child psychology respectively). Their clinical experiences are in Eurosettler educational psychology, mental health, and school-based practices. The current paper is based on the co-first authors’ master’s theses, which were done under the supervision of the third author (Karlee Fellner), who is a cisgender Cree/Métis professor of Counseling Psychology and Indigenous Education. Her work is based in Indigenous approaches to therapy, research, curriculum and pedagogy, and holistic and traditional approaches to wellness. The fourth author (Kelly Schwartz) is a cisgender heterosexual man of Eurosettler ancestry, who co-supervised one of the student’s thesis (Marisa Van Bavel). He is a faculty member in Educational Psychology whose research focuses on identity and positive youth development.

Authors five through eight (Theron Black, Clarence Black Water, Star Crop Eared Wolf, and Perry Day Chief) along with 10 and 11 (Lauren Monroe Jr. and John Pepion) are all members of the Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot-speaking people)—the Blackfoot Confederacy—whose knowledge of the Kainai Board of Education and/or lived experience as Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) artists brought great relevance to this research. Finally, author nine (Deon Krugar), is an occupational therapist with many years of experience working with the Kainai Board of Education. Collectively, the authors’ commitment to strengths-based and decolonizing approaches to wellness shaped this study.

Current Study

Given the need for school systems to provide interventions that are strengths-based and culturally appropriate, research that centers Indigenous ways of knowing is necessary. Thus, the purpose of this research was to explore Niitsitapi artists’ and teachers’ impressions and experiences of a culturally-rooted arts-based intervention for Niitsitapi middle school students.

The current study took place in Kainaiwa (the Blood First Nation) in Southern Alberta. Kainai is one of the communities who signed Treaty 7 alongside Siksika, Piikani, Stoney-Nakoda, and Tsuut’ina. The current study represented a collaboration between the Kainai Board of Education, Kainai community members, the University of Calgary Indigenous education for wellness team, and Niitsitapi artists from communities within the Confederacy. The collaboration culminated in a 2-day event consisting of art workshops and an art installation held for students at Tatsikiisaapo’p Middle School. Under the direction and guidance of 15 Indigenous artists (all Niitsitapi except one Cree/Métis artist), approximately 120 students attended the event. Students were able to attend a variety of art workshops including ledger art, drum making, photography, hip-hop, mixed media, t-shirt making, leather work, jewelry-making, beadwork, acrylic painting, and traditional craft work. On the second day, the students displayed their art for the community and attended an artist panel where topics such as the use of art as therapy and pursuing a career in the arts was discussed.

To explore the impact of the art workshop and exhibit from artists’ and educators’ perspectives, this research sought to address the following question:

How does traditional and contemporary Niitsitapi cultural and artistic engagement impact student wellness and school engagement from the perspectives of Niitsitapi artists and educators?

Methods

The researchers designed this study in collaboration with members of the Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta. An important objective throughout the research process was and continues to be to contribute to decolonization by prioritizing Indigenous ways of knowing through centering Indigenous voices (Smith, 2012). To do this, the research team followed a community-based research approach and adhered to the principles of relationality when implementing each step of the study design.

Community-Based Research

Several scholars in the field of Indigenous research have asserted that it is imperative when doing research with Indigenous people and communities that researchers look to those communities and Indigenous scholars for guidance (see, e.g., Halseth et al., 2016; Kovach, 2009; Smith, 2012; Wilson, 2008). Community-based research (CBR) is an approach that requires researchers to engage in relationships with the communities with which they wish to conduct research, involving the community in every stage of the research process (Halseth et al., 2016). Further, a CBR approach dictates that the intention of the research should be to benefit the community (Halseth et al., 2016).

Community Engagement

This project was undertaken collaboratively with Kainai community members and leaders from the Kainai Board of Education and participating school from its inception. Research team members Dr. Karlee Fellner (principal investigator) and Lauren Monroe Jr. (Niitsitapi artist) consulted with Kainai Elder Calvin Williams and Tisha Wadsworth (knowledge holder and member of Kainai [Blood] Nation, Wellness Coordinator at KBE at the time) to identify community needs and to plan and facilitate the 2-day art workshop on which this research is based. All research team members were present and engaged in the workshop, developing relationships with the educators and artists in attendance. Those who chose to participate in the research conversations were then involved for the rest of the research process including when (1) sharing stories, (2) making meaning from those stories, and (3) transferring what has been learned.

Benefits

First and foremost, this study aimed to benefit the participating youth, artists, and educators through sponsoring this community-driven art workshop focused on art-making, creativity, and fun. Following the potential direct benefits of the event itself, the research aimed to document any such benefits in hopes of providing wider benefits to Kainai First Nation and Indigenous communities in Canada in at least three ways. First, community members who engaged in research conversations were provided space to share their voice where they were listened to and were respected for their knowledge. They also knew that sharing their knowledge could potentially support future projects and funding in their community and other communities around the country. Second, the dissemination of this study contributes to a decolonizing base of literature that emphasizes the survivance of Indigenous communities, in this case specifically the Kainai First Nation. This offers a direct challenge to the historically predominant deficit narratives about Indigenous communities in existing literature. Third, findings can be used to guide professionals working with Indigenous youth and communities to support student wellness and educational engagement in ways that are by, for, and with community members and centered in cultural approaches to wellness.

Relational Accountability

Cree scholar Shawn Wilson, proposed that relational accountability, or “being accountable to your relations” (Wilson, 2008, p. 77), is essential when carrying out research with Indigenous communities. He defined relational accountability as including the four fundamental components outlined by Kirkness and Barnhardt (2001): respect, reciprocity, responsibility, and relevance. These principles were considered and integrated throughout this research process. This is evident in our decisions to do research with the community, focusing on strengths, engaging in meaningful exchange, using intuitive knowing, and getting approval from the community members involved regarding what to share (Wilson, 2008).

Design

The design of this study was informed by conversations with Kainai First Nation community members that involved consideration of relevant literature. To answer the research questions, all Niitsitapi artists and educators who engaged in the 2-day art workshop were invited to participate in a 1:1 research conversation with a member of the research team. The research team and collaborators agreed that J. Archibald’s (2008) Indigenous storywork methodology was a good fit for this project. Thus, storywork was used as the guiding framework for research conversations and meaning making.

Research Conversations

Research conversations are unstructured and open-ended conversations between researcher and storyteller (Kovach, 2009). Such conversations are meant to be non-hierarchical, where both parties engage and collaborate equally (Kovach, 2009). We selected research conversations as our method for gathering knowledge because of their suitability to Indigenous ways of knowing and relationality, and alignment with a decolonizing aim. These conversations were conducted by the two co-first authors and aimed to explore storytellers’ thoughts, experiences, and feedback in relation to the art workshop as well as recommendations for how schools can continue to support Niitsitapi or Indigenous students. Storytellers were offered tobacco to request knowledge sharing in the conversation (Fellner, 2016). Research conversations were audio-recorded for the purpose of later meaning making. All storytellers were given the option to be identified by name or by a pseudonym of their choosing.

Meaning Making with Storywork

The process of making meaning from the research conversations was done following the method of storywork as outlined by Sto:lo scholar, Joanne Archibald. J. Archibald (2008) described storywork as a process of actively experiencing, listening to, and reflecting upon stories to interpret and draw subjective meaning from them. Following Archibald’s guidance, researchers who engaged in research conversations (Shannon Tabor and Marisa Van Bavel) documented their intuitive reflections. Applying intuitive logic allows for non-linear analysis, which aligns with Indigenous epistemologies (J. Archibald, 2008; Wilson, 2008). Researchers then listened to each of the recordings twice while contemplating what the storyteller intended to be learned and transcribed the conversations verbatim (J. Archibald, 2008). Tabor and Van Bavel reviewed transcriptions for additional reflection, themes, and interpretation.

Rigor

Rigor, accountability, and credibility of this research was ensured through the process of encircling, which entailed maintaining continuous communication with storytellers (Wilson, 2008). Archibald outlined a method for encircling to ensure storyteller voices were honored and prioritized. Following the methods she outlined, researchers sent storytellers their individual transcripts to review for accuracy and make any modifications or additions as they saw fit and asked permission to use any direct quotes (J. Archibald, 2008). From there, storytellers reviewed the compiled findings and were again asked for final suggestions or revisions.

Ownership

Following the guidelines for ownership, control, access and possession (OCAP™) outlined by the First Nations Information Governance Centre (2020), the findings of this research belong to the storytellers involved in this research. The research team at the University of Calgary stores the raw audio files and transcripts; however, each storyteller has access to their own data. Further, should storytellers or collaborating members of KBE or the community request the data for community use, the research team will work with them and storytellers’ to ensure ethical use of the research findings while respecting storytellers’ privacy and ownership of their data. The community of Kainaiwa has received a copy of de-identified findings through distributed community reports.

Findings

The following section presents the stories of Niitsitapi artists and educators who facilitated or supported the art intervention at Tatsikiisapo’p Middle School. The knowledge in the stories presented portray the teachings from the research conversations that were most salient and meaningful from the perspective of the first authors, and were confirmed and approved by the storytellers through the encircling process.

Storytellers

Five Niitsitapi artists, five teachers, one occupational therapist, and one school counselor participated as storytellers in research conversations for this research project. The artists included Theron Black, Star Crop Eared Wolf, Perry Day Chief, Lauren Monroe Jr., and John Pepion. Teachers included Sandra Many Feathers, Reesa Healy, Olivia Tail Feathers, Trina Eagle Tail Feathers, and one storyteller who chose to use the pseudonym Eva. Clarence Black Water (Rumpa) and Deon Kruger were the school counselor and occupational therapist who participated, respectively.

Stories Shared

Storytellers emphasized art as healing, particularly given its connection to culture. To support wellness, art can be used to empower voice, overcome deficit narratives, create new stories, and cope with disharmony. In a classroom environment, art can also engage youth in discovery and learning, providing an alternative to a lecture style of learning, increasing enjoyment in the classroom experience. These findings have practical implications for the integration of art pedagogically and in interventions for student wellness and educational engagement. Prior to sharing these outcomes, we begin with sharing the storytellers’ perspectives on the ongoing challenges that highlight the importance and need for interventions such as the culturally-rooted art workshop we focused on.

Challenges With Wellness and School Engagement

The storytellers, specifically those who worked in the school as educators or allied professionals, described disengagement from school as an ongoing problem at Tatsikiisaapo’p Middle School. They explained that undesirable and disruptive behavior, low attendance, and inattention negatively impacted the school environment and pointed to deeper difficulties faced by many students. Storytellers emphasized several potential explanations for disengagement that provide a context for choosing interventions. For example, difficulties at home, rigid colonial pedagogies, and inconsistency in school personnel and routine were cited as issues.

Student Wellness

Centering Youth Survivance Narratives

One clear component of wellness that art was identified as supporting was the empowerment of Indigenous youth voices. Through the meaning making process we found that, with creative arts, youth are provided the freedom to share their story in any way that feels right to them, allowing them to find new ways to speak and express themselves. Art was presented as a tool for expressing thoughts and feelings that might otherwise be difficult to express in words. Further, this engagement in creative arts has the potential to support youth in shifting existing deficit narratives by creating their own story. Many Niitsitapi youth encounter racism and systemic oppression that contribute to a deficit narrative that can become internalized. To counter that, the creative arts are one avenue for these youth to connect to culture in a positive way and tell stories of survivance and alternate futures where they are not restrained by deficit narratives that have been imposed upon them. This was evident during the workshop, as many of the students created art that told stories of overcoming barriers and challenges, with their art representing a preferred future. In this way, art was discussed as an avenue to self-discovery and identity formation. Eva highlighted how creating could be a method of self-exploration, sharing that by creating, youth could say, “I made this, and this is cool. And this is part of my culture. And this says who I am.” Some also viewed artistic engagement as a future path they hadn’t considered, instilling hope for artistic work in the future, and recognizing they could be and do different things in their lives.

Art as Culture, Culture as Healing

A primary theme that was evident in our conversations with the storytellers was the inseparable relationship between art and culture that exists for many Niitsitapi people. Star shared, “in native cultures traditionally, we don’t have a word for art because art and life [are]. . . entwined together, so to remove it wouldn’t make sense to native people.” Art was highlighted as an expression of culture and a way to connect or reconnect with one’s culture. Some storytellers shared their experience with art as a method for attuning to one’s physical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual self as a Niitsitapi person. Storytellers asserted that arts have long been a part of their culture and that there is an intuitive knowing among many Niitsitapi people that creative arts of many forms provide positive benefits to wellbeing. Many referred to art directly as a form of therapy or healing process. Art was spoken of as a spiritual process that connects Niitsitapi people to themselves and their cultures, with Theron stating “our culture is our healing.”

Creative Arts and Mental Health

The creative arts were purported to support mental health. Storytellers emphasized how engaging in creative arts can contribute to improvements in self-esteem, self-confidence, and emotional regulation. Deon stated, “[The art gave] them a sense of ownership because I know they were very proud of what they did, and it showed. [. . .] I think the confidence of doing well at that will be a good stepping stone to trying things that can be more challenging.” Feeling a sense of personal accomplishment from creating might support students in increasing self esteem and confidence. Additionally, Perry shared his own experience engaging with art as a way of coping with disharmony and supporting emotional regulation, saying “[art] helps me relax . . . it keeps me out of trouble.” Many of the artists shared how art has helped them to feel more peaceful and settled and described art as a method of coping with difficult life circumstances, thoughts, and feelings.

Educational Engagement

Educational engagement was a widely agreed upon benefit of the art workshop. Storytellers spoke of how deeply engaged the youth were throughout the workshops, with teachers in particular emphasizing the contrast in engagement that day compared to a typical school day. Youth seemed to be fully immersed in the experience, each of them choosing an art style to learn and then spending time creating. Through this process youth were engaging not only by being present, but by learning about themselves, their cultures, and their histories. Some of the teachers noted that there were no incident reports from the 2 days of the art workshop, highlighting that this was not typical of most school days. Sandra shared her understanding of the lack of incident reports as being because “kids were really engaged and involved in what they were doing.” Further, Trina shared “we had no incident reports that day because the students were engaged, they were creating something, they were putting themselves into their work.” The typical challenges such as power struggles, disengagement, and undesirable behaviors were relatively absent, allowing teachers and youth to engage in learning together and enjoy the process.

Several storytellers spoke about engagement in creative arts as an alternative approach to learning. In contrast to a typical assimilative Western Euro-settler classroom environment, learning through art is hands-on and intuitive. This experiential learning aligns with Indigenous ways of learning and indeed, is something the youth appeared to gravitate toward. Incorporating art in learning might help to accommodate and appeal to those students who don’t typically operate well in a lecture-style learning environment. Indeed, bringing art into the classroom more has the potential to increase student enjoyment of the learning process, in turn improving engagement and facilitating learning. Importantly, artistic engagement was culturally-based and shared by artists of similar ancestries, thus offering creative arts and mentors that reflected the children’s identities and ancestries.

Recommendations

Moving forward toward better experiences for Indigenous youth in schools, in this case specifically Niitsitapi youth, artists stressed the need for such forms of culturally-rooted artistic engagement in the classroom to continue. They provided suggestions for how such workshops could develop moving forward, such as John’s suggestion of focusing on the benefit of bringing local Elders and artists into classrooms to share their knowledge. This highlights the importance of school psychologists seeking guidance from such local Elders, artists, and knowledge holders when working with Niitsitapi or Indigenous youth.

Working directly with youth, school psychologists might also consider art as a means of incorporating culture, empowering voice, coping, and self-exploration in sessions. Further, school psychologists can support educators to bring culturally-rooted creative arts guided by local Indigenous artists into their classrooms as a collective group intervention that promotes wellness among both individual students and the classroom environment as a whole. This is an important shift, as challenges among students in the classroom may be considered a move toward collective wellness (Fellner, 2019).

Discussion

In this article, we present the findings of how a 2-day art workshop promoted youth wellness and educational engagement. This art workshop was designed in collaboration with Elders, community members, and leaders from the Kainai Board of Education. Under the direction and guidance of 15 Indigenous artists (all Niitsitapi except one Cree/Métis artist), students were able to engage in culturally-rooted arts such as ledger art, drum making, photography, hip-hop, mixed media, t-shirt making, leather work, jewelry-making, beadwork, acrylic painting, and traditional craft work. Art-making was followed by a community showcase and panel where the students had the opportunity to ask questions directly to a subset of the professional Niitsitapi artists. Generally, the storytellers reflected on the benefits they observed when students participated in the art workshop. The findings of this study have practical implications for the integration of art pedagogically and in interventions for student wellness and educational engagement.

The overarching theme of art is culture highlights the role art can have in integrating culture into schools. As such, the art intervention was a decolonizing process as it empowered youth voice and expression, unconstrained by a Euro Western worldview (Braun et al., 2014; Kovach, 2009; Smith, 2012; Wilson, 2008). As the art was a direct expression of culture, it appears that art promoted wellness. It is necessary for continued research to emphasize practices that promote well-being and Indigenous survivance rather than fixating on deficits and risks (Sanders & Munford, 2014; Wilson, 2008). A focus on survivance and wellness is essential, particularly in schools given their historical and ongoing role in colonialism, and thus the challenges these environments pose to Indigenous youth. Indeed, the storytellers shared that educational engagement is a concern in Tatsikiisaapo’p Middle School. However, the art workshop and installation appeared to connect youth to their culture, their peers, and their school. Art was described as a method for promoting wellness and educational engagement which is consistent with previous research (e.g., Fellner, 2016; Gone, 2013; McCormick, 2009). To maintain these effects long-term, the storytellers reflected on how song, artwork, and land-based practices could be integrated into the classroom to decolonize the educational environment, including curriculum and pedagogy. Such findings and recommendations highlight stark distinctions between culturally-rooted art practice and conventional Eurocentric art approaches in education.

Simpson (2014) shares that reclaiming Indigenous practices from Eurocentric ways requires an emphasis on their cultural significance. A means to reclaim education may include returning to the land as this intimate ground connects Indigenous people to “stories and [allows them] to live [their] intelligences no matter how urban or how destroyed homelands have become” (Simpson, 2014, p. 23).

Relevance to the Practice of School Psychology

Psychologists have a vested interest in the well-being of the individuals they work with, and they have an ethical obligation to promote welfare in a socially just manner. In Psychology’s Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Report (Canadian Psychological Association & The Psychology Foundation of Canada, 2018), psychologists are mandated to “commit to culturally relevant approaches to research and intervention that prioritize and empower Indigenous communities” (p. 11). As such, we present two takeaways for school psychologists based on the findings in this study.

First, it is necessary for psychologists to build relationships and collaborate with Elders and knowledge holders to decolonize educational practices. The guidance given by the Kainai collaborators in the design of the current intervention and research meant that we were responding to a need in a community-based way. From a community-based framework and a relationality approach, it is necessary for psychologists to abide by this in order to reduce harm and maximize beneficial impact. According to NASP, the second domain in the standards of practice states that school psychologists are to collaborate with “individuals, families, groups, and systems, [. . .] to promote effective implementation of services” (NASP, 2021a, para 3). The benefits of collaboration are amplified in the literature including that of Castleden et al. (2008) who found that relationships between researchers and community members led to a sense of trust and community ownership. Likewise, school psychologists should seek to build genuine relationships with their community partners in order to establish trust and meaningful work.

A second consideration for school psychologists is to provide a variety of culturally-rooted art practices for youth to explore, allowing ample time for youth to engage and express their voices via art. According to domain eight of NASP’s (2021a) practice model, school psychologists are to consider diversity and ensure equitable access to beneficial programs and services. In conjunction with the findings of the current research, art appears to be a beneficial service that Indigenous youth should have access to in order to express their thoughts, feelings, emotions, and/or to display their educational skills in culturally meaningful ways. School psychologists are well positioned to advocate for system change in their educational districts to ensure programs and services are culturally responsive, and to ensure students have opportunities to express themselves and their academic knowledge in meaningful ways. Psychologists should consider engaging in open discussions with youth that bring art into the conversation. For example, consider asking students what art means to them, how it fosters coping, self-expression, or how they may want to integrate it into the classroom and school projects.

Strengths and Limitations

The current study has several strengths that should be noted. First, this study highlights the importance of community-based approaches to research. By collaborating with Kainai community stakeholders, the research topic was relevant and positively contributed to students’ well-being. The goal of community-based research is to make a positive difference and ensure the community benefits. Given the feedback received, it appears that ample benefit occurred. This research also had direct and relevant implications for future educational programing in the Kainai community. Educators and school officials may use the findings of this work to shift curriculum and pedagogy in ways that promote student wellness and educational engagement. Given the success of this art workshop, Tatsikiisaapo’p Middle School hosted another 2-day workshop in collaboration with members of the research team the following year.

While this study provides valuable knowledge on the role of art in students’ wellness and educational engagement, several limitations should be considered. First, this study did not include students’ perspectives on the impact of the art workshop. Direct feedback from youth on their perceptions of the event and the role of art in promoting culture, wellness, and educational engagement would have been instrumental and led to relevant considerations for practitioners.

Further, students’ voices may have exposed additional recommendations for how art can be integrated into wellness or classroom learning. It is suggested that future researchers include youth voice and consider the impact students have in designing responsive services. A second limitation is the limited time for ongoing discussion of each storytellers’ thoughts and suggestions in ways that delved deeper into community-based practice. Although storytellers were consulted throughout the process of determining and disseminating findings, more time to deepen discussion would have been beneficial. A final limitation is that the findings of this study cannot be generalized as they are specific to the people of Kainai Nation. Thus, future research may look at culturally-rooted artistic interventions with youth in other Indigenous communities that express interest in the arts as a means to wellness.

Conclusions

School psychologists are encouraged to practice in a way that benefits students, families, and the school community. In listening to Kainai Community collaborators, a team of applied psychology researchers were able to co-create a project that had a substantial positive impact for youth by making school a culturally safe and engaging space. As Fellner (2019) wrote of the power of bringing culturally-rooted collective interventions into the classroom:

The energy shifted toward greater harmony and balance, fostering learning and increasing student engagement. These classrooms were actively living wellness through the implementation of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing. The children were learning culturally rooted coping mechanisms that would help them face challenges throughout their lives. (p. 163)

This research contributes to the growing scholarship on meaningful integration of Indigenous ways of knowing in school-based practices, offering concrete suggestions for how school psychologists and allied professionals can shift individual-centered, deficit-focused paradigms to instead engage collective, community-based interventions rooted in Indigenous wisdoms and survivance.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Sandra Many Feathers, Reesa Healy, Olivia Tail Feathers, and Trina Eagle Tail Feathers for their expertise and knowledge along with all of the school personnel at Tatsikiisaapo’p Middle School for their invaluable support on this project.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed received the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by a grant through Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.

ORCID iDs

Shannon M. Tabor

Kelly Dean Schwartz

Author Biographies

Shannon M. Tabor, MSc, RPsych is a doctoral candidate in Counselling Psychology in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. Her research interests include community-based research, survivance, culturally appropriate counselling interventions, and social justice.

Marisa Van Bavel, MSc is a doctoral candidate in School and Applied Child Psychology in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. Her research interests include child and adolescent well-being and resilience, school-based mental health, community-based research, and social justice.

Karlee D. Fellner, PhD is a prominent Cree/Métis scholar activist from central Alberta, and a citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Her areas of interest include Indigenous approaches to therapy and trauma work; Indigenous research, curriculum and pedagogy; culturally appropriate counselling; complex trauma; and holistic and traditional approaches to wellness.

Kelly Dean Schwartz, PhD, RPsych is an Associate Professor of School and Applied Child Psychology in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. His research and teaching interests include psychosocial factors contributing to child, adolescent, and family development, particularly how developmental assets contribute to both risk and thriving in individual and social contexts.

Theron Black, BSW is a respected member and advocate of the Kainai First Nation. He is passionate about issues faced by Indigenous people and supporting the change that needs to happen. He is an engaged member of his community and prioritizes building relationships and understanding the process of healing together.

Clarence Black Water is a former school counsellor with Tatsikiisaapo’p Middle School. He is now Councillor on the Blood Tribe Chief and Council.

Star Crop Eared Wolf, BFA is a Niitsiitapi multidisciplinary artist, curator, and member of the Kainai Nation. Her past and current media include painting, sculpture, photography, video, and beading. She uses her art practices to explore themes centered around land, culture, and social and political issues impacting Indigenous peoples.

Perry Day Chief is a Niitsiitapi Elder from the Kainai First Nation. Perry is trained in many trades and is a self-taught artist including photography, woodwork, metalwork, and leather crafting. He also enjoys teaching anyone who wants to learn from him, especially young students.Deon Kruger, MSc. is an Occupational Therapist currently working with Alberta Health Services. He formerly supported students in the Kainai Board of Education and valued the opportunity to provide inclusive and meaningful services.

Lauren Monroe Jr., MFA is an active member of the Amksapii Pikanii Nation in Montana. As a visual artist and filmmaker, he is influenced by Blackfoot culture. Lauren finds that both art and film are avenues to keep the culture and history of Blackfoot people going.

John Pepion is a Plains Indian graphic artist from the Piikani Band of the Blackfoot Confederacy. He is based out of the Blackfeet reservation in Montana. He is best known for his ledger art; an art tradition that developed in Plains tribes.

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