A journey towards resurgence: Reflections from a graduate of the master of social work based in Indigenous knowledges program

Abstract

Social work as a profession is at a crossroads. The Master of Social Work Based in Indigenous Knowledges Program is pushing back against the colonial agenda and returning to and centering Indigenous Knowledges in social work practice. As a graduate of the program, I share my experience as I traveled through the program and shifted my practice as a social worker. I offer my story and reflections of how I shifted my practice and embodied resurgence to challenge how we think about social work education.

Introduction

In a time of reconciliation, the push to have more inclusive and culturally informed social work practices has become a key aspect of social work in Canada. Recognizing the harmful practices of social work and reimagining how helpers can shift our practices to meet the needs of our clients has become central to the work we do. Part of this is the resurgence of Indigenous Knowledges in our ways of being and reimagining what social work is and can be. Simpson (2017) argues that resurgence is “a strategic thoughtful practice” (p. 20). While Yerxa (2014) explains “Anishinaabeg resurgence cannot happen in isolation and without love” (p. 162). To move towards resurgence Indigenous Peoples, need to come together as a community and start centering ourselves in our traditional ways. The Master of Social Work Based in Indigenous Knowledges Program (MSW-IK) at the University of Manitoba has become an important part of this move. As a graduate of the program and a current staff member, I offer my story to spread the word about this unique program and share how we can change our practice, even after many years or decades of practicing social work.

Before I share my story, I feel it only proper to introduce myself. I am a descendant of Cree ancestors and a Citizen of the Red River Métis. My family originates from the area that was once the St. Peter’s Indian Reserve and Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, Canada. I reside and work in Winnipeg, Manitoba with my family.

The MSW-IK ¹ program held its first cohort in 2016. The concept for this program began in 2009 when “three Faculty members within the Faculty of Social Work were charged with the task of looking at Master level social work education with regard to Indigenous peoples” (Hart et al., 2014: 2). The rational for the development of such a program was based on what Hart et al. (2014) outlined as

A large local and regional population of Indigenous peoples who serve within the profession of social work, a large number of Indigenous peoples interested in the social work profession, a gap of services relevant to Indigenous Peoples, a lack of long-term culturally relevant education for social workers, an important need for Indigenous social workers to develop a curriculum that directly addresses the needs, gaps, perspectives and practices of Indigenous Peoples. (p.2)

The program centers Indigenous Knowledges with social work practice, with a vision to challenge students to think and practice social work in a new way. In a way that is truly centered on our clients/relatives and thinks beyond the colonial ways of helping. A program that teaches students to challenge colonial actions and put our relatives and their needs first versus the colonial policies and practices that currently govern. While the MSW-IK program is founded on anticolonial social work, what comes from the program is a move towards resurgence. As a social worker, this program spoke to my heart, and I felt an immediate connection to how the program pushes social workers to change the way we practice.

Entering a graduate program was never my intention. When I thought about my path as a social worker, I figured at some point I would make my way through the chain of command and eventually land within a managerial role within social services. However, over the years, the stress and busyness of front-line social work became something I enjoyed but loathed all at the same time. As months turned into years, I became more uneasy with my role and struggled with meeting the needs of the relatives I served. I knew deep down that my training as a social worker was not meeting their needs. I needed to shift my understanding of social work if I wanted to have an impactful role. But what would this look like?

It was in the fall of 2016 that I came across the MSW-IK Program. Just reading about the program I found myself intrigued with its unique design and felt a strong urge to apply. However, as I mentioned earlier, I never saw myself in graduate school. I barely made it through my undergraduate degree and even then, I felt out of place among my peers. When I walked the halls as an undergraduate student, they were filled with mostly non-Indigenous students as were the majority of my classes. Theory, policy and other courses left me feeling disconnected from the materials if I even understood what professors were talking about. I struggled to see how I could make it as a graduate student if the basic understanding of social work was a struggle. Despite this feeling of inadequacy, with encouragement from my village and after several years of contemplation I applied to the program. I remember the day that I got my letter of offer. I was filled with excitement and terror all at once. In the fall of 2019, I began my journey.

The program is comprised of 3 types of courses critical social work, project/thesis seminars and Elder-led. Each course has its own focus and is intrinsically connected through a web of knowledges that challenges students foundational social work knowledge. The courses are organized into 4 areas knowing where we come from, knowing who we are, knowing where we are at and knowing where we are going. As students’ progress through the program, the courses address each of these areas. While other programs offer Indigenous Knowledges as an add-on, something to consider in addition to the materials being taught. For the MSW-IK program, Indigenous Knowledges are at the core. Each class has 2 instructors who co-teach, one instructor or professor and a Knowledge Holder. ² Together they work to make the links between the academic materials and Indigenous Knowledges.

The design of the program requires that students begin by understanding where they come from. As a social worker, no one had ever asked me this question. As I began to move through the first area, I remember thinking to myself why does this matter? How will knowing this make me a better helper? A better social worker? As I progressed, it became clear why this was the starting point. I came from a family who experienced disconnection because of colonialization. We assimilated into society as a form of survival. I came from histories of colonial violence and oppression that sent rampant shame through the generations. While I had a slight understanding of this, I did not see how deeply settler colonization has impacted me personally and my practices as a social worker. While I felt I approached my work in a non-biased or nonjudgmental way, I quickly became aware that I did not. Colonization had infiltrated my decision-making and how I approached my work. The power I had in my position influenced all that I did. Although unintentional, I began to see that I reproduced the same colonial violence I came from, in my work under the guise of following policies and procedures. While this is still hard to acknowledge, I am glad my eyes were opened to this.

Once students understand where they came from, they then move on to knowing who they are. While at the time, this seemed trivial, I knew who I was before entering the program. However, as I read about identity politics, the true stages of settler colonialism in addition to the policies that governed and influenced my identity, I found myself once again searching. As I read about all the ways identities are controlled and influenced by policies and non-Indigenous peoples, I became more unsettled. Who was Indigenous? Am I? What did it mean to be Indigenous? In a time of pretend Indians where did I stand? All questions I grappled with in my teen years but now in my thirties, I struggled to know who I was once again. This sent me on a journey of self-discovery. Reaching out to family members and hearing the stories I had heard many times before and new ones. Stories that led me to dig deeper and truly understand who I was. As I reflected on knowing who I was, I realized that when I entered a room my default was to blend in. I realized that this was a tactic used by the colonizer to continue to control what I was doing. The state uses what Corntassel (2012) explains as politics of distraction to “divert our energy and attention away from community resurgence” (p. 91). It was this realization and understanding of the politics of distraction that I realized that my not knowing who I was impacted my work and created barriers to me shifting my practice. Feeling like an outsider most of my life, I began to see that I was not. I just did not know who I truly was. I am Métis, Cree with a touch of Saulteaux. Although I align more with my Cree ancestors and practices. Once I knew who I was, I then needed to understand where I was at.

While we have made leaps in the work that we do, Indigenous Knowledges and ways of being are still under attack. Talking about Indigenous Knowledges in the classroom and then taking what we learned back into our practice is a continual struggle. The colonial agenda is in full force and continues to pull us back into colonial practices. I began to see and identify the ways colonial practices infiltrated my work. I began to understand that this is where we start to look and practice social work from in a different way. Where the rubber meets the road. Giving space for Indigenous Knowledges is talked about but when we go take that space back there is a constant tug of war that occurs. Colonial policies continued to dominate the work I was doing as a social worker. I had to make the shift in my practice to center Indigenous Knowledges and ways of helping in my work first, versus it being an afterthought. This took lots of energy and meant that I needed to ensure that I took the time to practice in a meaningful way. This change was subtle in the beginning. Doing things like being more mindful of the time I spent with children and youth I was supporting, to outright refusing to continue to center the colonial agenda in my paperwork. Understanding this helped me to see where I needed to go.

Finally, after seeing where I was at, I needed to know where I was going. Now that we have all this knowledge what do we do with it? With knowledge, there is a responsibility to share and advance social work. This means that as students leave the program their work is far from over. We now have the responsibility to put into place our new knowledge and shift our practice. If we sit idle, we have not done justice to all the knowledge we learnt. Since leaving the program, I began to shift my focus from front-line social work to working behind the scenes. I am now the one supporting the new cohorts in the MSW-IK Program and cheering on the students as they progress through the program. I am part of a team that pushes back against the colonial institutional knowledge systems for our space. I have the opportunity to now share and teach students in the program. I have a unique perspective as I have been where they are and understand the unique challenges that Indigenous students face. The demands from family, work, society etc. were all pressures I felt. As someone who never saw themselves as part of academia, here I am, taking up space and sharing what I have learnt. I am changing the narrative and making the path to higher education a little less littered with barriers.

While many people assume an Indigenous master’s program would be easy, it is quite the contrary. Not only were we learning graduate-level materials, but we were also healing and bridging the gap between Indigenous Knowledges, Indigenous ways of helping and western social work practice. Although I left the program with a colonial piece of paper that opened more doors, the barriers to changing social work remain. Students are challenged to not only critique colonial systems but are given the skills and language to push back against the settler ways. As I read countless articles and wrote weekly papers, I became more confident in my skills and more confident in my abilities to advocate for change. As a practicing social worker, I have written many assessments and countless case notes. However, the work within the MSW-IK Program required me to develop new skills to advocate and the language needed to challenge colonial practices.

While from the outside it may appear that there have been leaps and bounds in academia with regards to social work practice. There is still the push back from western academia about Indigenous Knowledges and its place in the institution. There is constant struggle as western knowledge have been at the foundation of social work for so long that we have forgotten that there are other ways to practice. While institutions have expressed a desire to work in partnership on truth and reconciliation, programs such as the MSW-IK and its design, delivery, and outcomes will continue to experience tension in western institutions. As I sit on the other side of the program, I am privy to the continual challenges that thinking outside of the box presents. However, as someone close to me has shared over and over, our people deserve the best. This is why I have returned and will continue pushing back against the Western understanding of knowledge and western social work practices.

While the world may not be ready for an MSW-IK Program, I know that the graduates will continue to push forward and center our ways of knowing as Indigenous Peoples. The MSW-IK Program empowers students to change the face of social work. We know that in its current entity social work does not serve our relatives. As Simpson (2017) notes “I simply cannot see how Indigenous peoples can continue to exist as Indigenous if we are willing to replicate the logic of colonialism” (p. 35). This is where the MSW-IK Program stands in tension with colonial social work and colonial institutions. That is what the MSW-IK program is about, the survival of our peoples, a return to Indigenous Knowledges and helping practices.