Promoting Cultural Connectedness Through Indigenous-led Child and Family Services: A Critical Review with a Focus on Canada

Indigenous research methodologies have been theorized by prominent Indigenous scholars over the past few decades and advocated for in research focused on Indigenous communities for their emancipatory power to reestablish Indigenous peoples’ expertise and self-determining and sovereignty rights over education and research. Western intrusion in Indigenous education and community focused research through colonial schools and Western research methodologies has negatively impacted the schooling experiences of Indigenous children, their families and communities, as well as the ways they are studied and depicted in research. Responding to calls for Indigenous methodologies in research focused on Indigenous communities, this literature review introduces an Indigenist Methodological Framework, developed from canonical scholarship on Indigenous methodologies, that we use to explore the applications (and potential misapplications) of Indigenous methodologies in 20 international studies about Indigenous family and community engagement. We aimed to determine if adherence to the elements of an Indigenist Methodological Framework served to disrupt extractive, exploitative, and damage-centered practices in and portrayals of Indigenous communities (common in Western research methodologies). Further, we critically analyzed the findings of these studies to see if they offered more culturally responsive and strength-based conceptualizations of Indigenous families and communities. We uncovered applications and misapplications of Indigenous methodologies that impacted researchers’ commitments to and actions towards establishing and maintaining relational accountability throughout and beyond the research while also influencing findings that, in most cases, challenged narrow and deficit-based perceptions and portrayals of Indigenous students, families, and community members.

In Canada, Indigenous families and children experience structurally-rooted marginalization due to longstanding and ongoing histories of colonization and discrimination. Indigenous children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are currently underrepresented in literature and databases on ASD in Canada, raising concerns about their equitable access to related services and optimal health outcomes. This critical scoping review maps out existing and emerging themes in literature pertaining to ASD and the provision of ASD services with Indigenous children and families in Canada. No previous reviews of literature have focused exclusively on ASD among Indigenous children in Canada. A literature search conducted across eight databases between 2011 and 2021 resulted in 362 potentially relevant publications, of which 19 met our inclusion criteria. Findings point to a clear lack of data on ASD and unmet health, social, and educational service needs among Indigenous children with ASD in Canada. ASD is also frequently discussed through a Western, deficit and medical discourse. The main contributors to the lack of data and unmet service needs relate to the historical positioning of colonial oppression, stigma, an overrepresentation of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), lack of funding, and concerns about standardized diagnostic and assessment tools, and social determinants of health. Recommendations for policy, practice and research concerning Indigenous children with ASD are proposed.

To explore the use of Indigenous philosophies and ways of knowing as a means to critique, understand and improve the care of Indigenous infants and families in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The ability of health professionals to provide culturally safe and equitable care to Indigenous infants and their families can affect infant development and long-term health outcomes. Research suggests that family involvement in care benefits both the infant and their family, but there is limited research that addresses the experience of Indigenous families in the NICU and advances understanding of how nurses involve Indigenous families in their infants' care. A discursive, critical review will be presented to outline the assumptions of Indigenous philosophies and to explore how the consideration and implementation of Indigenous ways of knowing can improve the nursing care of Indigenous infants and their families in the NICU. First, our subjective positioning as Indigenous nurses and as health researchers is described. Second, our understanding of Indigenous philosophical frameworks and how these approaches fit in the context of the philosophy of science is defined. Third, the key elements of an Indigenous philosophical paradigm are described. Fourth, an application of Indigenous paradigms to supporting the care of Indigenous infants and families in the NICU context is made. An Indigenous philosophical approach to nursing is ideal for understanding and improving the experiences of Indigenous infants and families in the NICU. This approach allows nurses to critically analyse the history and legacy of colonialism and its impact on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples. By prioritising the voices and concerns of Indigenous families in the clinical setting and in nursing research, nurses can better understand the experiences of these families in the NICU and use strengths-based approaches to facilitate family involvement in care. The application of Indigenous philosophies in the nursing context can be used to inform the care of Indigenous infants and families in the NICU. Potential benefits include improved therapeutic relationships between nurses and Indigenous families, and increased uptake of parent-led interventions in nursing practice, which may lead to improved health outcomes for Indigenous infants in the NICU and throughout their subsequent development.

Conference proceeding from the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Pediatric Surgeons: “Caring for indigenous children: A CAPS perspective”

Prenatal care is associated with improved outcomes for the mother and baby. Ongoing research in Winnipeg shows that pregnant people, especially Indigenous people, living in Winnipeg’s inner city have significantly lower rates of prenatal care than others in the city. There are no specific predictors of inadequate prenatal care among Indigenous families. Instead, being Indigenous is in and of itself a risk factor for inadequate prenatal care. This research project is a case study of culturally safe prenatal care and the role midwives can play in facilitating culturally safe prenatal care that is appropriate for Indigenous families living in Winnipeg’s inner city. It examines the decolonization of midwifery practice using pragmatic and Indigenous research paradigms. The goal was to understand, from the perspective of Indigenous midwifery clients, how midwives and other care providers can shape the quality of prenatal care services to meet the needs of Indigenous families more effectively and in a culturally safe manner. This research examines the prenatal care model of a group of midwives based out of an interdisciplinary health clinic called Mount Carmel Clinic (MCC) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It finds increased rates of prenatal care for Indigenous families at risk of receiving inadequate prenatal care in pregnancy. It also finds that despite increased engagement in prenatal care, many MCC midwifery clients have their babies apprehended by Child and Family Services at birth. The findings suggest that the MCC midwifery model is on a continuum of culturally safe practice, and that the model of care could facilitate a deeper level cultural safety by expanding their care team to include Indigenous members and traditional knowledge about pregnancy, birth and parenting. Finally, it finds that Two-Eyed Seeing can be used by non-Indigenous healthcare practitioners as a tool for engaging in reflective practice to design a working model of cultural safety in the context of the local community.

Book Review| April 01 2022 Review: Living in Indigenous Sovereignty, by Elizabeth Carlson-Manathara with Gladys Rowe Elizabeth Carlson-Manathara with Gladys Rowe. Living in Indigenous Sovereignty (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2021). 264 pages. ISBN 9781773632384. Niamh Timmons Niamh Timmons Oregon State University Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Ethnic Studies Review (2022) 45 (1): 92–94. https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2022.45.1.88 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Niamh Timmons; Review: Living in Indigenous Sovereignty, by Elizabeth Carlson-Manathara with Gladys Rowe. Ethnic Studies Review 1 April 2022; 45 (1): 92–94. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2022.45.1.88 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentEthnic Studies Review Search Living in Indigenous Sovereignty works to address white settler relationships with Indigenous Peoples and Nations. Elizabeth Carlson-Manathara, the principal writer of the book, grounds narratives by 16 nonacademic predominantly non-Indigenous activists who likewise grapple with settler and Indigenous relations in Canada. Carlson-Manathara argues that Indigenous-led social movements such as Idle No More and surfacing legacies of settler violence made apparent by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S) detail legacies of settler violence that were surfaced by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Carlson-Manathara argues that settlers reorienting to alliances with Indigenous Peoples and Nations can transform the lives of settlers beyond these relationships. This follows calls made by Indigenous activists in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the unsurprising discovery of hundreds of Indigenous bodies at former residential schools. While Indigenous activists and scholars have made these calls... You do not currently have access to this content.

Book Review| January 01 2007 The Elusive Pursuit of Truth and Justice: A Review Essay; History after Apartheid: Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa; Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa; Shattered Voices: Language, Violence, and the Work of Truth Commissions; Commissioning the Past: Understanding South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Bearing Witness: Women and the Truth Commission in South Africa.; Truth Commissions and Courts: The Tension between Criminal Justice and the Search for Truth; The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Legitimizing the Post-apartheid State Annie E. Coombes, History after Apartheid: Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003.Antjie Krog, Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa. New York: Three Rivers, 2000.Teresa Godwin Phelps, Shattered Voices: Language, Violence, and the Work of Truth Commissions. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.Deborah Posel and Graeme Simpson, eds., Commissioning the Past: Understanding South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 2002.Fiona C. Ross, Bearing Witness: Women and the Truth Commission in South Africa. London: Pluto, 2003.William A. Schabas and Shane Darcy, eds., Truth Commissions and Courts: The Tension between Criminal Justice and the Search for Truth. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic, 2004.Richard A. Wilson, The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Legitimizing the Post-apartheid State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Mary Nolan Mary Nolan Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Radical History Review (2007) 2007 (97): 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-2006-020 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter Permissions Search Site Citation Mary Nolan; The Elusive Pursuit of Truth and Justice: A Review Essay; History after Apartheid: Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa; Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa; Shattered Voices: Language, Violence, and the Work of Truth Commissions; Commissioning the Past: Understanding South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Bearing Witness: Women and the Truth Commission in South Africa.; Truth Commissions and Courts: The Tension between Criminal Justice and the Search for Truth; The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Legitimizing the Post-apartheid State. Radical History Review 1 January 2007; 2007 (97): 143–154. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-2006-020 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter Books & JournalsAll JournalsRadical History Review Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. MARHO: The Radical Historians' Organization, Inc.2007 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: (RE)VIEWS You do not currently have access to this content.

Parenting may be influenced by ethnicity; marginalization; education; and poverty. A critical but unexamined question is how these factors may interact to compromise or support parenting practices in ethnic minority communities. This analysis examined associations between mothers’ stimulating parenting practices and a range of child-level (age; sex; and cognitive and socio-emotional development); household-level (indigenous ethnicity; poverty; and parental education); and community-level (economic marginalization and majority indigenous population) variables among 1893 children ages 4–18 months in poor; rural communities in Mexico. We also explored modifiers of associations between living in an indigenous community and parenting. Key findings were that stimulating parenting was negatively associated with living in an indigenous community or family self-identification as indigenous (β = −4.25; SE (Standard Error) = 0.98; β = −1.58; SE = 0.83 respectively). However; living in an indigenous community was associated with significantly more stimulating parenting among indigenous families than living in a non-indigenous community (β = 2.96; SE = 1.25). Maternal education was positively associated with stimulating parenting only in indigenous communities; and household crowding was negatively associated with stimulating parenting only in non-indigenous communities. Mothers’ parenting practices were not associated with child sex; father’s residential status; education; or community marginalization. Our findings demonstrate that despite greater community marginalization; living in an indigenous community is protective for stimulating parenting practices of indigenous mothers.

The urgent need for cultural safety and inclusivity when working with Indigenous children with disabilities and their families requires an appreciation of relevant cultural understandings, values, and practices. This critical integrative review identifies and synthesizes works investigating Indigenous perspectives on childhood, development, and disability, emphasizing its significance for professionals in healthcare, social services, and education. A critical integrative review of published works was completed. Five databases were consulted, and the search was supplemented by reference mining and peer and community consultation. Seventeen works met the inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis generated five cultural considerations for service providers working with Indigenous families: 1) the practice of communal child-rearing; 2) relational identities and the minimization of individual differences; 3) children as gifts and teachers; 4) balance and good relations as key to holistic health; and 5) respect for autonomous development. The reviewed works suggest several ways in which Indigenous perspectives on childhood disability might differ from those of many service providers embedded in Western biomedical education and health institutions. Highlighting these disparate views empowers professionals to reflect on how cultural differences could impact their work with Indigenous children and families and consider approaches that align with Indigenous values and ways of knowing. Implications for service delivery and inter-cultural collaboration are discussed.

INTRODUCTION One of the most theoretically neglected and empirically under-researched, yet potentially one of the most important, legacies of truth commissions are their recommendations. As discussed elsewhere in this volume, truth commissions have become a significant means of confronting human rights abuses committed by the military, state agents, paramilitaries or opposition forces during repressive regimes or periods of armed conflict. The prime function of a truth commission is to investigate and document human rights violations, and to make its findings public through a report. Another central function of truth commissions is to make recommendations to the government with two main aims: to address violations of the past and to prevent such violations from reoccurring in the future. There are between 50 and 70 truth commissions in existence worldwide – depending on the criteria one uses to define the universe of truth commissions. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission is arguably the world's best known, and the one that has received the most scholarly attention. However, the model of a truth commission was developed and perfected in Latin America. As of 2018, this region has had 13 official (that is, state-endorsed) truth commissions in 11 different countries that have completed their work since the early 1980s. Adding the two official commissions that never published a report and various non-official truth commissions, there have been a total of more than 20 truth commission efforts in Latin America. Widely known commissions include Argentina's National Commission on the Disappeared (CONADEP), Chile's National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation (Rettig Commission), and Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Lesser known truth commissions include those of Ecuador, Haiti, Panama and Paraguay. A latecomer on the truth commission scene in Latin America is Brazil – which published its final report almost three decades after the country's transition from military dictatorship to democracy in 1985, in response to a presidential initiative. Truth commissions have recently also been established in Colombia and Bolivia, suggesting that this form of documenting human rights violations is far from passe in the region.

Indigenous Child Welfare Practice: The Canadian Case

Violence against sexual and gender minorities in periods of conflict and social unrest has received increased attention by the international media. While much has been written on anti-queer violence and oppression of sexual and gender minorities around the world, there has been very little written in regard to addressing historical and current acts of violence in transitional justice literature. In light of ongoing violence, what would the incorporation of sexual and gender minority experiences in transitional justice mechanisms, such as truth and reconciliation commissions, mean for sexual and gender minorities? Can truth commissions be a viable structure for addressing historical and continuing anti-queer violence and discrimination? In trying to construct a truthful account of anti-queer violence and the subjugation of sexual and gender minorities, how would a national truth commission address the diversity of locations, times, and fluid sexual and gender subject positions and narratives? I seek to address these questions by examining the challenges that truth commissions face in including the experiences of sexual and gender minorities. First I will review how previous truth and reconciliation commissions have addressed heterosexism, homophobia, and anti-queer violence. From there I will explore the underlying heteronormativity inherently found in truth and reconciliation commissions and ways in which truth commissions would benefit from incorporating queer theory and queer legal theory. Lastly, I will outline key steps that need to be taken for future truth commissions to better incorporate sexual and gender minorities in order to open up truth commissions to non-heteronormative and queer identities, histories, and experiences.

INTRODUCTION In the 21st century, it is commonly accepted that states have a legal and normative obligation to provide the truth about histories of violence and repression; truth commissions are Often suggested as a means of fulfilling this obligation. Truth commissions came to prominence as a result of their use as part of transitions from military rule to democracy in Latin America and from apartheid to inclusive democracy in South Africa. The global attention paid to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), in particular, popularised this form of transitional justice. The truth commission model gained favour at least in part because it appealed to a variety of audiences. For perpetrators and those who feared that criminal accountability would be destabilising, truth commissions were less threatening. For many victims and activists, by contrast, truth commissions represented some measure of justice. As such, truth commissions seemed to provide a useful compromise, addressing past abuses in some fashion during attempted democratic transitions. In fact, in the wake of the South African TRC, truth commissions came to be seen by many as valuable in their own right, in that they could provide a valuable contribution to social and psychological repair, as well as the (re)construction of more democratic political institutions after political transitions. As the truth commission model gained greater visibility and more adherents, it has also been increasingly utilised in a variety of other contexts. First, truth commissions have been employed in war-to-peace transitions. Even further, the model has sometimes been applied to contexts where little to no real political change has occurred at all. This chapter distinguishes three non-transitional contexts in which truth commissions have been employed with growing frequency. First, truth commissions are sometimes created by governments after they have decisively defeated an armed threat. Second, firmly entrenched authoritarian regimes have sometimes created truth commissions to achieve policy goals. Finally, truth commissions have sometimes been set up in wellestablished democracies in order to address historical wrongs that occurred in previous generations. One may quibble about whether these different types of investigative commissions belong in the same category. However, Often in policy and academic debates, these types of investigations are lumped together for the purposes of theory building and hypothesis testing.

With the documented educational inequities that Indigenous children experience evidenced by disproportionate representation in special education and lower graduation rates, there is a need to better understand the backgrounds, training, professional perspectives, and clinical practices of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) serving this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to conduct a survey with SLPs from the Mountain West and High Plains region of the United States who serve Indigenous children to understand current patterns and to inform practices that SLPs can apply in addressing educational inequities. SLPs from the Mountain West and High Plains completed an online survey that gathered information about background, training, professional perspectives, and clinical practices. Three hundred thirty-three SLPs completed the survey. Results revealed that respondents, for the most part, understood educational disparities that Indigenous children experience, and they valued Indigenous dialects of English and Indigenous languages. Patterns in practice revealed strong reliance on standardized measures for assessment and a small percentage of respondents using bidialectal or narrative-based strategies. Very few respondents had training on serving Indigenous children and families, yet they had overall awareness of educational disparities experienced by this group. Respondents reported challenges with developing relationships and overcoming access barriers. Their clinical practices were not as tailored to the language and learning needs of Indigenous children, especially when compared to practices recommended in two recent scoping reviews. The Indigenous Connectedness Framework, the abundance model, and Indigenous pedagogies are presented as ways to initiate change and meaningful engagement with Indigenous families and communities. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24100863.

The truth commission has emerged in the last thirty years as a distinct juridical form that views the production of truth as necessary, and in some cases sufficient, for achieving justice. In his history of truth-telling in juridical forms, Michel Foucault conducts a genealogy of avowal (or confession) in western judicial practice; critical to his definition of avowal is that the truth-teller and wrong-doer must be the same subject. In my analysis, I consider avowal in light of a relatively recent judicial innovation: the truth commission, with Canada’s Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as a particular case. The TRC’s emphasis on the testimony of victims rather than perpetrators means that truth-telling and wrong-doing are decoupled in this juridical form, suggesting that avowal is not a function of truth commissions according to Foucault’s criteria. Does this mean that truth commissions are not involved in truth production, or perhaps that they are not a juridical form in the lineage of those examined by Foucault? The truth commission is a juridical form that Foucault was unable to address because it developed only after his death, and it is possible that it challenges his core understanding of avowal; however, the truth commission also appears to be consistent with trends that he predicted about the role of truth-telling in the modern judicial system.