The Breath of Life

A First Nations Alternative to Western Social TheoriesCindy BlackstockCindy BlackstockUniversity of Kwa Zulu Natal, May 16, 2008

Canada signs the UN Declaration on Human Rights g gin 1948

That same year, visitors from South Africa came to a Saskatchewan reserve to learn about oura Saskatchewan reserve… to learn about our national reserve pass policy for First Nations

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 1996Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996

IF YOU BELIEVE CHILDREN ARE IF YOU BELIEVE CHILDREN ARE MOST VALUED AND MOST VALUED AND MOST VALUED AND ….MOST VALUED AND ….

• Ancestors were mostly wrongy g

• New knowledge is most valuedg

• Experts most respected

• Individuals trump collectives

• One divisible reality

Then you develop this type of Then you develop this type of child welfare system and ensure itchild welfare system and ensure itchild welfare system and ensure it child welfare system and ensure it applies to all children….applies to all children….

Basic Principles of Child Protectionas c c p es o C d otect o

Has tools to   Familyensure 

Safety and Well Being

ChildSafety and Safety and Well being Paramount

STATE steps in when family fails to ensure safety yand well being

Blackstock & Trocme, 2004

PROPORTION OF CHILDREN IN CARE PROPORTION OF CHILDREN IN CARE BY CULTURAL GROUPBY CULTURAL GROUP

10.23%

10

12 10.23%

6

8First Nations StatusMetis

3.31%

2

4

MetisNon Aboriginal

0.67%

0

2

Percentageg3 sample provinces

Wen:de we are coming to the light of day(2005)

CONTRASTING COMMUNITY SUPPORTS FOR CHILDRENCONTRASTING COMMUNITY SUPPORTS FOR CHILDREN

Canada First Nations on Reserve

Band

109 million less provided for child welfare on reserve

G-8 Economy. Avg. Federal

ProvGovernment

V l t

Band

Services

Voluntary Corporate

y gincome 37,757

per annumProv.

Municipal7-10 K

average Corporate

Voluntary Sector

Sectorp

6 children on

gper capita

annualincome

60% or 69

VS funding should be

3.45 billion based on 6 children on

reserve received VS

115 billion per year

in annual revenues

60% or 69 billion of VS

funding comes from Fed/Prov.

based on population alone for

FN actual services in 2003

revenues

CCSD, 2003; Blackstock & Trocme, 2005; Loxley et al., 2005)

estimated at 100K

Facing gDiscrimination

when Playing Nice Does not Work in a

Nice Country

Exploring ecological theory, Exploring ecological theory, Maslow and AOP from westernMaslow and AOP from westernMaslow and AOP from western Maslow and AOP from western and FN perspectivesand FN perspectives

COMPARING WESTERN AND COMPARING WESTERN AND INDIGENOUS WORLDVIEWSINDIGENOUS WORLDVIEWSINDIGENOUS WORLDVIEWSINDIGENOUS WORLDVIEWSWestern worldview Indigenous worldviewWestern worldview Indigenous worldview

• Knowledge of the now and t t hi hl l d

• Ancestral knowledge most highly valued (oral history)Q ti d f next most highly valued

• Answers highly valued• Cognitive knowledge given

• Questions and process of knowledge highly valued

• Cognitive, spiritual, emotional and physical Cognitive knowledge given

preferential status• Experts are legitimate

knowledge holders

emotional and physical knowledge equally valued

• Elders most respected knowledge holdersknowledge holders

• World is divisible and most highly valued knowledge i di i li

g• World is non divisible –

specialization creates false reality

in disciplines

ECOLOGICAL THEORYECOLOGICAL THEORYECOLOGICAL THEORYECOLOGICAL THEORYWestern Worldview Indigenous Worldview

Macro system (society) Spiritual

Exo system(workplace)

Meso system (family)

EmotionalPhysical Child, community and world

Micro system(Child) Cognitive

Ancestral knowledge intergenerationalChrono -system

(one lifetime)

Blackstock, 2007

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS (INFORMED BY MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS (INFORMED BY BLACKFOOT NATION (BLACKFOOT NATION (ALBERTAALBERTA, , CANADACANADA))Western Perspective First Nations Perspective

Transcendence Expansive IndividualSelf

actualization

Aesthetic needs

cultural perpetuity

concept of time and multiple

dimensions of

Individual rights

privileged one life time

fNeed to know and understand

Esteem needs

Community Actualization

dimensions of reality scope of

analysis

Belongingness and love needs

Safety needs Self ActualizationPhysiological needs

Huitt, 2004; Blackstock, 2008; Wadsworth, 2008

ANTI OPPRESSIVE PRACTICEANTI OPPRESSIVE PRACTICEANTI OPPRESSIVE PRACTICEANTI OPPRESSIVE PRACTICE

Western Worldview First Nations Worldview

Oppressor•Balance within

and among dimensions of being important

•All reality interconnected

Spirit EmotionalEmancipation Spirit Emotional

C i iPhysical

Emancipation and equality

Oppressed •Balance of giving

and receiving within relationships critical

•Best interests within context of perpetuity of culture not just current generation

CognitivePhysical

Blackstock, 2008

HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL WORKHUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL WORK

Ineffective in addressing Privileges western worldview and individual rights

Limited Scope of reality casts relationships into role of oppressor and oppressed

Ineffective in addressing FN issues. Does not deal with the normalization of racism within a society or oppressed the role of bureaucracies and professions in perpetrating it

Canadian HR Community and /

1904FN Children Timeline

Dr. PH Bryce joins with others to protest the large scale deaths and abuses of children in residential schools Canada fires PHand abuses of children in residential schools. Canada fires PH Bryce and continues its operations status quo – resulting in thousands of preventable deaths.

1950 Western child welfare extended on reserves. Number of First Nations children in care grows from 1% to 10% with many being placed in non Aboriginal homes. No meaningful intervention by AOP movement

1996

AOP movement.

Last residential school closes in Canada – No documentation of non Aboriginal social work protesting residential schools over

f

2008

their 100 years of operations.

Largest number of FN children in foster care in both numbers and percentage than at any time in history. Human Rights action2008 and percentage than at any time in history. Human Rights action filed by FN against Canada – minimal involvement /support by Human Rights groups and experts despite calls for support by FN.

Western Human Rights .Deserves a second chance or is there another perspective that might be more helpful for FN?

Human Rights anchoring in It has not been meaningfully applied Human Rights anchoring in a western worldview also is problematic – so what is the alternative?

g y ppwith FN therefore efficacy is untested? Maybe- but the persistent lack of involvement by Human Rights movement to address the gross human rights violations raises serious questions about it’s ability to identify questions about it s ability to identify and respond to systematic oppression faced by Indigenous peoples

But what if you believed in this But what if you believed in this f f worldview… What child welfare worldview… What child welfare

system would you create?system would you create?system would you create?system would you create?

• That all reality is interconnected across time

• There are multiple dimensions of reality• There are multiple dimensions of reality• Ancestral knowledge mattered• Humanity is defined in reference and

connection to the natural worldconnection to the natural world• There is no “inanimate” world• The most complex phenomena can be

explained by simple principles…..explained by simple principles…..

IMAGINE…IMAGINE…

SOUND FAMILIAR?SOUND FAMILIAR?

PHYSIC’S THEORY OF EVERYTHINGPHYSIC’S THEORY OF EVERYTHINGPHYSIC S THEORY OF EVERYTHINGPHYSIC S THEORY OF EVERYTHING• Believes the world of the big (universe) and the

world of the small (atoms) are ruled by the same principles

• There are a limited number of physical constants There are a limited number of physical constants and if one is changed slightly then our universe ceases to exist

• Atomic particles join together in circular strings thus binding the world of big and small. Vibrations of strings gives shape to different Vibrations of strings gives shape to different matter and time.

• There are at least 10 different dimensions of li l reality – only one we can see.

POP SCIENCE?POP SCIENCE?POP SCIENCE?POP SCIENCE?

• Einstein was the first to seriously work on the Theory y yof Everything and since then numerous physicists have won Nobel Prizes based on itH h i hi h t di i i l • How can physics , which studies empirical phenomena, study the creation of the universe which in western terms happened 13.7 billion years ago?

STARLIGHTSTARLIGHTSTARLIGHTSTARLIGHT

The universe is so large, the light of the g , goldest stars created when the universe

was born is just reaching us now

ANCESTRAL ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGE

• The light of the first ancestors is still The light of the first ancestors is still imprinting on Aboriginal children and families today – handed down by oral hi t it l d l history, ceremony, ritual and role modeling.

• Supreme court has ruled that FN oral phistory meets the standards of western written evidence in the famous Delgamuuk decisionDelgamuuk decision.

Thi ld i i i d th B th f Thi ld i i i d th B th f This worldview inspired the Breath of This worldview inspired the Breath of Life Theory to deal with structural risk in Life Theory to deal with structural risk in yychild welfarechild welfare

Applying Breath of Life to Children's’ Welfare

W ld f th Bi ( f )

Structural assets and risk

Expressed

Pre

World of the Big (Interconnection of time, reality, nature and humanity)BALAN

Relational Worldview Principles

Physical: water, food, shelter

E ti l B l i

Expressed physically, mentally,

emotionally and spiritually

dictab

NCED FO

Emotional: Belonging (attachment to family and community)

Spiritual: spirituality and life purpose

Cognitive: self and community actualization

Cultural and contextual strings give rise to

different manifestations of

ble

CUS

BA Cognitive: self and community actualization,

identity, service

Principles are interdependent -optimal functioning

achieved when balance is achieved within and

different manifestations of humanity

Expressed physically, mentally,

Predi

ALANCE

among all dimensionsy,

emotionally and spiritually

ctable

EDFOCU Assets and risk to groups of e

World of the Small (individuals or groups)

S children and families

Constant values: Future areas of study for the Breath of Life Model

still under study Determinants of

health provide strong basis for

Investigating symmetry and super symmetry as means of g

analysis. Poverty line key for

meeting physical needs; self govt

means of determining “balance constants”

; grelated to

improved socio-economic outcomes Time and

Effect of culture and context.

Still under study

dimensions of reality. Studies of oral history will record constants Still under study

but strong cultural identity protective factor for FN children

and families

of humanity and better define multiple dimensions of and familiesreality in the model

fPurposes of Indigenous Research linked to Principle Cultural Source of Ontology and Methodology

L t Ancestral

Knoweldge Research

Long term and

interconnected

Research

Entrepreneurial

ResearchTranslation

ResearchResearch

Indigenous Ontology and Methods Western Ontology and MethodsEnveloped in Indigenous Culture and Protocols

MAKING A MAKING A DIFFERENCE DIFFERENCE DIFFERENCE DIFFERENCE WITH WITH RESEARCHRESEARCHRESEARCHRESEARCH

Jordan’sJordan’s Story

Jordan s Principle: Research in Action

Jordan’s StoryJordan s Story

At the age of two, doctors said Jordan could go to At the age of two, doctors said Jordan could go to li i f il hli i f il h b t i d itb t i d itlive in a family home live in a family home –– bureaucrats ruined it bureaucrats ruined it because they could not agree if the federal or because they could not agree if the federal or provincial government should pay for his at homeprovincial government should pay for his at homeprovincial government should pay for his at home provincial government should pay for his at home care. care. Jordan waited two years in hospital but died before Jordan waited two years in hospital but died before y py pthe dispute was resolvedthe dispute was resolved

Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2007

WHAT WORKS: JORDAN’S PRINCIPLEWHAT WORKS: JORDAN’S PRINCIPLEWHAT WORKS: JORDAN S PRINCIPLEWHAT WORKS: JORDAN S PRINCIPLE

Where a jurisdictional dispute Where a jurisdictional dispute develops regarding services for a status Indian child and th i th i those services are otherwise

available to Canadian children- the government of c d e t e gove e t o

first contact pays for the service and figures out the j i di ti l di t l tjurisdictional dispute later.

What Works: Touchstones of Hope for Indigenous children and families. Principles f fffor effective research, policy and practice

Self DeterminationSelf‐Determination

Culture and Languageg g

Holistic Approach

Structural Interventions

Non DiscriminationNon Discrimination

www.reconcilationmovement.org

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT INDIGENOUS WORLDVIEW AND INDIGENOUS WORLDVIEW AND HISTORY?HISTORY?

• If this is your land, where are your stories? (J. Edward Chamberlin, 2003)

• Wisdom of Elders (Suzuki and Knutson, 1992)• 1491: New revelations of the Americas before

Columbus (C Mann 2006)Columbus (C. Mann, 2006)• The Power of Myth (J. Campbell & B. Moyers,

1988)• The Truth about Stories (King, 2003)• Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Canada,

1996) 1996)

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT INDIGENOUS RESEARCH?INDIGENOUS RESEARCH?INDIGENOUS RESEARCH?INDIGENOUS RESEARCH?

• Decolonizing methodologies (Smith, 1999)g g ( , )• CIHR Draft Guidelines for Research with Aboriginal

Peoples http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/29083.html• First Peoples Child and Family Review – free on line

peer reviewed Indigenous journal at www.fncaringsociety.comwww.fncaringsociety.com

• Database of over 3000 articles on Aboriginal children and families www.fncaringsociety.com

WAYS YOU CAN HELPWAYS YOU CAN HELPWAYS YOU CAN HELPWAYS YOU CAN HELP

S t J d ’ P i i l d Support Jordan’s Principle and urge provincial implementation• Go on line to www fncaringsociety comGo on line to www.fncaringsociety.com

Support the Touchstones of Hope• Go on line to www.reconciliationmovement.org

Support First Nations in providing equitable child welfare care • Go on line to www.amnesty.ca