Uncovering Colonial Legacies: Voices of Indigenous Youth on Child Welfare (Dis)Placements

Abstract

In this thesis I examine how settler colonialism shapes child welfare (dis)placements. I use the term (dis)placement as a point of departure to understand the historical connection between the child welfare and residential school systems. Indigenous youth collaborators, who recently exited the child welfare system, contributed to this research through arts and storytelling. Their verbal and artistic testimonies attest to the degree that child welfare is part of larger historical and political processes including dispossession of land and resources, assimilation of Indigenous peoples, gendered violence, and violent indifference. I argue that youth resistance to dominant systems takes a distinct urban form and is a means of their survival that carries strong potential for change. This thesis highlights the value of a collaborative research praxis and contributes to broader debates on how Indigenous people experience colonialism and continuously create opportunities for transformation.iii Note on terminology

Aspects of Wellbeing for Indigenous Youth in CANZUS Countries: A Systematic Review

“…Forty-two articles [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 ], from 38 unique studies, reported on aspects of Indigenous youth wellbeing in Canada. Our thematic analysis identified eight aspects of wellbeing for this population: basic resources for survival; safety and stability; relationships with others; culture and spirituality; knowledge, opportunities, and the future; identity; resilience and independence; and recreation and interests.…”

“…The importance of having a safe and stable living environment is essential to achieving wellbeing for Indigenous youth in Canada [ 40 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 58 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 70 ]. A number of negative incursions undermine the attainment of this safe environment: colonisation and racism [ 40 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 49 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 58 , 60 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 81 ] effects include microaggressions, marginalisation, violence, suicide and substance abuse [ 45 , 47 , 49 , 53 ,…”

“…These connections can be disrupted by industry, pollution and experiences of upheaval, mobility and separation [ 63 , 64 , 66 ]. Colonising systems, such as child welfare, can alienate and disempower youth, separating them from vital connections with family, community and culture [ 41 , 55 , 56 , 68 , 71 , 80 ]. Indigenous youth are often cognisant of the damage that substance use, both their own and by their caregivers, has on their sense of safety, stability and wellbeing [ 45 , 46 , 49 , 67 , 70 , 74 ].…”

Advancing Racial Equality through Insights from Canadian Indigenous Art and Literature

“…The Tar Sands Gigaproject's oil extraction produces toxic waste that flow into water systems, resulting in rare cancers endangering many natives' lives [4]. Another contemporary example of genocidal effects owing to colonial legacy involves the "child welfare (dis)placements" of Indigenous children and youth who "die in care" through homicide, suicide, and so forth at more significant rates than their non-indigenous counterparts [9]. As typifies genocidal campaigns, Navia et al charge, the Canadian citizenry is complicit in the "ongoing forms of settler colonialism experienced in child welfare systems today" (p. 146), making that much more dangerous the racist systems ironically designed to protect and educate native children who are overrepresented in systems of care.…”

A Review of Literature on the Involvement of Children from Indigenous Communities in Anglo Child Welfare Systems: 1973-2018

“…Histories of settler colonial intervention that systematically separate and disrupt Indigenous families and communities in these countries are well documented (Buti, 2002;Jacobs, 2006;Milloy, 2017;Simon & Smith, 2001). Structural legacies of poverty and intergenerational trauma-imposed by current and historical settler colonial policies and practices resulting in losses of land, culturally based systems of knowledge and care, and community ties-shape a context in which Indigenous children today are overrepresented in child welfare systems (Bombay et al, 2013;Brittain & Blackstock, 2015;Johnston, 1983;Milloy, 2017;Navia et al, 2018). In recent decades, a transition toward some Indigenous communities taking over jurisdiction of child welfare systems, along with some political endorsement of increased Indigenous self-determination, has accompanied shifts in both recognition of these traumatic histories and possibilities for redressing them (Libesman, 2014;MacDonald & Levasseur, 2014;Rae, 2009).…”