Your College: Decolonizing social work

By Alec Stratford, MSW, RSW
NSCSW Registrar/Executive Director

I write this to you from Mi’kma’ki, which continues to be the traditional and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq, as it has been for thousands of years. The Nova Scotia College of Social Workers will continue to partner with our members and our communities in the necessary labour of reconciliation, striving to always abide by the spirit of the Peace and Friendship Treaties.

We must recognize that the profession of social work has been complicit in harm and has contributed to the genocide of Indigenous peoples in Canada. We therefore have an urgent and abiding need for social work – and social workers – to participate in reconciliation, decolonization and Indigenization efforts. As an organization that dedicates itself to protection of the public, and aims to preserve and promote our profession, our College must be part of this work, starting by listening to Indigenous people and communities and following where they lead us; I hope we become an example that can lead others in turn.

There are many demands for the time and wisdom of Indigenous professionals, and it can be a challenge to sustainably respond to requests from settler organizations seeking reconciliation while they also focus on serving the strengths and needs of their communities (and without losing sight of their own needs and self-care). I am grateful to all the contributors who generously shared their perspectives and experiences with us, either by writing or consenting to be interviewed.

This issue has a spotlight on last year’s student bursary winners and their hopes for the future (page 10).

Turn to page 12 to read about accreditation of Indigenous social work programs, and to page 14 to dive into the definition of decolonization as it applies to our profession.

The voices of several Indigenous practitioners informed the land acknowledgment article on page 17.

On page 20, learn about the new Indigenous health authority that is in the early stages of transforming health care for Mi’kmaw people and communities.

Our feature piece is a two-parter, starting on page 22 with a profile of the first Mi’kmaw social worker to receive private practitioner authorization from our Board of Examiners –hopefully the first of many more to come. And finally, flip to page 24 to read that same social worker’s own words about the Indigenization of clinical social work.