Citation

Dennis MK, Minor M. Br. J. Soc. Work 2019; 49(6): 1472-1490.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/bjsw/bcz044

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Indigenous storytelling is an important site of knowledge for Indigenous peoples around the world. It is imperative that studies of Indigenous people incorporate a style that matches the interconnectedness of Indigenous knowledge. We use an inter-disciplinary approach to examine how Indigenous storytelling can inform current social work practice and pedagogy with the end goal of promoting healing for Indigenous people. Utilising an Indigenous research paradigm, we locate Indigenous knowledges through modern storytelling outlets, including novels, graphic novels, poetry and podcasts. Through conventional content analysis, we identify how a sample of Indigenous storytellers based in a settler-colonial state (Canada) navigates through traumas such as residential schools and sexual violence. For the people whose stories we examine, these traumas prove to be only a part of the grief they experience at the loss of their connection to family and culture. Through this sample of Indigenous storytelling, we see that the best possibility for healing comes from reconnecting with cultural practices and by resisting settler-colonial social work practices.