Our Parallel Path
Our Faculty's Commitment to Embracing Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being and Decolonization
Countdown begins for International Indigenous Voices in Social Work Conference
"Centred on Our Children and the Generations to Come"
August 12 – 15, 2025
Our faculty is so proud to be the host for the 7th International Indigenous Voices in Social Work. The theme of this year’s conference is Centred on Our Children, and the Generations to Come. The important conference was first held in Adelaide, Australia in 2004, following the International Federation of Social Workers World Congress. The conference looks to create space for Indigenous voices and to connect students, social workers, researchers administrators and policy makers, as they present impactful practices based on Indigenous wisdom and knowledges.
“The colonial way is not the only way”
Dr. Terry Poucette, PhD, recently joined our faculty as director of Kiipitakyoyis (Grandmothers’ Lodge), where the new associate professor (teaching) will help lead the creation of FSW’s Indigenous Strategy and a new graduate certificate, Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Leadership.
Poucette, who comes from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation. doesn’t promise it’s going to be an easy journey but says the payoff will be worth it in the end. “Reconciliation is easy to say, but it's not easy to do. Neither is decolonization,” she observes “Nobody said that reconciliation was going to be easy. It's not. It can get quite bumpy at times because decolonization and reconciliation will require changes to colonial mentalities, systems, processes and products.
“Despite the challenges, I am pleased the faculty has embarked on this path because it is going to advance the Faculty of Social Work as an academic leader in decolonization, Indigenization and reconciliation.”
DYK? In 2023-24 our faculty had 9.8% undergraduate and 12.9% graduate Indigenous students. (Compared to 3.8% UCalgary population).
Annual Growth
2024 Faculty research proposal written entirely in Cree language receives federal funding
2024 Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health Equity and Inclusion
2024 New graduate certificate launched in Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Leadership
2024 New BSW core course in Indigenous history and ways of knowing
2024 Indigenous scholar hired to lead Kiipitakyoyis and faculty’s Indigenous Strategy
2024 Faculty prepares to host 7th International Indigenous Voices in Social Work Conference
2022 ISWCL receives Blackfoot name, Kiipitakyoyis
2019 Indigenous Social Work Circle & Lodge (ISWCL) created
Embracing Indigenous ways of knowing and being: Indigenous leadership graduate certificate
Embracing Indigenous ways of knowing and being: Indigenous leadership graduate certificate
The faculty took another step in Indigenizing graduate education with the creation and launch of a new graduate certificate: Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Leadership. The credential promises to transform students’ leadership practices, allowing them to move forward in a good way with Indigenous Peoples. Led by a team of Indigenous instructors, Elders, Knowledge Keepers and recognized non-Indigenous social work instructors who work in good relations, the courses connected to the certificate are grounded in an Indigenous lens and students will be immersed in traditional teachings, circle process and ceremony.
What will I learn?
- Centring Indigenous Knowledge: Engage in experiential land-based learning to deepen understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, doing and connecting.
- Legacies of Colonization: Understand the history and legacy of colonization, as well as issues related to governance, policy, land and relationships.
- Relational Healing Practices: Reclaim Indigenous ways of knowing and explore relational, restorative and healing practices to help decolonize and build collaborative relationships.
- Shifting Leadership Perspectives: Develop transformational leadership skills for shifting perspectives and practices on policies, protocol, and approaches to create ethical space and resilient outcomes.
Stephanie Tyler, Ralph Bodor, Kristina Kopp and Elder Leona Makokis (seated) are ensuring Indigenous language and culture is represented in research.
Riley Brandt, University of Calgary
Research proposal written entirely in Cree language receives federal funding
In January of 2024 a research funding proposal written entirely in nêhiyawewin, the Cree language, was approved for funding by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), marking the first proposal submitted exclusively in an Indigenous language to be funded by a federal funding agency.
The research project’s long-term goal is for Indigenous service providers, such as Children’s Services and other agencies, to understand the vital role that ceremony, language, and protocol play in healing The project’s focus was born from the team’s extensive research and practice experience, which revealed that the languages, protocol, stories, and ceremonies of Indigenous Peoples are integral to the healing process, providing insight into a distinct worldview parallel to the Western perspective.
Jason Horne, Buffalo Run
Inuit post-secondary virtual learning lab created
Tapisa Kilabuk, an Inuk, UCalgary Social Work student is partnering with Dr. Patricia Johnston, PhD (Qallunaat) is supporting the creation of a small virtual Learning Lab for Inuit post-secondary students. This Lab will provide a welcoming, inclusive, and culturally relevant space that respects, includes, and promotes Inuit ways of knowing, teaching, learning, and research.
The Learning Lab will also offer an opportunity for building Inuit research capacity through the support provided to Inuit students by direct discussions with Inuit researchers, academics, Elders, and community leaders. The aim is to improve Inuit students’ learning experiences within post-secondary environment, create community, and foster supportive and interactive learning exchange.
Meet Sessional Instructor Chantel Large
2023 winner: UCalgary Teaching Award for Indigenous Ways of Knowing
"It Starts With A Smudge"
When social work sessional instructor Chantel Large first began teaching in 2018, she recalls she used to smudge in her car because, back then, smudging wasn't allowed in classrooms.
“I would pray that I was able to teach in a way that these students who I was encountering would go out into the world as social workers and not cause harm,” she says. “They’re going to be working with my nieces and nephews and my relatives, and I want to ensure that they understand Indigenous Peoples and their experiences and understand that different way of knowing and different way of being, so they can go out in the world and do work in a good way, in a way that’s not going to harm them or impose anything on them.”
Large connects with her students through storytelling, sharing personal pieces of her own life and bringing in Indigenous Peoples to her classrooms to offer their own lived experiences.
“I love the field of social work. I think it is one of the greatest privileges of my life that I get to earn a living by helping people."
Elyse Bouvier, Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning
Don McSwiney
Lodge and faculty supporters honoured with Spirit names
At the Feb. 5, 2024, pipe ceremony, it was fitting that two of Kiipitakyoyis’ (and the faculty’s) biggest supporters, Gary and Janeen Nissen, were also gifted Spirit names from Elder Wolfleg. The honour recognized their ongoing commitment to Indigenous peoples and reconciliation, as well as their generous support of programs designed to support Indigenous peoples, both on campus and in the community.
“I was speechless. It means a great deal,” said Janeen following the powerful ceremony. “It just helps to reinforce that the work that we've been supporting over the last 20-25 years has impact, and that our efforts need to continue.
“It’s very important that we support the efforts of the social work faculty and what is happening here at Grandmother’s Lodge. We are deeply honoured to be a part of it. And now, with our new Spirit names, we are energized to spread your message out into the community, and to continue to do what we can to support your work.”
Elder Clarence Wolfleg (seated) prepares for a pipe ceremony at Kiipitakyoyis.
Pipe ceremony establishes Kiipitakyoyis as a “working ceremonial lodge”
There was a real sense of anticipation during the special pipe ceremony held in Kiipitakyoyis (Grandmothers’ Lodge) on February 5th. Would the pipe smoke? As it turns out, there was nothing to worry about.
“It smoked so beautifully as soon as we lit it, and he [Elder Clarence Wolfleg] has never lit it before,” says Métis Cree Elder Kerrie Moore, MSW, with a smile. “And you never know, as Clarence says, if it’s going to work.”
Blackfoot Elder Wolfleg gifted Kiipitakyoyis a beautiful Blackfoot woman’s pipe that he had been holding for some time. After prayer, he said, the Creator revealed to him that Grandmother’s Lodge was the right place for the pipe to live.
“The little pipe is going to be a healing pipe for the community, and for the lodge,” says Moore who is an Elder and Lodgekeepr for Kiipitakyoyis and Wellness Elder for the Faculty of Social Work. “Now this lodge will be known as a pipe lodge and a ceremonial lodge. When you smoke that pipe, you cannot change that commitment. It becomes a very important melding together of what we are committing to.”
Kiipitakyoyis Events 2023-24
Grandmother’s Lodge, located on the third floor of Mackimmie Tower on UCalgary’s main campus, works to educate the community about Indigenous culture, current issues, decolonization, and Indigenous ways of knowing through ceremonies and public events. Here were some of our 2023-24 ecvents:
- Traditional Sage Gathering, Sept. 13
- Cree Grandmothers’ Tea Ceremony, Sept. 28 & Nov. 29
- Métis Celebration, Nov. 10
- Webinar: The Métis People: Their Distinct History and Culture – Jean Teillet, Nov. 17 (378 attended) Webinar: First Nations Health Consortium, Feb. 22 (274 attended)
- Hybrid event: We Are Not All the Same, featuring Naatoyi’ikinasoyi (Shawn Singer) of the Akainai nation within the Blackfoot Confederacy March 4 (88 attended)