Siksikaitsitapi Parenting of Children with Disabilities

Canada has a dark colonial history with her relationship with the Indigenous population that entered the national consciousness through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report findings released in June 2015. It illuminated and informed Canadians about the Indian residential school survivor experience when many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities to attend these schools. The traumatic impact to survivors was detrimental to their health and Indigeneity, which compromised Indigenous family systems and influenced parental skills. Research suggests that disability among Indigenous people is rising within the general Canadian population and recommendations are consistent in addressing the dearth in literature to comprehend Indigenous experiences of impairment, disability, health, education, marginality, oppression and colonization related to parenting practices. Today, Indigenous parents continue to endure many challenges, in particular, achieving health service equity in provision for the needs of their children who have disabilities. Despite facing adversarial predicaments, there are Indigenous parents who demonstrate resilient strength-based approaches to parenting. This Indigenous community-based study explored the parental stories of Siksika (Blackfoot) parents to comprehend how they parent a child with a disability within their community. An Indigenous framework informed by Siksika ontology and epistemology guided the project. The collaborative story analysis gathered from parental stories were interpreted and discussed according to the teachings of the Siksikaitsitapi. A decolonizing theoretical approach utilizing an Indigenous methodology contributes to the scholarship of Indigenous knowledge, identity, parenting and creates an understanding that can inform and enhance culturally competent health care for Siksika children.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Medicine – Community Health Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Cumming School of Medicine

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Yellow Old Woman, Pearl

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hughson, E. Anne

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Milaney, Katrina J.
• Roach, Pamela M.
• Leason, Jennifer
• Ottmann, Jacqueline

• Indigenous Health
• Indigenous Children
• Disability and Family
• Blackfoot

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/38252

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/112593