A Proposed Master of Social Work Based in Indigenous Knowledges Program in Manitoba

Abstract

This article focuses on an innovative proposed Master of Social Work based in Indigenous Knowledges program developed by an Indigenous Caucus within the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba in Canada. This culturally based program intends to ground students with a solid foundation in traditional Indigenous teachings and perspectives, and contemporary Indigenous philosophies, knowledges, concepts, critiques, and ways of being that stem from these traditions. The proposed Master of Social Work based in Indigenous Knowledges was developed as a lived program that builds community and social supports, and reclaims and re-energizes a sense of self, responsibility, self-sufficiency, self-determination, and self-government. The program’s aim is to deconstruct oppressive and colonialist structures and reconstruct, in a contemporary sense, what has been previously destroyed. An overview of the visions, objectives, program design, foundational themes and description of courses is provided, along with reflections on what teachings its development has provided.