Pimotehowin Nehiyawi Pimātisiwin (We will walk this Cree way of life): Professional and Personal Reflections on the Masks of Trauma
Speaker: Noela Crowe-Salazar
Trauma informed care, and trauma responses offer robust paths to healing for First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples in Canada. I have come to see many masks of trauma, the colonial mask, the warrior mask, the survivor / surviving mask (etc.) via the varied ways we experience, perceive and work with trauma individually and collectively. Masks hold a rich narrative for storytellers, and can also help us in seeing trauma in multiple ways. From the lens of Nihiyaw Iskwew (Cree woman) living in the prairies I explore trauma from this lens and with curiosity. The goal of the collective journey is to highlight resurgence, resilience in Wahkotowin Mino Pimātisiwin Relationships in a good way.
Resources
Crowe-Salazar, N., & Salazar, A. (2020). Connecting Myself to Indian Residential Schools and the Sixties Scoop. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 15(1), 5-11.
Green, Gail (2011) 'Developing Trauma Training for an Indigenous Community: Hopefully Not Seagulls', Australian Social Work, 64: 2, 215 — 227
DOI: 10.1080/0312407X.2010.518243.
National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (2015) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in People in Canada
National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health – Multiple reports on Indigenous health and mental health in Canada: https://www.nccih.ca/34/publications.aspx?sortcode=2.8.10&type=1
Linklater, Renee. (2014). Decolonizing Trauma Work Indigenous Stories and Strategies. Fernwood
Noela is Nêhiyaw (Cree) and lives in her ancestral Territory, Treaty Four in Saskatchewan. She is the busy mom of two teenagers, and the birth mother of one adult. She is a citizen of Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan. Noela holds a Master of Social Work degree, and is currently working on a PhD.
Noela has over 20 years of experience working with First Nations children and families in child welfare and mental health settings. Her clinical background has a special focus on trauma and problematic substance use with special populations. Noela has worked extensively with First Nations in Treaty Four Territory in direct practice, policy, program design, and management roles. She is currently a private practice counsellor and consultant, a trainer with CTRI, and a sessional lecturer at the University of Regina Faculty of Social Work, and Dalhousie.
Noela is grounded in the values and traditions of being a Cree woman, and an understanding that everyone has inherent strengths and wisdom. Noela is anxiously awaiting the birth of her first grandchild in July and she is very excited to be stepping into the role of being a Kokum.