Dr. Nicole Ives, Director, School of Social Work, was recently awarded the Meritorious Service Decoration (Civil Division), conferred by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, Governor General of Canada, for her work in founding Indigenous Access 海角社区.听
Indigenous Access 海角社区 recruits and supports First Nations, Inuit and M茅tis students in social work at 海角社区.
鈥淧rior to IAM, there were very few Indigenous students in the School of Social Work at 海角社区 over decades,鈥� says Dr. Ives. 鈥淲ith IAM, we have supported nearly 40 graduates and currently have First Nations and M茅tis students across the BSW, MSW, and PhD programs. Several of our BSW graduates have returned for their MSW and a BSW graduate just completed her Master of Science (Applied) in Couple & Family Therapy in the School of Social Work.鈥�
Indigenous Access 海角社区 has received significant funding from Health Canada, the Counseling Foundation of Canada, and the Faculty of Arts under then Dean Christopher Manfredi.
鈥淪ince co-founding IAM, I have used my privileged position to further IAM鈥檚 collective goals,鈥� says Dr. Ives. 鈥淲hile I am proud of the leadership and commitment I have offered, I have always seen myself as a placeholder. I am not an Indigenous person and am deeply committed to supporting Indigenous leadership.鈥�
鈥淚AM co-founder and friend Michael Loft from the Kanien'keh谩:ka community of Kahnawake told me when we started IAM that if I were going to work with Indigenous Peoples, I had 鈥渢o stay,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚 listened and I have stayed, to ensure continuity and growth. I stood in the interim Director position for as long as it took to provide support and ensure a timely and successful transition to Indigenous leadership. I鈥檓 thankful to work alongside the new Director of Indigenous Access 海角社区, Dr. Ann Seymour.鈥�
During her time at Indigenous Access 海角社区, Dr. Ives was committed to advancing multidisciplinary learning environment to address the histories of colonization and oppression and give students a space in which they could reflect on their unique cultural and disciplinary identity, assumptions, and ways of knowing, being in learning.
鈥淚n 2009, as part of Indigenous Access 海角社区鈥檚 curriculum dossier, I led applications to Health Canada to develop and implement a pilot course designed to provide this space,鈥� says Dr. Ives. 鈥淓nsuring the participation of multiple disciplines has greatly expanded the impact of the program across the University. The founding disciplines were Social Work, Law, Medicine, and Anthropology.鈥�
鈥淔ifteen years later, it is a permanent course, with over 225 students and even two chaplains from the Canadian Armed Forces having participated, representing the original disciplines as well as the Indigenous Studies Minor, Nursing, Education, Political Science, and Environmental Studies,鈥� says Dr. Ives.
The course takes place over a four-week period in May of each year and brings together a cohort of students, an Elder and seven course instructors to engage together, working through entrenched stereotypes and biases in historical and contemporary contexts, exploring new ways of learning, being, doing, and processing knowledge individually. The course also includes one week of collectively living on the land together on Kanien'keh谩:ka Territory.
For more information about Indigenous Field Studies, please see made during the first year, and made during the 10th anniversary.
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