Medicine Wheel Journey: An Autobiographical Approach to Developing an Indigenous-centered Helping Framework

Date

2013-12-13

Authors

Majore, Delbert

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Abstract

Colonization has always and continues as a destructive influence upon Indigenous people and communities. Medicine Wheel Journey (MWJ) will be my contribution to the healing from colonization of Indigenous peoples. The literature and my work in Indigenous mental health counselling has led me to the conclusion that people essentially want to strengthen themselves and this can often be accomplished by finding their voice and sharing their story. I believe in order to support any person in finding their voice, I had to first find my own. My purpose throughout this research was to identify MWJ as the process of establishing an Indigenous-centered helping framework for mental health counselling with Indigenous peoples. My ancestors became a source of inspiration to tell my story. Essentially, MWJ has helped move me forward by looking at my past. I can now say confidently that I know my history and culture. I have experienced what Dei and Asgharzadeh (2001) describe as a ‘social and political correction’ (p. 298). This thesis describes a method by which members of Indigenous communities can research, write, and share their life stories in order to arrive at Indigenous-centered helping frameworks. This MWJ framework may be applied by Indigenous mental health practitioners as self-care for their own personal development. The main intent of MWJ is to support the help and healing of the Indigenous people and communities they serve. Medicine Wheel Journey as an Indigenous-centered helping framework has allowed me to say I am Métis and this is my story.

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Keywords

Indigenous-centred, Social Work, Indigenous Social Work, Aboriginal, Metis, Decolonization, Mental Health, Autobiography

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