Aboriginal Fathers: rebuilding our identity
Date
2016-10-06
Authors
McVey, Wes
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Abstract
The negative effects of colonialism in Aboriginal communities in Canada have been well documented since Europeans first arrived and began evaluating people they did not understand. This has negatively affected more than reflected those communities, and has led to important omissions in Western knowledge. Interrupting the ongoing and systemic exclusion of Aboriginal peoples from knowledge production includes acknowledging Aboriginal people as leaders in documenting successes in their communities - like the development of a unique “Aboriginal Fathers Engagement Program” (AFEP) in the Central Okanagan of British Columbia. As a partner in such a documentation project, I have been informed by a culturally grounded research protocol that is based on meaningful participation of the community. Through this I have been led primarily by practitioners and participants within the AFEP. Documenting the program's development, along with the experiences of participants and practitioners within it, has the potential to improve responsiveness of services, increase research capacity, and facilitate the access to funding at local levels. It may also lead to a replication of this success in other communities, and contribute to a shift in paradigm and knowledge further abroad: towards a growing recognition and validation of Indigenous ways of caring for children, and of knowing.
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Keywords
Aboriginal fathers, Indigenous knowledge, documenting experiences, program evaluation, community engagement