Undoing settler colonialism is not easy: Eva Jewell, Andrea Doucet, Jessica Falk, Susan Fyke, ‘Social Knowing, Mental Health, and the Importance of Indigenous Resources: A Case Study of Indigenous Employment Engagement in Southwestern Ontario’, Canadian Review of Social Policy, 2020 | settler colonial studies blog

Undoing settler colonialism is not easy: Eva Jewell, Andrea Doucet, Jessica Falk, Susan Fyke, ‘Social Knowing, Mental Health, and the Importance of Indigenous Resources: A Case Study of Indigenous Employment Engagement in Southwestern Ontario’, Canadian Review of Social Policy, 2020

15Dec20

Abstract: This article addresses employment/unemployment engagement experiences of Indigenous peoples living in a region of present-day southwestern Ontario, as well as the wider socioeconomic, cultural, and historical contexts of those experiences. The qualitative research study that informs this paper was conducted with and at the request of an Indigenous organization in southwestern Ontario with the aim of broadening understandings of the multiple factors that lead to disadvantages amongst Indigenous peoples living in a settler-colonial neoliberal society. Based on focus groups/sharing circles with 21 Indigenous youth and adults and interviews with local employers in southwestern Ontario, our study reveals that when Indigenous peoples have access to cultural knowing, critical Indigenous education opportunities, and strong support networks, they are better able to access and advocate for employment opportunities and their well-being. Yet, they face challenges in navigating these resources and spaces due to what Kristie Dotson (2014) refers to as ‘epistemic oppression’, issues related to poverty, mental health, and intergenerational trauma, all of which are intricately connected to settler colonialism and Canadian Federal Indian Policy. Overall, Indigenous organizations provide urban communities with pathways to, and respite from, neoliberal societal expectations.

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