Indigenous Mental Health Diploma (IMHD)

Blackfoot 100 is an introduction to spoken Blackfoot language. This course will provide a forum for students to speak in conversations within a real setting through everyday situations and activities. Course assignments and activities will assist in the development of skills to listen, read, write, and speak in Blackfoot. The students will use everyday surroundings and activities to become consciously aware using Kakyosin to speak the language Ihpipotosp.

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This course is an introductory level survey of the methods and findings of modern scientific psychology.The goal is to provide students with an overview of various topic domains within the realm of psychology. These will include topic such as: behaviour, psychological concepts from the levels of the brain (biological factors), body, the individual (beliefs, desires, and feelings), and the group (social, cultural, and environmental factors). Students will have an opportunity to become familiar with these concepts and discuss comparisons in past and present Blackfoot culture.The students will learn how to organize and integrate topics within the chapters and actively apply traditional and modern-day psychology to their lives. Students will examine and critically reflect upon the historical and present-day societal issues that influence how one interacts within their social, emotional, physical and cultural environments.Students are encouraged and expected to apply critical thinking to the concepts being taught in material and Indigenous practices of support and healing to their studies.

Students will learn to write texts that reflect the expectations of their specific fields of study. The course will focus on processes that help students present their ideas in a clear prose style. The Blackfoot responsibility of Akisistoiypaittapiisinni (to be independently resourceful and employ critical thinking skills) will be expected and further developed throughout this course. Students will develop an appreciation for Indigenous writers and understand the challenges and conflicts that resulted from the colonial practices which have severely negatively impacted Indigenous people. Through this course, several skills will be developed, which will benefit students in all areas of their education. Proper formal writing is a necessity in all areas of continuing education. In learning to write formally, research, and analyze literary works, students will strive to develop problem-solving and thinking skills, communicate effectively both written and verbally, learn lifelong strategies of time management and complete tasks both independently and as a product of group collaboration.

This course will explore the socio-political challenges of Indigenous communities which have been shaped by a historical colonial relationship within Canadian society. These influences shape the landscape of the contemporary social, cultural, political and economic issues which are experienced by the First Nations Peoples in Canada. The course will focus on the exploration of these relationships and will be framed through an Indigenous paradigm specifically the Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) and Kainai with a critical perspective.

Euro-centered concepts have been applied to Niitsitapi Indigenous peoples and subsequently have socially reconstructed and altered the reality of Indigenous peoples. Often concepts embroil Indigenous people in a power relationship that is intended to dehumanize and despiritualize Indigenous cultures and peoples (Ani, 1994, p. 478-479). Power and superiority fundamentally govern relationships within the Euro centered worldview. As a consequence, theories and research become primarily reactionary responses, often supporting the existing power relationships inherent in such hierarchical worldview.

This course will introduce students to what it means to be an indigenous person in the context of collective wellness through ceremonial activities that promote balance and wellness. Students will be introduced to cultural protocols to explore their relevance to community wellness. The course will be delivered through the application of traditional Indigenous pedagogical approaches for the transfer of ancestral oral knowledge. Students will also engage in activities that promote the understanding of their experience through their active participation with the natural and cosmological relationships.

This course will introduce students to the fundamental theories and areas in the field of sociology. In addition to classical theories and contemporary perspectives, the course will also address a wide variety of topics, including the different meanings attributed to the notion of culture, socialization, social interactions, groups and organizations, social stratification, race and ethnicity, family, religion, urbanization, and social change, among others.Intertwining the sociological imagination with an Indigenous paradigm (specifically: the Siksikaitsipi and Kainai worldviews), the course will support critical thinking and the process of analyzing the relationship between Indigenous experiences and Western culture and society. The students will develop skills to challenge prejudiced social assumptions, and they will discuss analytical frameworks that are helpful to think about social challenges from within the context of Indigenous communities.

This course contributes to the exploration of the foundational elements of Indigenous approaches to wellness. Health is a consciousness that merges with the greater world and cosmos, it is the spiritual nature of humanity that aligns Indigenous people with the sacred. Students will explore the healing practices of kinship systems and other community approaches for health through the following practices:

1. Aatsimoyihkaan (Ceremony)

2. Kimmapiiypitsinni (Compassion and Kindness)

3. Innakotsiiysinni (Respect)

4. Isspommaanitapiiysinni (Supporting collectively)

5. Ao’ahkannaistokawa (In Balance)

6. Ihkanaitapstsiwa (Inherent responsibility)

7. Pommotsiiysinni (Transfer of knowledge)

8. Kakyosin (Awareness)

Throughout the course students will engage in these practices to explore their ontological responsibilities, the application of indigenous science, establish mentoring relationships with healers, Elders, Scientists and reflect on their own connection to health through the teachings.

Through the exploration of indigenous relational responsibilities, students will identify and integrate these responsibilities as the basis for ethical decision-making.Relational responsibilities include respect, bravery, sharing, courage, honesty, introspection, kindness and compassion, and gratitude. Drawing upon these concepts’ students will explore their ethical connections to the alignment of ceremony and protocol. Throughout the course students will be invited to engage in self-reflection as they develop personal ethical practices that contribute to their collective health of families and communities.

This course is an exploration of the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of Indigenous cultures and their relationship to the land. It is based on the recovery and revitalization of Indigenous knowledge and its relationship to sacred space. Blackfoot territory has a variety of sacred sites; students will engage in coming to know these sites through the stories, virtual visitation of sacred site. The course will provide the opportunity to connect holistically through the Niitsitapi narratives of these scared spaces’ stories, the language which informs relational responsibilities, and the wisdom traditional approaches which revitalize and renew relationships with these sacred sites. The course is relevant to current traditional land use and occupancy studies in archaeology, anthropology, international development, tourism, and ethno-tourism. Students will understand the conflictual approaches of western culture and society toward land use and resource developmentLearners will be engaged through class lectures, eminent scholars, and oral narratives of sites, and video and on-site visitation. Students are expected to share and make contributions to the course through presentations and circle discussions.

This course will explore concepts that strengthen the participants’ understanding and appreciation of the Blackfoot practice of Innistisinni, peace-making. We will discuss how responsibilities and ethics are observed as natural laws for developing social conduct and defining appropriate and inappropriate behaviour boundaries. We will analyze the impact of harmony and peace within the social order and healthy relationships. This course advances studies in Indigenous knowledge, epistemology, cosmology, ontology, and pedagogy to understand natural law as a way of life and a part of life processes that can lead to health and social harmony for the community. We will learn from stories, ceremony, language, and ontological responsibilities as processes for counselling. We will approach culture as the compass to reach peaceful agreements and develop problem-solving skills to restore good relations. Finally, this course will explore Indigenous paradigms, structures, and processes as entry points to translate Blackfoot concepts for practical applications and mediation processes for conflict resolution.

Social Work 100 is an introductory course to Indigenous Social Work Practice and competency in the community. Students will explore the nature of social work in Canada and how colonial policy and practice impact Indigenous People. Students will assess a variety of theoretical approaches and selected fields of practice and explore the structural forces which impact the well-being of people, families, communities, and other forms of life. Through class discussions, readings, guest speakers and course assignments students will examine the philosophical foundations of Indigenous healing practices and mainstream forms of social work. Students will be encouraged to engage in Indigenous ceremonies and teachings by Eminent Scholars about our Indigenous ways of knowing to connect to traditional healing social structures and healing practices to restore collective healing and well-being. Throughout the course, students will be invited to seek further knowledge and skills through assignments to enhance their self-awareness and investigate how their personal values, beliefs and experiences may inform their future social work practice.

Indigenous peoples who have oral traditions, sacred narratives are the source of their wisdom traditions which are transmitted principally by oral and ceremonial means. Oral traditions are the narratives about prior worlds, when communications between humans and other-than-human beings (animals, spirits, and deities) were normal.These narratives provide conscious connections to the origins of their cultural practices by capturing the most important concerns of a people, and they help preserve the culture's integrity. People understand their world is through the "narrative mode" of thought, which is concerned with human wants, needs, and goals contextualized in specific cultures. The narrative mode deals with the dynamics of human intentions; narratives seek to explain events by looking at how human actors strive to do things over time.The course will focus on the narratives of cosmological stories of the sky beings and the natural alliances from which the Blackfoot people identify a common way of life. The wisdom of these narratives provides order for their world and a social organization of interdependence and interconnections ensuring ethical and moral behavior, while providing the safety that everything have a place.The course is an opportunity for participants to gain increased familiarity with core cosmological stories in the Blackfoot tradition, exploring the wisdom of the stories which have a deep connection to their philosophical, theoretical, practical applications.

This course offers an introduction to the field of addictions. Students will learn about contemporary concepts and issues with an emphasis on addictions in First Nation Communities. The course will cover three broad areas of addiction studies:
1) contemporary issues, models, and theories of addictions;
2) specific addictive behaviors; and
3) strategies and treatment approaches for dealing with addictions at the individual, group, and community level.

This has raised in my mind the strong suspicion that the optimal helping relationship is the kind of relationship created by a person who is psychologically mature. Or to put it another way, the degree to which I can create relationships which facilitate the growth of others as separate persons is a measure of the growth, I have achieved in myself. In some respects, this is a disturbing thought, but it is also a promising or challenging one. It would indicate that if I am interested in creating helping relationships I have a fascinating lifetime job ahead of me, stretching and developing my potentialities in the direction of growth. (Rogers, 1961, p. 56).Counselors must be models for promoting the acceptance of diversity and for encouraging others to not only be culturally sensitive, but also fight discrimination and racism. All people are capable of change from day to day and from situation to situation, but counselors who work with people from different cultures have a unique opportunity to act as agents of change. (France, 2004, p. 26).

The goal of this course is for students to learn about the sociological perspective on health and wellness within Canadian and global contexts. In addition, the student will be introduced to and will examine the relationship between social organizations and health; social constructions and meanings of health; and social epidemiology. Further, the student will be introduced to health beliefs and behavior, and the experience of illness from a Canadian, global and First Nations perspective.

This course will introduce students to the social perceptions of deviance, social reactions to deviance, and the depiction of deviance by the media. We will pay special attention to the contexts where the tension between what is considered “deviant” and what is considered "normal" becomes apparent. These spaces of interaction include, but are not limited to, the field of sexuality, the world of the youth, physical appearance, mental health, religion, science, among others.Through readings, presentations, and multimedia materials, the students will be encouraged to engage in both the sociological study of deviance and Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) knowledge on social norms, spirituality, and Indigenous science. The course will support critical thinking and analysis of the relationship between Indigenous experiences and western culture and society.

Psychology 211 introduces students to the major phenomena, methods, theories, and findings of Developmental Psychology, especially as they apply to infancy and childhood. Through in-class lectures, discussions and quizzes, the students will develop a better understanding of how children develop. Parents, caretakers, and teachers will be able to use this knowledge to support a child’s development and learning processes.

In this course, students will explore the longstanding jurisdictional policymaking that is oppressive. Eurocentric ideologies will be compared with Indigenous philosophies as a framework for analyzing current health crisis in Indigenous communities. Through significant readings that shape the current unparalleled health concerns, students will be involved in an analysis of Indigenous governance and self-determination as a foundation to Indigenous wellbeing. The concept of cultural continuity will explore the social, cultural, and spiritual foundations of Indigenous health systems. The exploration will include the collective wellness as it relates to Indigenous worldviews, ontologies, ceremonies, kinships, decision -making and an inclusive social system (the community/nation /cosmos).

Learners will gain an in-depth understanding of Indigenous knowledge as it relates to global and Canadian wellness efforts, mainly through language revitalization, ecological consciousness, spiritual and ceremonial practices, and community capacity building. Weekly readings, in-class discussions, and assignments will prepare learners to integrate global Indigenous knowledge and local Blackfoot knowledge into a framework to foster wellness within their community.