Conversations on Music, Allyship, and Reconciliation with Indigenous Music Therapists in Canada
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v26i2.4529Schlagworte:
allyship, indigenous, reconciliation, music therapyAbstract
This study aims to connect discourses about allyship and reconciliation to music therapy by centring the voices of Indigenous practitioners. Canada is working toward reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and aspiring allyship is a way to guide this pursuit both in general and in therapy settings. Music therapy researchers have discussed components of allyship through explorations of anti-oppressive practice, social justice, and cultural competence, but this field of scholarship is continuing to emerge. In this study, the experiences and stories of three Indigenous music therapists in Canada are analyzed within narrative inquiry and phenomenological frameworks. Data represent the personal stories, perspectives, and lived experiences of these practitioners related to the dimensions of allyship. A co-developed framework for allyship emerged that includes becoming informed, advocacy, listening and openness, collaboration and relationship, accountability, reflexivity, words and actions, and individual and community contexts. Building on this framework, the co-authors discuss allyship’s congruences with therapeutic skills and music therapy contexts to build opportunities for reconciliation in Canada.
Literaturhinweise
Abolson, K. E. (Minogiizhigokwe). (2011). Kaandossiwin how we come to know. Fernwood Publishing.
Ahonen, H. (2018). ‘Self as instrument’–Safe and effective use of self in music psychotherapy: Canadian music therapists’ perceptions. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.56883/aijmt.2019.211
Alliance for Justice. (2013). What is advocacy? Definitions and examples. https://afj.org/resource/what-is-advocacy/
Archibald, J., Lee-Morgan, J., & de Santolo, J. (Eds.) (2019). Decolonizing research: Indigenous storywork as methodology. ZED Books Ltd.
Archibald, L., Dewar, J., Reid, C., & Stevens, V. (2012). Dancing, singing, painting, and speaking the healing story: Healing through creative arts. Aboriginal Healing Foundation.
Baines, S. (2013). Music therapy as an anti-oppressive practice. Arts in Psychotherapy, 40(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2012.09.003
Baines, S. (2021). Anti-oppressive music therapy: Updates and future considerations. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2021.101828.
Baines, S., & Edwards, J. (2015). Considering the ways in which anti-oppressive practice principles can inform health research. Arts in Psychotherapy, 42, 28–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2015.01.001
Barker, A. J. (2012). Already occupied: Indigenous peoples, settler colonialism and the occupy movements in North America. Social Movement Studies, 11(3–4), 327–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2012.708922
Behrendt, L. (2019). Indigenous storytelling: Decolonizing institutions and assertive selfdetermination–Implications for legal practice. In J. Archibald, J. B. J. Lee-Morgan, & J. de Santolo (Eds.), Decolonizing research: Indigenous storywork as methodology (pp. 175–186). Zed Books.
Bell, S. (2018). A music therapist’s self-reflection on her Indigenous heritage: A heuristic self-inquiry. Canadian Journal of Music Therapy, 24, 58–75.
Brown, K. T., & Ostrove, J. M. (2013). What does it mean to be an ally?: The perception of allies from the perspective of people of color. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(11), 2211–2222. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12172
Canadian Association of Music Therapists (CAMT). (2022). Code of ethics (Rev. ed.). https://www.musictherapy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CAMT-Code-of-EthicsFINAL-2022-EN.pdf
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). (2018). Tri-council policy statement: Research involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.
Canadian Press, The. (2022, May 18). Timeline of events since finding of unmarked graves in Kamloops. CTV News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/timeline-of-eventssince-finding-of-unmarked-graves-in-kamloops-1.5908292
Clandinin, J. (Ed.). (2007). Handbook of narrative inquiry: Mapping a methodology. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452226552
Colin, S. (2018, December 17). Music therapy: A first in Canada. Capilano University. https://www.capilanou.ca/about-capu/get-to-know-us/news/2018/title-86321-en.php
Dickson, C., & Watson, B. (2021, May 29). Remains of 215 children found buried at former B.C. residential school, First Nation says. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tk-emlúps-te-secwépemc-215-children-former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-1.6043778.
Eley, R. (2013). The potential effects of the didgeridoo as an indigenous intervention for Australian aborigines: A post analysis. Music and Medicine, 5(2), 84–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1943862113476306
Gibson, P. A. (2014). Extending the ally model of social justice to social work pedagogy. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 34(2), 199–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2014.890691
Gone, J. P. (2009). A community-based treatment for Native American historical trauma: Prospects for evidence-based practice. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77(4), 751–762. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015390
Gordon, S., Dowell, T., Fedchuk, D., Gardiner, T., Garrett, S., Hilder, J., Mathieson, F., Stubbe, M., & Tester, R. (2021). Reflections on allyship in the context of a co-produced evaluation of a youth-integrated therapies mental health intervention. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 18(4), 571–585. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1769240
Grzanka, P. R., Gonzalez, K. A., & Spanierman, L. B. (2019). White supremacy and counseling psychology: A critical–conceptual framework. Counseling Psychologist, 47(4), 478–529. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000019880843
Hadley, S., & Edwards, J. (2016). Narrative inquiry. In B. Wheeler & K. Murphy (Eds.), Music therapy research (3rd ed., pp. 840–855). Barcelona Publishers.
Hayward, A., Sjoblom, E., Sinclair, S., & Cidro, J. (2021). A new era of Indigenous research: Community-based Indigenous research ethics protocols in Canada. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 16(4), 403–417. https://doi.org/10.1177/15562646211023705
Heart, M. Y. H. B. (2003). The historical trauma response among natives and its relationship with substance abuse: A Lakota illustration. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 35(1), 7–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2003.10399988
Holloway, B. T., Atteberry-Ash, B., Kattari, L., Harrop, E., & Walls, N. E. (2022). Transgender and nonbinary activism among social work students in the US: The role of ally behavior and a critical orientation to social justice. Journal of Community Practice, 30(2), 181–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2022.2072990
Hutchings, S. (2021). Decolonise this space: Centring Indigenous peoples in music therapy practice. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 21(3), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v21i3.3350
Jenkins, T. (2009). Bottom line: A seat at the table that I set: Beyond social justice allies. About Campus, 14(5), 27–29. https://doi.org/10.1002/abc.305
Kenny, C. (2005). Narrative inquiry. In B. L. Wheeler (Ed.), Music therapy research (2nd ed., pp. 416–428). Barcelona Publishers.
Kenny, C. (2006a). Music and life in the field of play. Barcelona Publishers.
Kenny, C. (2017). Book Review: Unsettling the settler within: Indian residential schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in Canada. Canadian Journal of Music Therapy, 23, 99– 100.
Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations and contexts. University of Toronto Press.
Lindan, V. A. (2019). Beyond a socially just profession: Perspectives of music therapists in Canada. Canadian Journal of Music Therapy, 25, 22–49.
Marshall, M., Marshall, A., & Bartlett, C. (2015). Two-eyed seeing in medicine. In M. Greenwood, S. de Leeuw, & N. M. Lindsay (Eds.), Determinants of Indigenous peoples’ health in Canada: Beyond the social (2nd ed., pp. 16–24). Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Milken Institute of Public Health. (2020, November 5). Equity vs. equality: What’s the difference? The George Washington University. https://onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/equity-vs-equality/
Neuenfeldt, K. (1998). Good vibrations? The “curious” cases of the didjeridu in spectacle and therapy in Australia. The World of Music, 40(2), 29–51.
Peltier, C. (2018). An application of two-eyed seeing: Indigenous research methods with participatory action research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406918812346
Rogers, C. R. (1946). Significant aspects of client-centered therapy. The American Psychologist, 10(1), 415–422. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0060866
Rolvsjord, R. (2010). Resource-oriented music therapy in mental health care. Barcelona Publishers.
Schmidt, H. (2019). Indigenizing and decolonizing the teaching of psychology: Reflections on the role of the non-Indigenous ally. American Journal of Community Psychology, 64(1–2), 59–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12365
Sewepagaham, S., Bell, S., Dobrowolski, T., Gladu, S., & Baines, S. (2022). Uncovering colonialism in music therapy through Indigenous Canadian music therapists’ stories and anti-oppressive music therapy analysis. In The Colonialism and Music Therapy Interlocutors (CAMTI) Collective (Ed.), Colonialism and music therapy. Barcelona Publishers.
Smith, J., Puckett, C., & Simon, W. (2016). Indigenous allyship: An overview. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317181981
Sperry, L. (2010). Core competencies in counseling and psychotherapy: Becoming a highly competent and effective therapist. Routledge.
Stephenson, J. H. (Ed). (2024). Pitfalls and barriers of allyship at work. In Allyship in Organizations (pp. 97–127). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-64961-5_4
Stige, B. (2016). Culture-centered music therapy. In J. Edwards (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of music therapy (pp. 538–556). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199639755.013.1
Swiftwolfe, D. (2019). Indigenous ally toolkit. Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network.
Thorne, S. (2022). Moving beyond performative allyship. Nursing Inquiry, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12483
Truasheim, S. (2014). Cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults within Australian music therapy practices. Australian Journal of Music Therapy, 25, 135–147.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015a). Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to action. National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015b). What we have learned: Principles of truth and reconciliation. National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1–40.
van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. State University of New York Press.
Williams, K., & Abad, V. (2005). Reflections on music therapy with Indigenous families: Cultural learning put into practice. Australian Journal of Music Therapy, 16, 60–69.
Williams, M. T., Faber, S. C., & Duniya, C. (2022). Being an anti-racist clinician. Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1754470X22000162
Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing.
Downloads
Veröffentlicht
Zitationsvorschlag
Ausgabe
Rubrik
Lizenz
Copyright (c) 2026 Kaitlyn Kasha, Tiffany Sparrow Brulotte, Tatyana Dobrowolski, Tinaya Entz, Elizabeth Mitchell
Dieses Werk steht unter der Lizenz Creative Commons Namensnennung 4.0 International.
Articles published prior to 2019 are subject to the following license, see: https://voices.no/index.php/voices/copyright
