Indigenous Family Structure It’ s Complicated BY CAROLYN CAMILLERI ahkakew Larocque, RCC, looking at the world that is apparent even has been adopted many in the most casual interactions. times by families in the B.C. For example, in conversation, the communities within which question “Where are you from?” leads to he works — and not in that “Who are you from?” K“they’re just like family” way used to “They’re looking for the family group. describe close, longtime friends. Once they find the family, then they’ll know “I have several mothers here, and there’s how you are related,” says Larocque. “These “If your dad and my no question, they’re my mothers and their could be people you’ve never met or heard dad were brothers, children are my siblings,” he says. “I’m not of in your life, and they suddenly become you are not my first a tribal member, and I’m not a biological your immediate relations.” family member, but that relationship will Taken one step farther, how you’re cousin, you are my never end.” related to someone dictates your role sister, and your The law of kinship says you are related and your behaviour. For example, a man children are my somehow to everyone and everything in wouldn’t speak directly to his wife’s mother, children, they’re the human world, the spiritual world, the particularly in her home. Instead he speaks animal world, and the natural or plant to her through her daughter (his wife), not my nieces world. It’s a strongly collective way of even when they are sitting in the same and nephews.” room. And quite often, he wouldn’t sit in the VaRIatIONS ON TRADITIONS same room as her as a sign of respect. Nor would A treaty member of Alberta’s Frog Lake Cree Indigenous he speak critically of her, even to a counsellor. Nation, Larocque grew up off and on a reserve, “In the Cree and Ojibwe cultures, the woman in foster care, and at residential and day school. is the keeper of the home, the woman is in As a counsellor, he has worked with more than QuICk TIPS charge of raising children, and there’s a lot of 75 First Nations communities and agencies, from AND Family Structure respect for her.” RESOuRCES a detox centre in Edmonton in the 1980s to his In another example, siblings of parents are ▼ own practice in B.C.’s Cariboo region since 1991. aunts and uncles in colonial culture, but in He is currently completing a doctorate in clinical It’ s Complicated Indigenous culture, they are second parents. The extended psychology. “They’re your second mother or father, and family is very active He prefers to work on the front line as an and relationships BY CAROLYN CAMILLERI they have as much right as your biological parents may cross. For outpatient therapist. to speak to you, interact with you, and even example, cousins “I’ve been through what they’re experiencing deal with you when you need to be confronted are considered — I was raised in it — and we can talk about it and sisters and brothers. I know exactly what they mean,” says Larocque. or challenged,” he says. “And they are your Everyone older children’s grandparents, not your children’s great- than you is an And yet even with a shared background, aunt and uncle.” aunt or uncle or a Larocque says sometimes what he knows about “If your dad and my dad were brothers, you grandmother or kinship cannot be applied because the client’s grandfather. The idea are not my first cousin, you are my sister, and is that everyone is experience is different. Sometimes, there is your children are my children, they’re not my related ... eventually. resistance because he comes from a different tribe. nieces and nephews,” he says to clarify further. Larocque calls it an “Indian Act mentality of us With that change in title, there is a change in Confidentiality or versus them” and aims instead for neutrality. establishing next of role and an increase in responsibility. kin gets complicated “My attitude is we’re just one Indigenous “When [counsellors] don’t have an when the need to nation with many families,” he says. “I don’t really understanding of this system, it can be very inform is necessary. push my approach; I work with similar meanings Family trees are confusing because there are so many people always helpful if and use a lot of metaphors.” involved. Everybody has lots of relations.” done in the first In other words, he finds common ground and It can also be frustrating keeping track few sessions. builds on it. of the relationships and the dynamics of the Additionally, colonization may have been Practices that can relationships related to the issues brought into make the counselling experienced in a different way, which creates issues therapy. experience more on many levels. For example, Larocque is from “You also can’t be really certain and aware of positive include the Treaty 6 region of Alberta and Saskatchewan, smudging, sweats, a region he believes has retained more traditional the strengths that those relationships provide to prayers, and that client,” says Larocque. drumming. family culture than communities in B.C. have. While asking questions seems a sensible “Other treaty areas are similar but not as approach for a non-Indigenous counsellor, it can Following the authentic, and as you get into British Columbia, recommendations you see remnants of it and similarities, but it backfire. in the Trauma- “One of the biggest issues or concerns I’ve Informed Practices doesn’t adhere as much to the roles that exist always heard and continue to hear from First (TIP) Guide can help within that traditional structure.” Nations clients is they’re really frustrated that in understanding Larocque attributes these differences largely to historical and they spend a lot of their time educating therapists intergenerational assimilation. about our people, about our ways of being, about grief. The TIP “Elders have told me over the years, by the our history. It’s like the counsellor is getting paid guide is available time the churches and the government got to for download at to be educated,” says Larocque. http://bccewh. British Columbia, they had figured out absolutely These clients didn’t come to treatment to bc.ca/wp-content/ every way to destroy our traditional systems. The teach someone — they came for a nurturing uploads/2012/05/ residential schools, the reserve system, the Indian 2013_TIP-Guide.pdf. space in which to talk about where they are at Act, the boarding schools, et cetera.” COURTESY OF LAURA RHODES, with someone who understands. RCC, WHO WORKS WITH Another difference: in Larocque’s ancestral NORTHERN ST’AT’IMC OUTREACH Consequently, Kahkakew Larocque is a very HEALTH SERVICES AND territory, many of his ancestors escaped the “Indian VOLUNTEERS WITH THE LILLOOET busy man. FRIENDSHIP CENTRE. agents” by going into the bush and to the traplines INSIGHTS MAGAZINE 29 — as he puts it, “They “It’s a tough goal didn’t get everybody.” In because you’re fighting southern Saskatchewan, against the ongoing southern Alberta, and impact. Our people are PHSA ONLINE most of British Columbia, TRAININg very assimilated, and a lot however, nearly everybody of them live a lifestyle, me San’yas Indigenous was placed in residential Cultural Safety included to a certain extent, schools. (ICS) Training is where we’re used to the “And if they didn’t get an online program benefits of non-Indigenous them in the residential delivered by the society,” he says. schools, they got them PHSA. Core ICS At the same time, there with the day schools on Mental Health is much resentment. includes the the reserves. And if they “Colonialism is like this foundation program didn’t get them then, they plus two modules giant sore that just won’t got them with the child- for counsellors heal, and now our people welfare ‘Sixties Scoop.’” working with have found many ways to His own community Indigenous people. keep it from healing and was impacted, but not as www.sanyas.ca just festering because it severely. works for them. It works “That’s why I believe for them to stay unhealthy, [Cree] language is still so strong and and it’s a real game.” [Cree] cultural practices are stronger Looking ahead, Larocque says we and that’s why that system remains need more Indigenous counsellors. healthier than what I see in other parts.” While he is currently on the First Thus, assimilation has deteriorated Nations Health Authority (FNHA) knowledge of family structure and list of approved therapists, there are responsibilities — even the names for only a few on that list who are of First ”And if they didn’t get the roles have been lost with the loss Nations ancestry. A long-term goal is an of language. As a result, Larocque sees Indigenous mental-health association in them in the residential a hybrid version of kinship in B.C., Canada. schools, they got them especially among younger people. “A lot of the people I work with in with the day schools “People in B.C. who are distant Indian Country don’t understand the cousins with one another may call each requirements and accreditation. To them, on the reserves. And other brother and sister, or they’ll call they’ve got this degree, but what does if they didn’t get them someone auntie, when, really, it’s their it mean? The Indigenous culture and then, they got them grandmother or their second mom.” community needs to be more part of the with the child-welfare Again, Larocque approaches these treatment-planning process.” variations from a neutral perspective.