Disability as a Colonial Construct: The Missing Discourse of Culture in Conceptualizations of Disabled Indigenous Children

Authors

  • Nicole Ineese-Nash Nicole Ineese-Nash, MA PhD Student, OISE, University of Toronto, Research Associate, Schools of Early Childhood and Child and Youth Care Ryerson University 

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v9i3.645

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of disability through a critical disability lens to understand how Indigenous ontologies are positioned within the dominant discourse of disabled peoples in Canada. This paper draws on the inherent knowledge of Indigenous (predominantly Anishinaabek) communities through an integration of story and relational understandings from Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, and community members. Indigenous perspectives paired with academic literature illustrate the dichotomous viewpoints that position Indigenous peoples, most often children, as ‘disabled’ within mainstream institutions, regardless of individual designation. Such positioning suggests that the label of disability is a colonial construct that conflicts with Indigenous perspectives of community membership and perpetuates assimilation practices which maintain colonial harm.

Author Biography

Nicole Ineese-Nash, Nicole Ineese-Nash, MA PhD Student, OISE, University of Toronto, Research Associate, Schools of Early Childhood and Child and Youth Care Ryerson University 

Nicole Ineese-Nash, MA
PhD Student, OISE
University of Toronto
Research Associate, Schools of Early Childhood and Child and Youth Care Ryerson University 

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Published

2020-09-26

How to Cite

Ineese-Nash, N. (2020). Disability as a Colonial Construct: The Missing Discourse of Culture in Conceptualizations of Disabled Indigenous Children. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 9(3), 28–51. https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v9i3.645

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 3 (2020): Sites and Shapes of Transinstitutionalization

Section

Articles

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