Introducing the Special Theme Issue Examining Allyship with Indigenous Peoples

We are delighted to present this special issue of the Canadian Social Work Review focused on the critical examination of allyship and its relevance and complexities in relation with Indigenous peoples. Allyship is not a new concept to social work. Indeed, it has been present in social work programs for decades. The concept of allyship with Indigenous peoples has also been present, sometimes using other terms, and often through the leadership of Indigenous social work scholars. Although it has not necessarily been a primary focus of their scholarship, Indigenous scholars have often sought to educate social work students to become allies to Indigenous peoples, and many non-Indigenous social work scholars have been influenced by their teachings. For example, Elizabeth has been influenced by the teachings of Michael Anthony Hart both inside and outside of the classroom, and Kathy Absolon has influenced the learning of many non-Indigenous peoples through Wilfred Laurier’s Centre for Indigegogy which she founded. The Centre for Indigegogy is situated in the MSW Indigenous Field of Study at Laurier, and it offers professional development and training grounded in Indigenous “culture, traditions, anti-colonialism, decolonizing and Indigenizing knowledges…pathways of unlearning and re-learning toward transformation,” including a solidarity module (Wilfred Laurier University, 2024). Further, Raven Sinclair delivered a 2023 keynote address for the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers in which she critiqued performative allyship and held up “Indigenous knowledge and ethics as a philosophical framework against which allyship can be critiqued and potentially transformed as an act of decolonization” (NSCSW, 2024). These are a few notable examples, but the unsung work of Indigenous social work scholars educating social work students and others about allyship with Indigenous peoples often occurs in everyday ways. This special issue is co-edited by both an Indigenous and a non-Indigenous scholar, each deeply committed to the work of decolonization. Marlyn Bennett, an Anishinaabe woman from Sandy Bay Ojibway Nation, has spent most of her life on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As an Anishinaabe Ikwe, she is connected to the land of her birth on Treaty 1, which sits at the crossroads of the Anishinaabeg, Ininew, Anishininew, Dakota, Inuit, and Dene Nations, and is also the homeland of the Red River Métis people. Her ancestors have lived on Turtle Island since time immemorial, representing thousands of generations rooted in this land. Marlyn now resides in Calgary and is a guest on the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprising the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta (Districts 5 and 6). Marlyn’s interdisciplinary scholarship focuses on the lived experiences of Indigenous women and youth, particularly within the child welfare system, employing narrative inquiry and arts-based research. Through her research, she is committed to decolonization and fostering allyship with Indigenous peoples, using relational approaches that challenge colonial structures and promote Indigenous self-determination. Marlyn, in her capacity as an Indigenous editor with the Canadian Social Work Review journal, invited Elizabeth to guest co-edit this special issue due to their shared commitment to decolonization and their long-standing professional and personal connection. Having met during their PhD studies at the University of Manitoba, where they developed a deep mutual respect through courses and collaborative work, Marlyn recognized Liz’s expertise in exploring the roles of non-Indigenous peoples in decolonization and Treaty implementation. They later worked together in the Master of Social Work based in the Indigenous Knowledge (MSW-IK) program at the University of Manitoba. Liz’s scholarship, which critically examines these issues alongside her …