Child and youth care grad aims to strengthen aboriginal communities

Cathy Richardson wants to improve life for aboriginal children and families. "I’ve always been interested in movements of social justice," says Richardson, who graduates from UVic this month with a PhD in child and youth care.
"Before I was involved in Canadian aboriginal issues, I was active in other areas such as anti-poverty and the women’s movement."
Richardson completed her PhD in December and has since been named to a B.C. Innovation Research Chair in aboriginal early childhood development at Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo.
"That’s a huge honour for me," she says. "After experiencing the conditions for Métis children and families, I’m interested in contributing to cultural strengthening and serving all aboriginal groups to promote healing and well-being."

Richardson’s father was an English immigrant and her mother’s family is from Fort Chipewyan in northern Alberta.
After earning a master’s degree in counselling from UVic in 1998, she worked as a school counsellor for the First Nations education division in the Victoria school district. She also worked for Métis Community Services in Victoria, where she’s now a board member. She attended meetings with families and the Ministry of Children and Family Development, explained the families’ concerns, and helped to keep children connected with Métis culture.

Richardson’s dissertation was on the use of stories in preserving Métis culture for children and families. She concluded that children need to be raised with stories about their family and culture in order to feel strong and grounded, that Métis people need their own space to share stories and experience belonging, and that stories can be a form of resistance against oppression and transform personal experience into cultural experience.

At Malaspina, Richardson will be leading a research program on issues related to aboriginal child development and child care. She’ll also be strengthening links between aboriginal communities and the university-college.

10 June 2005

http://ring.uvic.ca/05jun09/features/richardson.html

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