| Summary: | The purpose of the present research was to explore the political underpinnings that shape the meaning that native child welfare workers give to their work. This was achieved with the use of a participatory research model that combines group interviews (sharing circle) with ethnography as a means of data analysis. The resulting narratives have suggested that the meaning native child welfare workers attribute to their work emerges from their community and the provincial structures that legislate and define child welfare policies, two sources, composed of various sub-systems, that often share polarized values and ideologies in matters of child welfare. This struggle is further complicated by the cultural relevance of child welfare services in the debate surrounding sovereignty and colonialism. It is suggested that more attention be given to understanding this meaning and how this process must originate from the community if indeed the deriving services are to be both culturally relevant and community based.
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