Scenario #7: Supporting an Individual with Behaviours of Concern
Mika, a Métis youth worker, is supporting Elijah, a 17-year-old Indigenous high school student who has been suspended repeatedly for behaviour labelled as aggressive by school staff. Elijah lives with his grandmother, a residential school survivor, and carries generational trauma that manifests in anxiety, distrust of authority, and withdrawal. When Mika speaks with Elijah, she listens deeply and validates his experience, recognizing how colonial legacies like the residential school system and systemic discrimination continue to shape Elijah’s daily life. She challenges school staff to look beyond stereotypes and see how Elijah is being racialized and punished for behaviours rooted in survival and trauma.
Mika encourages the school to adopt trauma-informed and culturally grounded approaches and facilitates a talking circle that includes Elijah’s grandmother, where she shares her story and opens a dialogue about healing and reconciliation. Mika also works with Elijah to explore his Métis identity through cultural programming focused on resurgence, land-based learning, and traditional knowledge. Together, they talk about the economic barriers faced by Indigenous communities, stemming from global and colonial systems that have historically excluded Indigenous peoples from land, resources, and education. Mika advocates for equity-based supports within the school and helps Elijah access mentorship and mental health services grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing. Through this, Mika practices decolonization not just as an idea, but as active resistance to systemic erasure. She does this by helping rebuild identity, reclaim space, and centre Indigenous culture and values in systems that often ignore them.
Reflective questions
- How does the long-term impact of residential schools show up in Elijah’s life, and how is Mika responding in a trauma-informed and culturally respectful way?
- What examples of systemic discrimination and racialization are evident in Elijah’s experience at school, and how might these be addressed through reconciliation and inclusion efforts?
- How can community workers actively support decolonization and resurgence in their everyday practice with Indigenous clients and communities?
- What colonial or global economic systems continue to create barriers for Indigenous youth today, and how can equity and cultural inclusion be used to begin dismantling them?
