Using Indigenous Principles to Address Lateral Violence in the Workplace: Cree literature, Wetiko legal principles, and Saskatchewan Occupational Health and Safety

My doctoral research is about the application of Cree legal principles to conflict management and lateral violence resolution in multicultural work environments. It is based on using contemporary Cree literature to identify Cree legal orders, principles, and laws that can be used to develop Occupational Health and Safety policies for workplaces with mixed Indigenous, settler, and new immigrant staff. I contend that doing this will counteract and balance the existing Judeo-Christian concepts of health, safety, justice, and law that are currently embedded in Euro-Western Occupational Health and Safety legislation and policies. Furthermore, I argue that developing workplace polices based on Cree legal orders and concepts contributes to reconciliation in Canada (Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 2015).
My primary research question stems from the proposition that Cree legal principles can be used to develop Occupational Health and Safety policies for conflict management and lateral violence resolution in a multicultural workplace. My research question is: how can Cree legal principles be used and in what areas of Occupational Health and Safety? In essence, I am asking: what does Cree-based conflict management and lateral violence resolution look and feel like in a workplace? My overall research framework is wahkohtowin (relationship [Wolvengrey, 2001, p. 232]. My theoretical approach draws on a number of theories related to the study of power dynamics and colonial-Indigenous relationships (Bartlett, Marshall & Marshall, 2012; Ermine, 2007; Freire, 1970). My primary research methodology is applying the case briefing method (Friedland, 2018; Friedland & Napoleon, 2015-2016; Johnson & Groft, 2017) to selected Cree literature in order to identify Wetiko legal principles (Friedland, 2018). My positionality as a Cree woman grounds my research process and approaches.
Most Recent Conference Presentations:
Million, T. (2021, June 7-11). “Finding contemporary understandings of Wetiko legal principles in Cree and Anishinaabe literature” [Paper presentation]. Indigenous Literary Studies Association conference, virtual.