Creating Culturally Safe Spaces for Indigenous Populations – Turquoise Skye Devereaux, MSW

Episode 59
Guest: Turquoise Skye Devereaux, MSW
Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW

Turquoise Skye Devereaux, a Salish and Blackfeet educator, consultant, and PhD student, discusses how colonial systems continue to harm Indigenous Peoples through education and social work. She breaks down the four stages of colonization, critiques the concept of cultural competency, and highlights the importance of creating culturally safe spaces. Drawing from her personal experience and interviews with Indigenous students, Turquoise offers concrete examples of what inclusion can—and should—look like. This episode calls on educators and practitioners to challenge colonial norms and commit to equity and Indigenous liberation.

In this episode:

• Colonial systems and the four stages of colonization
• Why cultural competency is a myth rooted in a Westernized, colonial mentality
• Differences between Indigenous and Westernized worldviews and ways of living
• How education and social work have caused — and continue to cause — harm to Indigenous Peoples
• Concrete ways to create culturally safe spaces for Indigenous populations

Instagram indigenous.cc & cahokiaphx
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/turquoisedevereaux
Email t.s.devereaux@gmail.com

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Music credit
"District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/