Ó£»¨Ó°ÊÓ

Topic

Coloniality of Pain and Decolonial Pain Care: Examining the Effects of Colonial Violence on Chronic Pain Through Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw Women’s Experiences

School of Social Work

Date & location

• Wednesday, May 21, 2025
• 9:30 A.M.
• Virtual Defence

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Mehmoona Moosa-Mitha, School of Social Work, Ó£»¨Ó°ÊÓ (Supervisor)
• Dr. Cindy Holmes, School of Social Work, UVic (Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Helen Brown, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Daniel German, Department of Computer Science, UVic

Abstract

Recently, pain studies have begun to acknowledge the biopsychosocial nature of chronic pain with an increased emphasis on the social and structural factors contributing to pain. In particular, studies have identified relationships between chronic pain and intersecting structural oppressions such as systemic violence and racism created by heteropatriarchal settler-colonialism. However, few research studies on pain have examined how systemic colonial violence affects Indigenous women’s experiences of chronic pain, and its correlation to pain care inequities. Centring the experiential knowledge of five cisgender Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw women participants and situated within Indigenous decolonial feminist theories, this qualitative community-based participatory research study addressed the questions: how does colonial violence and trauma interact with physical pain? What were participants’ recommendations for decolonizing pain care? The participants described reciprocal interactions between pain and colonial violence and trauma; emotional pain; fatigue; and substance use. Their stories illustrated how their experiences of systemic gendered and racialized violence were closely connected to the onset and development of chronic pain. Participants also explained how chronic pain experiences were exacerbated by anti-Indigenous racism and the white-centric healthcare practices that discredited and pathologized their narratives of pain. Participants recommended decolonizing pain care by addressing structural injustices and care inequities. Cultural revitalization was considered foundational to decolonizing pain care by fostering healing that affirmed Indigeneity and the right to self-determination at multiple levels, while enhancing relational approaches to health and healing. Addressing anti-Indigenous racism is an urgent step towards decolonial pain care. Finally, decolonial pain care should encompass biopsychosocial as well as cultural and spiritual aspects through multidisciplinary care provisions.