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From left to right: HPU Bachelor of Social Work Program Chair and Associate Professor Vince Okada, Ph.D., CEO of the Council on Social Work Education and former HPU Dean Halaevalu Vakalahi, Ph.D., HPU Assistant Professor of Social Work Tammy Martin, Ph.D., HPU Professor of Social Work Peter Mataira, Ph.D., and Vice Provost of Indigenous Engagement at the University of Calgary and conference organizer/host Michael Hart, Ph.D .
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Conference participants who visited Wood's Homes, a children's mental health center, are pictured after the sacred Sweat Lodge ceremony held at the site.
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A picture from an opening event for the conference hosted by members of the First Nations of Canada from the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta. This included the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut'ina First Nation, the Stoney Nakoda (Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley First Nations), as well as representatives from the Inuit and the Metis Nation of Alberta.
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HPU faculty Vince Okada (right) is with his co-presenter from Koko Kinjo, Japan, who is an Okinawan yuta (traditional healer) and Ainu animal communicator.
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HPU faculty Peter Mataira, Ph.D., presents.
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HPU faculty member Tammy Martin, Ph.D., presents.
Peter Mataira, Ph.D., Tammy Martin, Ph.D., and Vince Okada, Ph.D.—Hawai'i Pacific University professors from the School of Social Work—attended and presented at the 7th International Indigenous Voices in Social Work (IIVSW) Conference, held in Calgary, Canada, from August 11 to August 15.
The conference was hosted by the First Nations of the area—including the peoples of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta: the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut'ina First Nation, the Stoney Nakoda (Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley First Nations), as well as the Inuit and Metis Nation of Alberta—in partnership with the University of Calgary Faculty of Social Work. It brought together more than 500 Indigenous and non-Indigenous social workers, scholars, community leaders, elders, and youth from around the world. The gathering served as a platform to unite and share knowledge, values, practices, traditions, and cultures.
The first IIVSW Conference was held in Mākaha, Hawai'i, in 2007. Mataira has served on the conference committee since its inception. The conference is affiliated with the Journal of Indigenous Social Development (Indigenous Voices in Social Work), on whose editorial board both Mataira and Okada serve.
Hawai'i was also represented by Aunty Lynette Paglinawan, a highly respected kupuna, who attended and generously shared her wisdom with the gathering. HPU’s former College of Health and Society Dean and current president and CEO of the Council on Social Work Education, Halaevalu Vakalahi, Ph.D., was one of the keynote speakers at the conference.
