Cary Waubanascum Hawpetoss

Dr. Cary Waubanascum joined the faculty in the fall, 2021 and teaches in both the MSW and BSW programs. She is a proud member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Wakeny^ta (Turtle Clan), with ancestral roots in the Menominee, Forest County Potawatomi, and Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Nations of Wisconsin. Cary and her husband Lance have built an amazing family including a son, daughter and many nephews. In July 2021 she earned her PhD from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in Mni Sota Makoce. Her dissertation titled, “This is how we show up for our relatives”: Understanding how Indigenous relative caregivers embody traditional kinship to resist the colonial child welfare system”, uncovered ongoing colonialism perpetuated by the modern child welfare system and how Indigenous relatives continue to reclaim and live their traditional kinship amidst ongoing colonialism. Her work seeks to identify ongoing colonialism and revitalize Indigenous lifeways within child welfare and social work. As a consultant with the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, she plans to use her research to address Indigenous erasure in child welfare and social work curriculum.

Before entering her Ph.D. program, she worked ten years as a social worker with Indigenous families and communities in Northeast Wisconsin and across Turtle Island. Her professional experiences include violence prevention educator at Golden House in Green Bay, social worker at Oneida Housing Authority, suicide prevention educator at the College of Menominee Nation, social worker with the Wisconsin Community Tribal Reentry Program, and tribal training and technical assistance provider with the National Criminal Justice Training Center, assisting tribes implement their alcohol and substance abuse programs.

Dr. Waubanascum currently serves as an Associate with the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking at the University of Minnesota – Duluth, an Advisory Committee member with the Native American Center for Health Professions at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and a mentor with the Menominee Nation Doctoral Student Support Group.

Education

B.A. Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI
M.S.W. University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
Ph.D. Social Work, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

Selected Publications

Waubanascum, C., Haight, W., Glesener, D., Day, P., Bussey, B., & Nichols, K. (2021). The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Students’ experiences of an Anishinaabe-centered social work education program [Manuscript submitted for publication]. School of Social Work, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

Johnston-Goodstar, K., Waubanascum, C., & Eubanks, D. (In Press). Human Services for Indigenous Futures. In Bauerkemper, J. & Webster, R. (Eds.), Tribal Administration Handbook.

Haight, W., Waubanascum, C., Glesener, D., Day, P., Bussey, B., & Nichols, K. (2020). The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Systems change through a relational Anishinaabe worldview. Children and Youth Services Review, 119, 105601.

Haight, W., Waubanascum, C., Glesener, D., Day, P., Bussey, B., & Nichols, K. (2019). The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Reducing disparities through Indigenous social work education. Children and Youth Services Review, 100, 156-166.

Haight, W., Waubanascum, C., Glesener, D., & Marsalis, S. (2018). A scoping study of Indigenous child welfare: The long emergency and preparations for the next seven generations. Children and Youth Services Review, 93, 397-410.