U of T grad navigates cancer while learning how to improve the health of Indigenous families
Categories: Indigenous Trauma and Resiliency field of study, Students
Linda Nothing, centre, celebrates her convocation with Assistant Professor Suzy Goodleaf, left, and Associate Professor Jane Middelton-Moz, right, of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (supplied image)
Diagnosed with colon cancer just weeks before starting her master’s degree, Linda Nothing found strength in ceremony, language and community
Story by Adina Bresge. Cross-posted from U of T News.
When Linda Nothing started cancer treatment at the same time as her graduate program at the University of Toronto, she viewed both as paths toward healing.
A Language Keeper and member of Bearskin Lake First Nation, she notes that chemotherapy can be a dreaded process for patients, but if one is able to “reframe” their thinking about it – it’s just medicine. As such, it became one of the many sources of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual strength that sustained her through her health struggles and studies.
“In the Indigenous world, we identify [these] positive items as a medicine bundle,” says Nothing, 63, who will graduate this week with a master’s degree in social work in Indigenous trauma and resiliency from U of T’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.
“The family that I have, the chemo that was given to me, the support that was given to me and even the program at U of T – the staff and the students – were all part of my medicine bundle at that time.”
While her treatments often left her fatigued and in pain, she says the program’s community of peers and instructors helped her find the strength to keep going. “My cohort used to help me bandage my nails, because the chemo lifts the nail beds and you bleed,” she says.
Nothing had stepped away from her work in children’s services in 2023 to deepen her frontline experience through graduate study – but she was diagnosed with colon cancer just weeks before the program began.
Today, with her cancer in remission, Nothing credits the U of T program for helping her heal in both body and spirit. Developed in collaboration with the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres and the Middleton-Moz Institute, the two-year graduate program combines academic study with Indigenous Knowledge systems to prepare graduates to work with individuals, families and communities affected by historical and intergenerational trauma.
“What I gained was a very structured understanding of the effects of trauma, especially with Indigenous history around colonization and all the policies that have to do with Indigenous people,” she says, adding that she now brings the program’s lessons to her work supporting Indigenous families. “It helped me put everything in order … as to how we came to be in this place where we are today.”