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Heartwork art pieces by CHIEF LADY BIRD

Chief Lady Bird is a Chippewa and Potawatomi artist from Rama First Nation and Moosedeer Point First Nation, who is currently based in Toronto and Rama. She graduated from OCAD University in 2015 with a BFA in Drawing and Painting and a minor in Indigenous Visual Culture. Chief Lady Bird’s art practice is continuously shapeshifting, and is always heavily influenced by her passion for empowering and uplifting Indigenous folks through the sub- version of colonial narratives. She utilizes her social media platform(s) along with digital illustration, acrylic painting, mixed media portraits, and murals to centre contemporary truths and envision Indigenous Futurisms by portraying intersectional Indigenous experiences and asserting our presence on stolen land. Specifically, much of her work is based on the stories we tell through the reclamation of our bodies and sexuality, which often intersects with land sovereignty and language reclamation, and activates peripheral dialogues about tattooing practices, cultural appropriation, reconnection and various forms of love (self love, lateral love, ancestral love). She hopes that her images can be a catalyst for reimagining our relationship with the land, each other, and ourselves.

Chief Lady Bird has illustrated for notable organizations such as Chirp Magazine, Flare Magazine, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Scholastic and Vice News to name a few. In 2019 she provided the illustrations for the animated video “Land Acknowledgements And Why Are They Important” by Selena Mills and Local Love, which has been circulated widely throughout many educational institutions to guide educators toward a deeper understanding of Land Acknowledgements and their cultural significance. She also created the book cover design for Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves UK release, and designed the #Indige- nousPeoplesDay emoji for Twitter in 2018, which depicted Turtle Island as per the results of a public poll, centring Anishinaabe worldview. It is important to note that Chief Lady Bird recommended to Twitter that they commission artists from different nations annually, to ensure that a wide range of voices are represented.

In 2019, Chief Lady Bird illustrated the Scholastic children’s book Nibi’s Water Song, au- thored by Sunshine Tenasco of Her Braids. This book follows the journey of a young Indig- enous girl who fights for clean water for her community. As quoted by Quill and Quire: “Te- nasco writes openly and honestly about the unequal treatment of Indigenous communities in Canada. Nibi’s song conveys the powerful message that clean water is a basic human right that should be afforded to everyone regardless of their ethnicity. The book successfully functions as a catalyst for an important conversation between parents and children.”

i CONTENTS

01 About Us 03 Acknowledgements Editorial: Where Are We Now, and Where Are We Going 04 Hiliary Monteith & Sharon Tan

Indigenous Relationality and Kinship and the Professionalization 08 of Maternity Care Erika Campbell, Alyssa Austin, Esmé Ariss, Maddison Bax- Campbell, Sophia Auton, Emily Carkner, Gabriela Cruz, Abby Hawes, Kayla O’Brien, Nardin Rizk, Emily Toop, Landon Brickenden, & Karen M. Lawford

Indigenous Epistemologies, Worldviews and Theories of Power 14 Dana Hickey

Reimagining Indigenous Spaces of Healing: Institutional 27 Environmental Repossession Vanessa Ambtman-Smith & Chantelle Richmond

Baawaajige: Exploring Dreams as Academic References 37 Amy Shawanda

Developing an Indigenous Goal Setting Tool: Counting Coup 49 Iitáa Dáakuash (Rae Birdhat-Howe), Alma Knows His Gun McCormick, Shannen Keene, John Hallett, & Suzanne Held

Wii Niiganabying (Looking Ahead): Rearticulating Indigenous 59 Control of Education Joshua Manitowabi

Enacting the Otipemisiwak Worldview: Reflections From One 72 Métis Clinician and Researcher Justin Turner

ii ABOUT US

The Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health (TIJIH) is dedicated to fostering respectful collaboration and the co- creation of knowledge within the field of Indigenous health. The current caretakers of TIJIH are graduate students and community members associated with the University of Toronto.

PUBLISHER CORE EDITORIAL TEAM Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Natasha Bascevan Indigenous Health Research, Andrea Bowra Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Devon Bowyer University of Toronto Irene Duah-Kessie Javiera Gutierrez Duran ADVISING ELDERS Claire Hiscock Christine McRae (Luckasavitch) Elder Albert Marshall Crystal Milligan Elder Be’sha Blondin Fabliha Naziba Elder Clayton Shirt De-Ann Sheppard Elder Wendy Phillips Denise Webb

EDITORS MANAGING COPYEDITOR Hiliary Monteith Eva Wissting Sharon Tan

FACULTY ADVISOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dr. Angela Mashford-Pringle Victoria Pringle

1 COPYRIGHT The author(s) retain copyright of their work and is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons License. This license allows readers to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in TIJIH. The license also restricts readers from using the work for commercial purposes or the creation of derivative works without the express consent of the author(s). TIJIH does not acquire ownership or copyright of the submissions or their related cultural knowledge, data, and information.

SUBMISSIONS We invite and accept various forms of submissions, ranging from research articles and community-based perspectives, to arts-based research and artwork. Please check https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/tijih/about/submissions for more information.

CONTACT To contact the editors: [email protected]

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health 155 College Street Toronto, ON, M5T 1P8 Canada

@tijih_uoft

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We extend our appreciation to all of the individuals, communities and organizations who have contributed to the Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health inaugural issue.

We extend our gratitude for the guidance that Elders Albert Marshall, Be’sha Blondin, Wendy Philips, and Clayton Shirt have offered through their teachings as we work to create and share knowledge in a meaningful way. Their guidance has been integral to this process, and for this we offer our appreciation.

The Institute for Circumpolar Health, the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation, and Hotıì ts’eeda have been an incredible support to TIJIH as our grant partners. Thank you for believing in our vision.

We are so grateful that Chief Lady Bird has allowed us to share her work throughout this first issue, and for inspiring TIJIH to push the boundaries of academia. She is an incredible and influential artistic creator.

We thank the collaborators in the TIJIH Community of Practice who have shared their thoughts and visions at our gatherings that have helped to shape TIJIH’s short- and long-term goals.

We also thank Nicholas Munster for creating our branding material, and James Hodgson at Nish Tees for producing our t-shirts that will support TIJIH as we continue to build connections across Turtle Island. We appreciate the dedication and creativity of Victoria Pringle in designing the layout of this first issue.

Finally, we thank Dr. Angela Mashford-Pringle for her guidance, knowledge and expertise throughout this entire process, as well as her continuous words of encouragement to adhere to all that TIJIH stands for - establishing a home and space to share and protect innovative forms of research, collaboration, and valuable knowledge.

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Introduction

The creation of the Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health (TIJIH) emerged out of conversations in 2018 between an Indigenous professor1 and non-Indigenous graduate students working within Indigenous health research at the University of Toronto. TIJIH was intended to connect graduate students, Indigenous scholars, and Indigenous communities into a platform for work that focused on Indigenous health. The idea has since morphed into the establishment of a peer-reviewed journal and an accompanying Community of Practice (CoP) where people with an interest in Indigenous health can discuss, collaborate, and co-learn. From an Indigenous perspective, health and wellness acknowledges the balance of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions (Richmond, Ross, & Bernier, 2007). This worldview also emphasizes interconnectedness, kinship with all Creation, as well as the ability to work with everything around us (Talaga, 2018; Wilson, 2008). We exist in an interconnected web of relations outside of our immediate blood relatives, where kinship involves a community responsibility to care for one another (Battiste & Henderson, 2009; Talaga, 2018). Indigenous health research and Indigenous scholars are underrepresented within peer-reviewed health research publications. Health research has been and continues to be dominated by Western worldviews, methods, and concepts such as individualism, biomedicalism, and linearity (Martin, 2012). In contrast, dominant paradigms in Indigenous health research value col- lectivism, holism, and non-linearity (Hyett, Marjerrison, & Gabel, 2018; Allen, Hatala, Ijaz, Elder David Courchene, & Elder Burma Bushie, 2020). Interventions based on Indigenous culture and worldviews work most effectively in improving health outcomes among Indigenous populations (Allen, Hatala, Ijaz, Elder David Courchene, & Elder Burma Bushie, 2020). For example, in an evaluation of a program where Elders provided direct care for First Nations clients at a primary care clinic, clients experienced positive healing impacts, increased confidence in their cultural identity, more engagement in ceremony, and attention to their spiritual dimensions of care (Hadji- pavlou, Varcoe, Tu, Dehoney, Price, & Browne, 2018). These outcomes highlight the importance of leveraging Elders’ knowledge to support holistic healing for Indigenous Peoples, and how Indigenous methods may have benefits that surpass those of Western paradigms. Despite literature highlighting the advantages of Indigenous methods for improving health, Western researchers criticize Indigenous methods for lacking rigour, credibility, and validity (Hy- ett, Marjerrison, & Gabel, 2018). Very few non-Indigenous academics deeply understand the interconnectedness and relationality of Indigenous knowledge (Calvez, n.d.). Furthermore, the dearth of published Indigenous health research that aligns with Indigenous paradigms within ac-

1The Indigenous professor is Dr. Angela Mashford-Pringle. 4 ess-Bryc in e b In e s k t i a t Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health u a

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ademia exacerbates the challenges that Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars who focus on this work encounter, by continuing to privilege Western worldviews and definitions of scientific knowledge within the Academy. To address this challenge and the resulting gap in the literature, TIJIH aims to create a space for graduate student research that may be absent in other journals. We also welcome research conducted in partnership with Indigenous communities as we believe that research is rooted in relationships.

Guided by Community

In November 2019, TIJIH hosted a multi-day community gathering in the traditional territory of the Mississauga of the Credit, known today as Mississauga, Ontario, to collaborate and share perspectives of Elders, community members, Indigenous scholars, healthcare workers, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous graduate students. This was done with funding from the So- cial Science and Health Research Council (SSHRC) and in collaboration with the Institute for Circumpolar Health, the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation, and Hotıì ts’eeda. Attendees across Turtle Island shared their insights by joining in the early stages of the community-driven approach. This form of engagement would soon become TIJIH’s operational approach. The teachings from Elder Albert Marshall of the Eskasoni Mi’kmaw Nation, Elder Be’sha Blondin of the SahtÚ region of the Northwest Territories, and Elder Wendy Phillips, Potawatomi and Ojibwa of the Wasauksing First Nation were central in guiding the visioning process and the next steps for TIJIH. Elder Albert Marshall spoke about the importance of two-eyed seeing, a process of weaving back and forth between Indigenous and Western perspectives towards a shared goal based in reciprocity and respectful relationships. The community gathering shaped our vision and mission of fostering collaboration and co-learning to co-create a space for sharing knowledge. Elder Be’sha Blondin spoke of applying kindness and love as tools to collaborate and grow as a family among people with distinct worldviews; this teaching informed the guiding principles in our Code of Ethics and Values. Elder Wendy Philips grounded everyone in ceremony while reminding us that we are spiritual beings and connected to the land; this prepared us for rich discussion and relationship building.

Where Are We Now

We extend our gratitude to Elders, communities, authors, reviewers, and team members who have helped to create TIJIH and its first issue. Since the initial community gathering in Novem- ber 2019, several virtual events and discussions on TIJIH and the Community of Practice have led us to this inaugural issue. Although we still have much to learn and upcoming regional teams to support, this issue is rooted in relationships of reciprocity, love, and respect. Grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing, specifically how knowledge is related to our relationships with the land, culture, spirituality, society, and one another, enables TIJIH to follow a decolonizing approach (Gerlach, 2012; Martin, 2012). As we continue to form and strengthen connections with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, community members, graduate students, and researchers, we will

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ensure that ample time and space is available for conversations about reciprocity and whether participating in TIJIH and the CoP would be beneficial for all parties. We approach these conversations with open ears, minds, and hearts, as only then can we converse with love and respect for Indigenous knowledge and perspectives. As non-Indigenous Co-Editors, we have felt the tension between wanting Indigenous peers to lead and also relieving them of this task that they are often called upon. We acknowledge our positionality, privileges, and powers as non-Indigenous graduate students at a top-rated institution. Working within Indigenous health, we oscillate between taking a back seat for Indigenous scholars to lead and using our own power to work towards Indigenous health equity. We know that we do not and cannot understand the lived experiences of our Indigenous peers, but we are also aware of the exhaustion that they feel. TIJIH is a space where we are trying to respond to a call for non-Indigenous support. This has enabled us to create space to learn about and practice critical allyship where we work collectively with a core team and community of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars to dismantle broader systems of oppression (Edwards, 2006; Nixon, 2019).

Where Are We Going

TIJIH invites a variety of knowledges, including Indigenous arts-based knowledge. Arts-based methods are important for decolonizing the academic community and they need to be shared explicitly. Although we did not have arts-based submissions for this first issue, we used this opportunity to invite an Indigenous artist to share her work. Chief Lady Bird is a Chippewa and Potawatomi artist who allowed us to feature her art throughout this issue. The TIJIH Core Team chose to showcase Chief Lady Bird’s work in this first issue to highlight visual forms of expression and knowledge. The cover artwork, entitled “Clouds” (2017) is described by Chief Lady Bird: Imagine being naked on the land, feeling the breeze on your naked breasts and flowing through your armpit hair. Imagine letting the sun kiss your shoul- ders and your knees. Imagine letting the grass cushion your toes and hold you softly while you gaze up at the clouds. This is how gently the land loves us.

This particular piece resonated with the TIJIH Core Team as it reminded us of the Anishinabek creation story that describes the creation of Turtle Island (North America). The creation story grounds us in Indigenous worldviews and is where we begin this inaugural issue of TIJIH. Heartwork is the title of this issue as we continue to reflect and work within and outside of ourselves to contribute meaningful and decolonial processes within the field of Indigenous health. This issue comes from our hearts and also reflects the hard work of the TIJIH Core Team and our contributors.

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References Allen, L., Hatala, A., Ijaz, S., Elder David Courchene, & Elder Burma Bushie. (2020) Indig- enous-led health care partnerships in Canada. CMAJ, 192(9),E208-E216. https://doi. org/10.1503/cmaj.190728 Battiste, M., & Henderson, J. (. Y. (2009). Naturalizing Indigenous Knowledge in Eurocentric Educa- tion. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 32(1), 5-18,129-130. http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fdocview%2F755262421%- 3Faccountid%3D14771 Calvez, S. (n.d.) Indigenizing Academia. University of Saskatchewan: Teaching and Learning. https://teaching.usask.ca/articles/indigenizing-academia.php Edwards, KE (2006) Aspiring Social Justice Ally Identity Development: A Conceptual Model, NASPA Journal, 43:4, 39-60, https://doi.org/10.2202/1949-6605.1722 Gerlach, A. (2018). Thinking and Researching Relationally: Enacting Decolonizing Methodolo- gies With an Indigenous Early Childhood Program in Canada. International Journal of Qual- itative Methods, 17(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1609406918776075. Hadjipavlou, G., Varcoe, C., Tu, D., Dehoney, J., Price, R., & Browne, A. J. (2018). “All my relations”: experiences and perceptions of Indigenous patients connecting with Indigenous Elders in an inner city primary care partnership for mental health and well-being. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l’Association medicale canadienne, 190(20), E608–E615. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.171390 Hyett, S., Marjerrison, S., & Gabel, C. (2018). Improving health research among Indigenous Peoples in Canada. CMAJ, 190(20), E616-E621. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.171538 Martin, D. (2012). Two-Eyed Seeing: A Framework for Understanding Indigenous and Non-Indig- enous Approaches to Indigenous Health Research. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 44(2). 20-42. https://cjnr.archive.mcgill.ca/article/download/2348/2342 Nixon, S.A. The coin model of privilege and critical allyship: implications for health. BMC Public Health 19, 1637 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7884-9 Richmond, C., Ross, N., & Bernier, J. (2007) “Exploring Indigenous Concepts of Health: The Di- mensions of Métis and Inuit Health” In Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi). 115. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/aprci/115 Talaga, T. (2018). The Power of Indigenous Kinship. The Walrus. https://thewalrus.ca/the-power-of-indigenous-kinship/

7 Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Indigenous Relationality and Vol. 1(1), 8-13 © The Author(s) 2020 Kinship and the Professionalization https://doi.org/10.33137/tijih.v1i1.34016 of Maternity Care Erika Campbell, Alyssa Austin, Esmé Ariss, Maddison Bax-Campbell, Sophia Auton, Emily Carkner, Gabriela Cruz, Abby Hawes, Kayla O’Brien, Nardin Rizk, Emily Toop, Landon Brickenden, & Karen M. Lawford1

We, as a group of academic learners in social sciences, argue the professionalization of healthcare providers reinforces hierarchies of knowledge that results in the exclusion of Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge sources. Through decolonizing theory and Indigenous methodology, we applied globally understood Indigenous philosophies of relationality and kinship to examine the professionalization of maternity care. Relationality is a philosophy that describes the interconnections between all of creation and kinship consists of family, community, and all extended human and more-than-human relations. Indigenous health knowledges reflect relationality and kinship, and are practiced by midwives, doulas, and Comadronas. Within the Euro-Western biomedical model, these healers are often incorporated into maternity care services for the purpose of profes- sionalizing their roles. Professionalization, however, reinforces power differentiations between healthcare providers and advances biomedical hegemony and hierarchies of knowledge, all of which exclude Indigenous kinship and relationality. The dangers of professionalization of the health workforce result in the omission of Indigenous knowledges, because the Euro-Western biomedical model of health is built on the philosophies of colonialism and capitalism. To counter professionalization, Indigenous relationality and kinship must be prioritized in the provision of healthcare so that it is inclusive to Indigenous Peoples and their knowledges, the results of which will benefit us all. Keywords Indigenous Kinship, Indigenous Relationality, Healthcare, Maternity Care, Professionalization

Introduction Acknowledgements: We acknowledge Queen’s University is located on Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek Territories. There is no funding to declare. As an academic group of learners, we have critically 1The senior and corresponding author, Karen M. Lawford, is examined the professionalization of a health work- Anishinabe from Lac Seul First Nation. In the winter 2020 se- force through the application of globally understood mester, Dr. Lawford taught a fourth-year course, Kinship and Indigenous philosophies of relationality and kinship. Indigenous Relations, which engaged undergraduate and gradu- Our manuscript is grounded in decolonizing theory ate students from the Department of Gender Studies at Queens University. Throughout the course, we examined processes of and Indigenous methodology, which provide us with professionalization and colonialism with an intention to imagine tools to reveal Indigenous relationality and kinship decolonial futures. Together, we articulated the resulting man- as essential qualities of genuine and authentic under- uscript to serve as an example of collaborative knowledge pro- standings of Indigenous health and healthcare. Specif- duction and to acknowledge the contributions of student intellect ically, we refer to three broad categories of maternity within the academy. Indigenous Relationality 9 care service providers: midwives, doulas, and Coma- time immemorial. dronas. We argue the professionalization of health- Kinship consists of family, community, and all care service providers is an occupational tendency extended human and more-than-human relations. It across Euro-Western biomedical healthcare systems, links together all of these relationships because “there which results in the reinforcement of hierarchies of is no distinction between relationships that are made knowledge that exclude Indigenous Peoples and their with other people and those that are made with our knowledges. The process of professionalization, thus, environment. Both are equally sacred” (Wilson, 2008, is a continuation of colonial efforts within maternity p. 87). Family kinship relations give Indigenous Peo- care. ple their identity, which is described by Talaga (2019, In fact, we assert the ongoing pressure to bu- November 14): reaucratically conform (Robinson, 2017) and apply Attachments, kinship, and family tell us who professionalization (Williams, 2017) onto Indige- we are and where we come from. They give us nous models of healthcare providers and services for a sense of dignity, a sense of belonging, right the purposes of better integrating them into Western from birth. In Indigenous cultures, family medical institutions (such as hospitals) at the expense units go beyond the traditional nuclear fam- of Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge systems. ily living together in one house. Families are For example, “Six Nations midwives do not current- extensive networks of strong, connective kin- ly have formal hospital privileges [even though] they ship; they are often entire communities. hold formal certification as ‘Aboriginal midwives’” (Benoit & Carroll, 2005, p. 31). The professional- Consequently, relationality and kinship are inextri- ization of care thus continues the process of mar- cably intertwined as core philosophies to Indigenous ginalization and exclusion, which are underpinned Peoples’ ways of being and knowing. by colonial and capitalist philosophies. We implore those who seek to advance the professionalization of Kinship in Indigenous Healthcare – Midwives, healthcare services to critically reflect on qualities of Doulas, and Comadronas Indigenous healthcare models, which should inform Knowledge is relational, collective, and belongs to and influence care that is provided to Indigenous Peo- all of creation (Wilson, 2001). As such, knowledg- ples. Without doubt, the re-examination we propose es related to health and wellness are also relational, can offer opportunities to improve Euro-Western bio- collective, and belong to all of creation. The con- medical approaches, and we strongly contend that tributions of all kinship, then, also reflect roles and when retained, will result in better healthcare services responsibilities of not just the individual but also of to all peoples. the collective. The resulting knowledges are therefore communal, relational, and experiential. For some, Indigenous Relationality and Kinship these are embodied knowledges that are derived from teachings, experience, and ceremony. Thus, the epis- Relationality and kinship are foundational philos- temological origins of Indigenous knowledges reflect ophies for Indigenous Peoples. Wilson (2008) de- the relational and kinship ties of Indigenous Peoples scribes relationality being a “collective, it’s a group, to all of creation and across all concepts of time. it’s a community. And I think that’s the basis for rela- Indigenous health knowledges are also relationality. That is, it’s built upon the interconnections, tional, collective, and belong to all creation. Indeed, the interrelationships, and that binds the group…but it is through this philosophy of being that Indigenous it’s more than human relationships” (p. 80). As an In- healers have provided care to their people. Midwives, digenous way of knowing, relationality acknowledg- doulas, and Comadronas, who are described in Figure es all the relationships with and between creation, in- 1, work within their communities and share their re- cluding the land, waters, air, and the cosmos (Wilson, lational and kinship knowledges, in addition to their 2001, 2008). It is a philosophy that describes an exis- experiential knowledges. Thus, their care services, tence that is materially and spiritually interconnected, identities, and services become embodied knowledg- and is a web of relations that have been woven since

Volume 1, Issue 1 10 Campbell et al. (2020) es. They are guided by their Ancestors, their commu- The professionalization of the health work- nity members, and an overarching relationship to all force has, however, resulted in a power differential of creation. These epistemological foundations reflect between healthcare professionals and those they Indigenous relationality and kinship, and are trans- serve (Porter, 1992; Williams, 2017). The profession- lated in the categories of the Euro-Western biomedi- alization by a particular group of healthcare providers cal model as maternity care. This categorization has, indicates they are autonomous and independently re- however, resulted in efforts to professionalize their sponsible for meeting agreed upon standards of care care. and codes of ethics. We argue assertions of authority

Figure 1: Definitions Midwife: “A midwife is a person who has successfully completed a midwifery education programme that is based on the ICM Essential Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice and the framework of the ICM Global Standards for Midwifery Education and is recognized in the country where it is located; who has acquired the requisite qualifications to be registered and/or legally licensed to practice midwifery and use the title ‘midwife’; and who demonstrates competency in the practice of midwifery” (International Confederation of Midwives, 2018).

Doula: “a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to a mother before, during and shortly after childbirth to help her achieve the healthiest, most satisfying experience possible” (DONA International, 2020).

Comadrona: “A comadrona is someone who sees pregnant women, gives prenatal exams, and delivers babies. However, it is also much more than that, as it involves giving advice and acting as a ‘consejera’ (counselor). Both doctors and comadronas treat medical problems, but comadronas know about a woman’s body, about pregnancy, and how to incorporate natural medicine into health care” (Mayan Families, 2015).

Colonialism and the Professionalization and power by a professionalized group of care proof Care viders results in their active participation in and maintenance of biomedical hegemony and hierarchies of Colonialism is underpinned by capitalism, expansion- knowledge, which exclude Indigenous kinship and ism, and extraction (Crook, Short, & South, 2018). It relationality. is further advanced by the absolute surety that Indig- Certainly, there are benefits of professional- enous Peoples and their ways of health and wellness ization. Nursing, for example, has achieved occupa- are inferior—and even sub-human—to that of the tional advancement and legitimacy through “the de- colonizer. In Canada, for example, governments and velopment of autonomous management structures” healthcare providers “infiltrated [Indigenous] ways (Porter, 1992, p. 721) and through alignment with of knowing and wellbeing and replaced them with bureaucratic hierarchies of power and authority that a knowledge base grounded in the Euro-Canadian reflect the structuring of capitalist health systems. biomedical model, thus promoting colonial goals of Professionalization has resulted in specialized nurs- civilization and assimilation for First Nations people” ing to the extent of the development of nursing sub- (Lawford & Giles, 2012, p. 335). Current articula- categories, such as labour and delivery nurses (Turris, tions of healthcare in the Americas, thus, reflect a Eu- Binns, Kennedy, Finamore, Gillrie, & Melchior-Mac- ro-Western biomedical model of health that is depen- Dougall, 2007). Similarly, midwifery has sought the dent on colonial ideals of health services, capitalist benefits of professionalization, which has resulted in funding mechanisms, and the professionalization of the development of distinct professional bodies that those who provide healthcare. are often separate from nursing. In Canada, the pro-

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Indigenous Relationality 11 fessionalization of midwifery has led to the public in increasing unnecessary obstetrical interventions funding of services and liability insurance, post-sec- and the loss of physiological birth processes (Roma- ondary education training programs, and provincial no & Lothian, 2008; Thompson et al., 2019; Wolf & midwifery colleges, which can be of benefit to the Charles, 2018). The inclusion of Indigenous kinship midwife, the profession, and the individual consumer and relationality challenges colonial constructs with- of these maternity care services. in professionalized healthcare services by expanding the understanding of health and wellness to incorpo- The Dangers of Professionalization rate Indigenous knowledge systems. The underlying prerequisites of professionalization are sources of dangers and are seemingly impossible Countering Professionalization – What to disrupt: The purposeful omission of Indigenous Can We Do? knowledges within Euro-Western education systems; the positioning of women and Two Spirit community To counter the hegemonic and hierarchical profes- members as subservient or even completed exclud- sionalization of maternity care, Indigenous relation- ed from professional bodies; and the presumed lead- ality and kinship must be explicitly—and without ership of white male physicians (Bourgeault et al., limitations—included in all aspects of care for Indig- 2018; Loscocco, 2018; Vogel, 2019). The purpose- enous Peoples. Euro-Western biomedical healthcare ful omission of Indigenous birthing practices, cere- systems and those working within those systems must monies, medicines, and care providers accompanied recognize the multi-faceted roles and responsibilities the professionalization of maternity care (Krzywania, of Indigenous care providers, which benefit individ- 2018; Lawford & Giles, 2012; Olson, 2013). These ual and community wellness. Healthcare systems are dangers that we identify, because they serve to must directly pay Indigenous care providers, such as constantly recreate hierarchies of care and denigrate midwives, doulas, and Comadronas. The exclusion Indigenous health knowledge systems and as a result, of Indigenous care providers from equitable payment Indigenous Peoples themselves. Without a doubt, the reinforces hierarchies of professionalization via cap- professionalization of care is used to justify the era- italism. The engagement and involvement of Indige- sure of Indigenous Peoples and their relational and nous Peoples in the provision of healthcare must be kinship knowledges. prioritized; their inclusion must be without coercion Irrespective of the presumed benefits of the and manipulation. professionalization of care, this process can be dan- gerous to Indigenous Peoples. Professionalization, Including Relationality and Kinship as it is enacted within the Euro-Western biomedical Within Care model, follows a logic of capitalism, stresses power and hierarchy, devalues Indigenous epistemologies We strongly defend our assertion that healthcare ser- by claiming superiority, and neglects relationality vices would be improved for all peoples if relational- and kinship. The professionalization of care has also ity and kinship were to be included in the provision translated into the medicalization of care. Correia of care, which is more than the application of specific (2017) described medicalization as originating “with- mechanical techniques and administration of pharma- in a particular societal—political—historical context cologically-derived medicines. Healthcare is about characterized by the dominance of professionalized care, something that can only be developed by recog- (bio)medicine” (p. 1). It is linked with “social regula- nizing relationality and kinship as foundational com- tion and control” (Correia, 2017, p. 1), thus aligning ponents of health. With this assertion, we encourage it with logics of capitalism, and hierarchies of power thoughtful consideration of the epistemological ori- and control, all of which are colonial constructs. The gins of Indigenous knowledges related to individual professionalization of maternity care providers is an and community health. The relational and kinship ties example of the medicalization of care. While the uni- of Indigenous Peoples actualize a network with all of formity of care services has created standards of care, creation and across all concepts of time, which are the medicalization of maternity care has also resulted critical to the roles and responsibilities of midwives,

Volume 1, Issue 1 12 Campbell et al. (2020)

doulas, and Comadronas. We are convinced health- Olson, R. (2013). Relocating childbirth: The poli- care must become inclusive to Indigenous Peoples’ tics of birth place and Aboriginal midwifery in philosophies and that this inclusion will benefit us all. Manitoba, Canada [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K. References http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/45299/1/Ol- son,_Rachel_Elizabeth.pdf Benoit, C., & Carroll, D. (2005). Canadian midwife- Porter, S. (1992). The poverty of professionaliza- ry: Blending traditional and modern practices. In tion: A critical analysis of strategies for the oc- C. Bates, D. Dodd, & N. Rousseau (Eds.). On cupational advancement of nursing. Journal of all frontiers: Four centuries of Canadian nursing Advanced Nursing, 17(6), 720–726. https://doi. (pp. 27-42). University of Ottawa Press. org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.1992.tb01970.x Bourgeault, I.L., James, Y., Lawford, K., & Lundine, Robinson, K. (2017). The professional framework for J. (2018). Empowering women leaders in health: midwifery practice in Canada. In E.K. Hutton, B. A gap analysis of the state of the knowledge. Ca- Murray-Davis, K. Kaufman, E. Carty, & M. But- nadian Journal of Physician Leadership, 5(2), ler (Eds.). Comprehensive midwifery: The role 92-99. https://www.cjpl.ca/bourgeault.html of the midwife in health care practice, education Correia, T. (2017). Revisiting medicalization: A cri- and research. Open Library Pressbooks. tique of the assumptions of what counts as medi- Romano, A., & Lothian, J. (2008). Promoting, pro- cal knowledge. Frontiers in Sociology, September tecting, and supporting normal birth: A look at (2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2017.00014 the evidence. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic Crook, M., Short, D., & South, N. (2018). Eco- & Neonatal Nursing, 37(1), 94–105. https://doi. cide, genocide, capitalism and colonialism: org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2007.00210.x Consequences for Indigenous peoples and Talaga, T. (2019, November 14). The power of In- local ecosystems environments. Theoreti- digenous kinship: To heal the spirits of the next cal Criminology, 22(3), 298–317. https://doi. generation, Indigenous peoples are relearning org/10.1177/1362480618787176 DONA Inter- rites of passage. The Walrus. https://thewalrus. national. (2020). What is a doula? https://www. ca/the-power-of-indigenous-kinship/ dona.org/what-is-a-doula/ Thompson, S.M., Nieuwenhuijze, M.J., Low, L.K., International Confederation of Midwives. (2018). & De Vries, R. (2019). “A powerful midwifery ICM definitions. https://www.internationalmid- vision”: Dutch student midwives’ educational wives.org/our-work/policy-and-practice/ needs as advocates of physiological childbirth. icm-definitions.html Women and Birth, 32(6), e576-e583. https://doi. Krzywania, M. (2018). Protecting the providers of org/10.1016/j.wombi.2018.12.010 Indigenous maternal care [Unpublished master’s Turris, S.A., Binns, D.-M., Kennedy, K.J., Finamore, Thesis]. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON. S., Gillrie, C., & Melchior-MacDougall, F. Lawford, K., & Giles, A.R. (2012). Marginalization (2007). Speciality nursing— the past, the pres- and coercion: Canada’s evacuation policy for ent, and the future. Journal of Emergency Nurs- pregnant First Nations women who live on re- ing, 33(5), 499-504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. serves in rural and remote regions. Pimatisiwin, jen.2007.05.014 10(3), 327-340. https://journalindigenouswell- Vogel, L. (2019, February 21). When people here being.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/06Law- “doctor” most still picture a man. CMAJ News. fordGiles.pdf https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.109-5723 Loscocco, K. (2018). Race and work: Persistent in- Williams, M. (2017). “Midwife with a capital M”: equality. Polity Press. Professional identities of midwives in England Mayan Families. (2015). Staff spotlight: Bridging the and Scotland (Unpublished master’s thesis). Uni- gap between traditional and western medicine versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel with Ana. https://www.mayanfamilies.org/blogs/ Hill, North Carolina. https://doi.org/10.17615/ entry/3575 dnan-q936

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Wilson, S. (2001). What is an Indigenous methodology? Canadian Journal of Native Education, 25(2), 175-179. https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/234754037_What_Is_an_Indige- nous_Research_Methodology Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing. Wolf, A., & Charles, S. (2018). Childbirth is not an emergency: Informed consent in labor and delivery. IJFAB,11(1), 23–43. https://doi.org/10.3138/ ijfab.11.1.23

Volume 1, Issue 1 Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Indigenous Epistemologies, Vol. 1(1), 14-25 © The Author(s) 2020 Worldviews and Theories of Power https://doi.org/10.33137/tijih.v1i1.34021 Dana Hickey1

The study that this paper is based on is a Master’s Thesis, the purpose of which is to understand Indigenous epistemologies of power from the standpoint of Indigenous participants who are originally from or currently living in the Sudbury and Manitoulin Island areas of Ontario, Canada. Indigenous research methods are privileged throughout, and key aspects of grounded theory are woven in to add support. Comparisons between the Indigenous epistemological concept of power and the Western theories of power of mainstream academia are made, as are relevant criticisms of Western epistemology.

Fifteen Indigenous participants were interviewed. The central category that arose from the data was relationships. This central category ties the other main categories together which are: language, sacred sources of power, Indigenous women, abuse of power, and knowledge. The findings indicate that there are many forms and manifestations of power which are related to each other. The source of power is in the interrelatedness of everyone to everything else that is known and unknown. Humility, harmony and balanced relationships produce the healthiest and most magnificent manifestations of power.

This paper argues that understanding more about epistemologies of power will help illu- minate a pathway by which Indigenous Peoples and Canadians of settler ancestry can better understand one another, creating the shift in these relationships that is required in order to gather large-scale support for reconciliation and for ethical distribution of power resources in Canada.

Keywords Power, Indigenous epistemology, Indigenous methodologies, Theories of power, Indigenous power, Indigenous philosophy, Indigenous relations, Indigenous knowledges

Introduction (Hickey, 2019). This worldview underlies colonial doctrines of discovery and claims to settler-state land The research study shows that Western theories of title, and it justifies the oppression of Indigenous pop- power demonstrate a worldview that requires force ulations in colonial states around the world (Schabus, and/or coercion power to maintain order in society 2017). Furthermore, Western epistemology considers its methods superior to all others. Indigenous episte- Acknowledgements: Miigwetch to Ogimaa Kwe Linda Debassige mological knowledge, theory, policy, and law are mar- for being the community partner to this research as well as thesis ginalized and disregarded (Burrows, 2007; Deloria & committee member. Miigwetch to my thesis supervisor Dr. Kev- Wildcat, 2001; Hart, 2010; Walter & Aitken, 2019). in Fitzmaurice and to committee members Dr. Aurélie Lacassagne The Indigenous worldview of power developed in and Dr. Carrie Bourassa. 1Dana Hickey, Master of Indigenous Relations, Laurentian Univer- this research reflects the intelligent organizing power sity, Anishinaabe, Dokis First Nation, [email protected] of the universe toward balance and harmony. The re- Indigenous Epistemologies 15 search examines how differences in epistemological views besides the Western system. understandings of power between Indigenous People Epistemology is theory of how we come to and non-Indigenous people of settler-ancestry, in part, know things, and is often referred to as “the theory of explain the devastating health effects that unethical knowledge” (Proudfoot & Lacey, 2010, p. 118). It is distribution of power resources have had on Indige- an enquiry into the nature and grounds of knowledge nous People since colonization. (Proudfoot & Lacey, 2010). Epistemological ques- Adding Indigenous epistemologies to the actions include: What is true and what is false? (Vidal, ademic conversation about power calls attention di- 2012). What are the sources of knowledge? What rectly to a contrast in worldviews. Indigenous Peo- can one know? How does one know if something is ple know that economic and social systems based true? (Chilisa, 2012). If you ask these questions to on Western epistemological logic are not sustainable a Western-trained scientist, you will get answers that (Deloria, 2003). Western economic and social sys- differ from those that you will receive from an An- tems result in poverty and other alarming social ineq- ishinaabe Elder who participated in this study. Even uities (Walter & Andersen, 2013). Reconciliation as the social scientist would prefer to make a statement a pathway to improved health for Indigenous People of truth based on facts that were proven scientifical- is required; however, misunderstandings on an epis- ly, or at least she would support whatever statement temological level are revealed as barriers. Learning she makes with the strongest factual evidence she has. more about the value of Indigenous epistemologies Epistemologically speaking, the Western-trained sci- will help bring about the understanding required to entist’s standard of proof is different than the Indig- address the misapprehensions between Indigenous enous Elder’s standard of proof. Indigenous Elders People and Canadians of settler ancestry, and cre- will tell you what they know from lived experience ate a respectful space for co-developed solutions to and from the knowledge conferred on them by their emerge. Ancestors. Much of the knowledge that is carried for- In partnership with the Indigenous communi- ward is accepted as truth because it has always been ty of M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island known to be true. I argue in this paper that both truths in Ontario, Canada, the study seeks to understand the are valid, as are the methodologies that are utilized to meaning of power, as a phenomenon, from the per- arrive at these truths. spective of 15 Indigenous participants. The value of the research is demonstrated by its applicability to the Theories of Power issue of problematic relations between Indigenous Power is an elusive concept; there are endless ways People and Canadians of settler ancestry. The journey to think about it. During my research on what is toward reconciliation is obstructed by the complexity known about power in Western academia, I encoun- of the issues. Using philosophy and epistemology, the tered many similar statements. Peter Digeser (1992) research aims to address the complexity and illumi- observes that the debate over power ranges across nate a pathway to reconciliation. political ideologies, methodologies, and disciplines. Robert A. Dahl (1957) remarked that the concept of On Epistemology power is as ancient and ubiquitous as any that social Canadians of settler ancestry see the world differently theory can boast. Indigenous scholar, Taiaiake Alfred than Indigenous People do, and the converse is also (2009), recognizes the existence of power in all the true. In the words of Indigenous scholar Linda Smith elements that make up the universe, and describes (2000), “We have a different epistemological tradition how Indigenous philosophies teach us to respect and that frames the way we see the world, the way we accommodate that power in all its varied forms. The organize ourselves in it, the questions we ask, and the literature review includes selected theories of power solutions we seek” (p. 230). Epistemological differ- that provide a well-rounded overview of the power ences underlie conflicts between Indigenous Peoples debate. and settler governments; however, little is widely Western philosophy was born in ancient known about epistemology. This includes the fact that Greece in the fifth and sixth centuries BCE. Socra- there are many epistemological systems and world- tes, Plato, and Aristotle are famous for pondering the

Volume 1, Issue 1 16 Hickey (2020) philosophical questions of life and society during other in the state of nature (Hobbes, 1997). this period (McInery & Caponigri, 1963). We know John Locke was also interested in the social through Plato’s writings that Socrates believed that contract and the state of nature. For Locke, the peo- those who hold the power in society should be virtu- ple consent to be governed, but the people can also ous and properly prepared through philosophic edu- withdraw their consent, overthrow the ruling power, cation (Brooks, 2006). and set up a new government. Therefore, power is es- Plato echoed Socrates’ idea that people who sential to the running of a peaceful commonwealth; exercise power should be endowed with expertise in however, this power over, or force power, must be political governance and philosophy (Brooks, 2006). vigorously checked and controlled (Moseley, 2005). In the Republic at 426d, Plato argues that the right to This is Locke’s version of liberalism, wherein consti- hold power is not conferred by majority approval or tutionalism, limited government, and the right to life, by material wealth, but by expertise in statesmanship liberty, and property prevail (Locke, 2015). Locke’s (Grube, 1992). Socrates is the main character in the liberal philosophy was immensely influential and was Republic, and through him, Plato defends justice and embodied in the American Declaration of Indepen- describes the perfect city in which democracy is re- dence in 1776 (Dewey, 1963). jected in favour of rule by philosopher kings. Norbert Elias highlighted the functional in- In Book II of Politics, Aristotle critiques terdependence between people (Dunning & Hughes, Plato’s ideal state, thereby initiating the practice of 2013). Power is not something that is possessed by scholarly debate – an academic tradition that endures one person and not by another, instead, power is a (Aristotle, 1995). In Book III of Politics, Aristotle structural characteristic of a relationship – of all hu- records the various types of government that he has man relationships (Dunning & Hughes, 2013). It is observed, including monarchy, aristocracy, polity, therefore difficult for one person, or group of people, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy (Aristotle, 1995). to control outcomes, since their intentions and actions Later in Book III, in similar style to Socrates and Pla- are always moderated by others upon whom they are to, Aristotle declares that those who are most virtuous dependent, and all outcomes; therefore, represent the have the strongest claim to all rule (Aristotle, 1995). interweaving of countless individual interests and in- These three philosophers laid the foundation tentions (Newton, 1999). for what has become a longstanding debate about This is the point where an interesting philo- the phenomenon of power, and upon which a range sophical turn is made, and the structural and relation- of theories of power are built. Aristotle’s typology of al aspects of how power dynamics work come into regimes was so successful that it ended up being used view. Michel Foucault’s thoughts on power also focus extensively until the time of Machiavelli, nearly 2000 on power relationships. Foucault insisted that power years later (Clayton, 2004), and is still called upon to cannot exist on its own, in the absence of a relation- this day. ship. The term “power” designates relationships be- Machiavelli’s The Prince is notorious for its tween partners (Foucault, 1994, p. 135). “Power ex- cruelty and ruthlessness. In its pages, we find images ists only as exercised by some on others, only when of power as domination and control, which is to be it is put into action” (Foucault, 1994, p. 137). Fur- exercised over others, and society constituted through thermore, power is not only rooted in government and the domination of the weak by the strong (Haugaard in institutions, it exists wherever relationships exist, & Clegg, 2009). practically everywhere. Power relations are rooted In Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan, he contend- in the whole network of the social (Foucault, 1994). ed that humans are by nature unruly, and therefore, Therefore, whenever people interact, there are power discord exists among them. To seek shelter from this relations present, whether we are aware of the power state, humans willingly form governments. This idea relations in our interactions, or not. forms the basis of Hobbes’s social contract theory in In the 1960s, a movement toward the study which he argues that citizens should come together of community power generated an interesting de- and agree to sacrifice their power (over others) to a bate about power relationships. It began with Robert central authority, in exchange for safety from each Dahl’s examination of the community of New Haven,

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Indigenous Epistemologies 17

Connecticut, which focused on decision making as an present an overall picture, and to explain the concept important factor of analysis (Dahl, 1961). Bachrach of power from an Indigenous epistemological stand- and Baratz (1962) criticized Dahl’s use of decision point. Indigenous methods are meaningful to the In- making as a standard of measuring power, since it re- digenous participants, who derive power by sharing flects only the direct aspects of power, as we know it their knowledge and by seeing themselves reflected in to function in democratic societies. They argue this the holistic narrative about what power means to In- constitutes only one face of power, and they direct digenous People. Western methods are used to decon- us to what they coin as the second face of power – struct the story, reducing it to its basic structure, so that the restrictive face that prevents certain members of it can be presented thematically, and in a manner that society from participating in the process of decision encourages dialogue across Indigenous and Western making (Bachrach, P. & Baratz, 1962). Steven Lukes knowledge traditions. Presenting the research in this (1974) adds a third face, the normative face of power interrelated way allows for a conversation between that influences, shapes and determines the very wants what is currently known about power from a Western of community members. The skilled application of viewpoint, as well as from an Indigenous viewpoint. normative power can prevent real issues from arising, First, an Indigenous decolonization research if community members willingly accept their role framework was designed to provide the structure of in the social order, or are unaware of their interests. the overall project. This framework addresses the Peter Digeser (1992) brings the fourth face of power structural inequalities produced by colonization, by describing how the powerful decision makers are and it is important for establishing three things in “created over time” by the influence of social power, this research: that anti-colonial Indigenous theoret- which is then put into operation when we participate ical perspectives will be privileged throughout; that in discourse and norms (Digeser, 1992, p. 982). An every precaution will be taken to ensure Indigenous important point to consider here is that power does participants are not further disempowered during the not exist independently of those practices; howev- research; and that I am an Indigenous researcher in- er, in the writings of Indigenous scholars, I find that terested in contributing to research that produces de- power is an ever-present force, or flux, that originates colonizing outcomes. According to Baskin (2005), from a sacred source. Indigenous research is not worth doing if it does not The Western theories of power show the di- focus on the goals and processes of decolonization rection that the academic conversation about power is and self-determination. Once this framework was in headed. The philosophical assumptions that underlie place, two qualitative approaches were added; IRM the mainstream theories have not been fully expanded and grounded theory. to include an understanding of power through an In- Indigenous research methods (IRM) were the digenous epistemological lens. Western conceptions chosen approach to build long-term, respectful re- of power are, therefore, incomplete because they are lationships with Indigenous community partners, to based only in Western knowledge. If we can know privilege Indigenous voices, and to ensure that Indig- more about the phenomenon of power from an Indig- enous knowledges remain privileged and prominent enous epistemological standpoint, then perhaps we throughout. IRMs were also used to design the proj- can begin to glean solutions to the power imbalances ect, collect the data, involve community in the anal- and the misapprehensions that stand between us and ysis of the data, and to present it back to Indigenous reconciliation. People in a culturally relevant way. Reflexivity and relationality are key in these processes. Methods The research data was gathered using predominantly Indigenous research methods, to collect Being of mixed Indigenous and non-Indigenous an- Indigenous knowledge in story form. Storytelling is cestry in my identity and my education, I chose to a valid form of Indigenous knowledge, as it includes combine Indigenous research methods (IRM) and responsibility on the part of the listener/researcher, Western grounded theory as a practice of theoretical incorporates both interpretation and analysis, has and cross-cultural dialogue. Holistic IRM are used to room for many explanations for the phenomena be-

Volume 1, Issue 1 18 Hickey (2020) ing researched, is a creative search for solutions, and and feel safe participating. Therefore, I must always is a political act of liberation and self-determination practice reflexivity, or awareness of the place where (Baskin, 2005). I fit within the “two worlds” that this research navi- Grounded theory is a qualitative research de- gates, and I must declare my awareness of it to every sign in which the inquirer generates a general expla- audience. Reflexivity in this context refers to the on- nation (theory) of a process, an action, or an interac- going assessment of the influence of my background tion shaped by the views of the participants (Creswell, and ways of perceiving reality, experiences, ideolog- 2013). This method was used to focus the research ical biases, and interest during the research (Chilisa, approach, to design the mechanics and movement of 2012, p. 168). research activities, and to formulate research ques- The research design allowed for Indigenous tions that induce responses that shed light on power People to form research relationships with each oth- as a process. The teachings of grounded theory helped er, as well as with our ideas. Utilizing reflexivity to communicate the research problem and the research remain accountable to all of my relations while con- purpose in a format that is well understood in Western ducting research is a movement toward the concept of academia. relational knowledge, and a movement away from the To explain the meaning of Indigenous knowl- Western idea that knowledge is an individual entity edges and epistemologies to a non-Indigenous audi- that can be gained and owned (Wilson, 2008). Instead, ence, it is incumbent upon Indigenous researchers to relational knowledge is freely shared and focuses on bridge worldviews and to explain the process through- how all things are related and therefore relevant (Wil- out academic writing (Wilson, 2008). Applying West- son, 2008). ern (grounded) theory, as a supplementary method, The data analysis stage involved a mixture of allowed for presentation of the data in a way that IRMs and grounded theory. The first phase of data encourages cross-cultural understandings. The study analysis involved processing the interviews, and then argues that IRM are sufficient to determine an Indig- reading and re-reading transcripts, while making time enous epistemological worldview of power. Howev- to include ceremony, meditation, contemplation, and er, Western thought has come to mediate the entire reflection. Later, using Creswell (2013) as a primary world to the point where worldviews that differ from guide, the data was coded according to the grounded the mainstream are relegated to the periphery (Hart, theory method of open coding, axial coding, and then 2010). Although it is my position that IRMs produce selective coding. I decided to code the data manually valid data, I anticipate that Western-trained scientists because that method is the most intimate and helpful who do not understand the utility of holistic thinking for developing a relationship with the information. and/or who are not familiar with IRM, will encounter The coding process indicated that the Indigenous difficulty following Indigenous epistemological log- epistemological understanding of power provided by ic. Considering the risk that Western-trained scientists the Indigenous participants would be made up of five will disregard the importance of data generated using themes that are related to each other. IRM alone, I decided to add grounded theory to conduct the familiar scientific process of reducing the ho- Relationship listic story down to smaller, indivisible components for the purpose of a complementary analysis. The re- The methodology requires that respectful research sults of the grounded theory analysis are presented in relationships be built and maintained in an Indige- a format that is more recognizable, and acceptable, to nous community. To the great benefit of this research, Western science. Ogimaa Kwe Linda Debassige, Chief of M’Chigeeng When undertaking research with Indigenous First Nation, accepted the role of Indigenous commu- Peoples, it is absolutely crucial that relationships nity partner to this project early on, and we developed of honesty and trust are established, that the re- a shared vision for the implementation of the research searcher(s) intentions are made known and are trans- plan into the community. To further ensure researcher parent, and that participants have all the support and accountability, Ogimaa Kwe Debassige also repre- information that they need to understand the research sented the community as a full member of the thesis

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Indigenous Epistemologies 19 committee. tion is converted into ordinary language, all that I am Ogimaa Kwe Debassige assisted with partic- really asking is: “what is power” or “what does this ipant recruitment and her contributions were invalu- concept ‘power’ mean to you?” Sometimes partici- able during the data collection phase. Decisions such pants can talk at length and provide a full interview of as whom to recruit as key informants, as well as se- their response, contributing data without being asked lecting research sites where the interviews occurred, any further questions. Sometimes participants are not were reached by using a purposeful sampling strat- quite sure what I mean. Therefore, I developed an egy (Creswell, 2013), wherein participants who can interview guide that asks for the answer to the main contribute to the development of an Indigenous the- question, but also includes secondary questions that oretical view of power are purposefully sought out. can prompt the participant to move their thinking into Interviews were conducted during events and gather- different areas and flesh out a more detailed response. ings, and there were several one-on-one pre-arranged The sub-questions, or prompts, include: (a) Who has meetings as well. Snowball sampling was used occa- power? (b) Do you have power? (c) Who does not sionally during interviews that occurred at gatherings. have power? (d) How do power dynamics affect or For example, I recorded four interviews at the Wiik- influence you? (e) How does power work in our soci- wemkoong Annual Cultural Festival. I carried folding ety? (f) What makes a person powerful? Every partic- chairs with me and set them up in comfortable spots ipant was asked to answer the main question, but the off to the sides of the powwow to interview three par- sub-questions were asked only if the prompts were ticipants, and I interviewed another participant in her found useful during the interview. kitchen closeby. I also interviewed three participants After preliminary data analysis, the commu- at the M’Chigeeng Annual Traditional Powwow in a nity partner and I planned a knowledge sharing event similar manner. The audio recordings of those inter- that was named Eshkweziiwin exhibit. The event was views include the heartbeat of the powwow drum in designed to allow for ceremony, a presentation of the the background. Some of these participants had rec- data, and discussion, as well as presentations by the ommended other people they knew who could con- research participants. To properly honour and show tribute to the study, and they helped us introduce the gratitude to the community, we shared a feast before idea to these potential participants as well. The snow- these presentations, and a giveaway occurred after- ball effect was easy to achieve in these settings, and ward. a total of seven out of 15 people were interviewed at The Eshkweziiwin exhibit was important for these events using a combination of the two methods. maintaining good relationships in the process of ana- The other interviews were pre-arranged with Indige- lyzing the data. The event was designed to show the nous People who were selected based on their experi- participants and the community the direction the re- ence with power, and sometimes other considerations. search was taking and the outcomes that might result For example, Ogimaa Kwe Debassige and I had pre- from the analysis of the data. It was an opportunity for viously discussed which Elders I would recruit to an- the participants to see themselves in the themes that swer the research question, and we achieved a desired were extracted from the data, and to add their voices balance in the ratio of two female Elders to two male to the co-creation of relational knowledge. The Es- Elders. hkweziiwin event further shaped the epistemological While designing the research question and view of power that emerged from this research, and it sub-questions, I decided to stay away from asking provided a time and place to practice relationality and the cause-and-effect questions, such as: “What are the accountability in the way that we research, and the causes of power?” Or “What are the effects of pow- way that we share what we learn with each other. er?” However, those ideas were addressed, and are impossible to eliminate, while discussing power. For- Results tunately, grounded theory allows for the examination of processes using a variety of “how” or “what” ques- Following Creswell (2013), I selected relationships tions. I can therefore focus on: “What is power from as the single, central code to become the focus of the an Indigenous epistemological view?” Once the ques- theory. The categories that emerged from the final

Volume 1, Issue 1 20 Hickey (2020) stage of the data analysis include sacred power sourc- 2012). For the purposes of this project, I have nar- es, the abuse of power, Indigenous women, language, rowed the focus to epistemology. Participants were and knowledge, each of which are held together by asked the epistemological question “what is power?” the common prominent theme: relationships. The question invites the respondent to become aware The project utilizes both worldviews to syn- of their worldview, and therefore the answer reflects thesize an Indigenous theoretical explanation of pow- not only aspects of their epistemology, but also as- er and to deconstruct the data and represent it in a pects of their worldview. way that is more recognizable in Western academia. Power is such a broad concept that the re- A combination of the grounded theory and IRM anal- searcher must devise a way to narrow the focus. As ysis resulted in the following paragraph: expected, the boundaries of the study are too confined Power is honouring all of Creation. Power is to present a comprehensive review of the voluminous connectedness to Mother Earth and respect literature on the subject. Therefore, the literature re- for her life systems. Power is caring for the view is restricted to an overview of prominent theo- Ancestors and using the knowledge and cer- ries of power, and epistemological comparisons are emonies they passed down. Power is Indig- made using these theories and the data provided by enous women who bring balance, carry the the respondents. The selection of Western theories is water, and give life. Power is our languages, curated to demonstrate how the debate has evolved our voices, our stories, and our songs. Power prior to colonization of the Americas, and after. is the collective cognitive experience known An examination of power always brings to the as Indigenous knowledge, which is based surface many related concepts, which have their own on experience, language, and shared beliefs. clusters of sub-concepts, such as leadership, authori- Power is kinship, community, and good re- ty, agency, legitimacy, and sovereignty, to name only lationships. Power is remaining resilient, a few. It would take a lifetime to address every aspect adapting to change, and ensuring that Indige- of the phenomenon of power; therefore, concepts se- nous knowledge survives the colonial assault lected for deeper analysis are restricted to prominent (Hickey, 2019, p. 105). themes that emerged from the data. The limited scope of the project successfully These results were further condensed to answer the produced an Indigenous epistemological statement of research question in the following statement: There the meaning of power as a phenomenon from the per- are many forms and manifestations of power that are spective of fifteen Indigenous participants. The study related to each other. The source of power is in the paves the way for Indigenous scholarship to spring- interrelatedness of everyone to everything else that board to a larger study, with a larger sample and more is known and unknown. Humility, harmony, and bal- complicated methodology, toward the goal of devel- anced relationships produce the healthiest and most oping a theory of power that will stand on equal foot- magnificent manifestations of power. ing to the other major theories.

Limitations Discussion

The greatest limitation to a study that seeks to inves- Now that we have an Indigenous epistemological tigate the meaning of a phenomenon as complicated statement about power, it is time to discuss how it fits as power from more than one epistemological world- into the larger conversation about power. The theories view, is the scope of the project. It is difficult to design of power presented at the beginning of the article re- a study that draws clear boundaries regarding what mind us about what is well known about Western the- concepts will be included, and which will be set aside ories of power. They teach us the theory behind force/ for future development. For example, there are many coercive power, which remains the chosen weapon philosophical concepts that make up a worldview, of normalized oppression to this day. Furthermore, such as ontology (model of being), axiology (theory from the Western worldview, Indigenous epistemol- of values), and praxeology (theory of action) (Vidal, ogies appear to have less merit, scientifically speak-

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Indigenous Epistemologies 21 ing, when compared to mainstream academia. It has Henderson, 2000, p. 21). “As a theory, it postulates been difficult to convince academics that Indigenous the superiority of Europeans over non-Europeans. It knowledge is valid, and worthy of the academy’s ac- is built on a set of assumptions and beliefs that edu- ceptance as such. The key to creating balanced rela- cated an usually unprejudiced Europeans and North tionships requires that Indigenous epistemologies be Americans habitually accept as true, as supported by integrated through all academic disciplines. the facts, or as reality” (Battiste & Henderson, 2000, Two important differences stand out between p. 21). Indigenous epistemologies present a challenge Western and Indigenous epistemologies of power. to the “truths” produced by Eurocentric logic, and These are the source of power, and our intentions for Indigenous scholars present a challenge to the fun- the use of power. What are the outcomes we wish to damental pillars of Eurocentrism: the obsession with achieve by utilizing power? In Western epistemolo- objectivity and individualism. gy, the source of power has mainly been by virtue, Vine Deloria (2003) was the first to create a by right, or by legitimacy. Western societies have al- space within Western academia where we could look lowed people to accumulate disproportionately high at power as it exists outside of the Western preoccu- levels of power over others because it is considered pation with objectivity. “In Western thought scientific either virtuous, righteous, or legitimate. In Indigenous theories of reality, knowledge, and methods for know- societies, the source of power is the sacred network ing are logically consistent. The problem is that they of interconnectedness of all elements of the universe, constrain, even preclude, any discussion of our hu- swirling around in a dance of perpetual change and man experience and life as a part of processes involv- transformation — or the flux. ing power(s), which are irreducible to discrete objects The goal that Western societies seek to achieve or things” (Deloria & Wildcat, 2001, p. 15). The In- with power is the production and maintenance of digenous participants of this project accessed their relatively orderly societies, based on individualism Indigenous lived experience and described their life and competition, and wherein great discrepancies in as part of these processes, and the Indigenous episte- wealth and power distribution are a normal feature of mological statement about power is derived from that the capitalist model. Indigenous People do not claim space, where Indigenous knowledges reside. that any one person is more entitled to hold a dispro- Alfred articulates that in Indigenous philoso- portionately high amount of power over any other phies, power flows from respect for nature and the person or creature of Earth, because imbalances cause natural order (Alfred, 2009). “To hold power, it is ill health in communities and in ecosystems. The data necessary to gain knowledge through life experience shows us that unbalanced power relationships are an- and directed learning from Elders” (Alfred, 2009, p. tithetical to Indigenous epistemological views about 75). These philosophies are missing from the main- being part of a healthy network. The goal that Indig- stream understanding of power, which is reflected in enous societies seek to achieve with power, is to live the imbalances we see throughout contemporary so- harmoniously within the delicate balance of forces ciety. Modern society does not give the proper rev- that constitute the flux that is our lived experiences in erence for the existence of power in all the elements Indigenous spaces. that make up the universe. Indigenous philosophies Another key difference that stands out from teach us to respect and accommodate that power in all this research, is that Western epistemologies of power its varied forms (Alfred, 2009). focus on what is superior and what is inferior, where- Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous lan- as Indigenous epistemologies are not concerned with guages were prominently discussed by participants, making judgements about the value of one over the and were identified as having thematic significance. other. According to Indigenous epistemologies, all of Indigenous worldviews are empirical relationships creation is sacred. Previous critiques of the Western with local ecosystems, and Indigenous languages worldview have resulted in the common use of the are an expression of these relationships (Henderson, term, Eurocentrism, which is defined as an “imagi- 2000). Indigenous languages express an awareness of native and institutional context that informs con- a local ecology and are directed to understanding both temporary scholarship, opinion and law” (Battiste & external life forms and the invisible forces beneath

Volume 1, Issue 1 22 Hickey (2020) them (Henderson, 2000). Peoples. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission As indicated, relationships are especially rele- (2015) provides the following definition: “reconcili- vant to the study of power. Indigenous Knowledge is ation is about establishing and maintaining a mutu- specific to certain ecosystems and to the relationships ally respectful relationship between Aboriginal and that create those ecosystems. Therefore, Indigenous non-Aboriginal peoples in this country. In order for ways of knowing, or Indigenous epistemologies, have that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, ethical and moral dimensions, and are tied to places, an acknowledgement of the harm that has been in- to ecologies, and to life systems (Baskin, 2016). Un- flicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change like European languages, the purpose of Indigenous behaviour” (The Truth and Reconciliation Commis- languages is for maintaining positive relationships. sion of Canada, 2015, p. 6). Unlike most Europeans, (Algonquian peo- Indigenous scholars and activists are critical ples) do not have a noun-oriented language toward reconciliation, indicating that decolonization that creates divisions or dualities. Their pur- of Canada is required first, including a massive trans- suit is to be with the flux, to experience its fer of land, power, and wealth back to Indigenous changing form, to develop a relationship with Peoples (Alfred, 2017; Palmater, 2017). “Reconcili- the forces, and thus to create harmony. Their ation is recolonization because it is allowing the col- language and thought are an attempt to learn onizer to hold on to his attitudes and mentality and from being part of the flux, to create a com- does not challenge his behaviour towards our people plementary and harmonious relation with na- or the land” (Alfred, 2017, p. 11). To change the at- ture, to experience the beauty of the moment, titudes and mentality of the colonizer, and to encour- and to release such inspirations back to where age understanding amongst Indigenous Peoples about they came from without fear or loss. Their lan- how individuals of settler ancestry become convinced guage has not developed a method to explain of their own superiority in the first place, I advocate the forces or change them, merely to contain for an epistemological shift in thinking. them. This is the vital context of their worl- I believe that reconciliation is about the rela- dview and life. Because of the awareness of tionship between Indigenous Peoples and persons of flux and its forces, the Algonquian language is settler ancestry, and I believe that the relationship is an active relationship between the elements of worth the effort. However, I also believe that recon- a particular environment (Henderson, 2000, p. ciliation requires understanding of each other’s epis- 262). temological worldviews, and this understanding is As Henderson articulates, Indigenous languages were almost completely inadequate. We can not claim to not developed to explain, describe, label, or measure be in the infancy stages of reconciliation since we are the forces of the universe; they are designed to sup- still conceiving the meaning of it. I believe that newer port and honour the life-giving and life-sustaining generations of Canadians, armed with access to the forces of the universe (Henderson, 2000). According truth, will decide to engage in this process because it to Battiste & Henderson (2000), Indigenous knowl- is the right thing to do. I believe that the cross-cultur- edge is the expression of the vibrant relationships be- al epistemological understandings articulated in the tween people, their ecosystems, and the other living study will help us co-develop a pathway to reconcili- beings and spirits that share the lands. ation. In Canada, the truth and reconciliation process requires us to re-examine and make a sincere Conclusions effort to understand what truth is from both- episte mological viewpoints (The Truth and Reconciliation The Indigenous epistemological statement produced Commission of Canada, 2015). However, the new by this research is an original contribution to the era of reconciliation is perplexing for everyone. Can- conversation about power. The value of this data is ada has not officially described the meaning of the demonstrated by its applicability to the issue of prob- concept as it pertains to relations with Indigenous lematic relations between the Indigenous population and the settler population. It has further value by the

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Indigenous Epistemologies 23 way it uncovers the friction that occurs when West- References ern and Indigenous worldviews collide. Within the parameters of the thesis, the theoretical basis for an Alfred, T. (2009). Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous theory of power was established. I be- Indigenous Manifesto. Don Mills: Oxford Un- lieve that the development of an Indigenous theory versity Press. of power is worth more study, as is the applicability Alfred, T. (2017). It’s All About The Land. In P. Mc- of philosophy and epistemology to reconciliation and Farlane & N. Schabus (Eds.), Whose Land Is It healing. Anyway?: A Manual For Decolonization (pp. From the totality of the research I conclude 11–13). Vancouver: Federation of Post-Second- a more balanced distribution of power resources will ary Educators of BC. be required to achieve reconciliation. Indigenous Aristotle. (1995). The Politics. (E. Barker & R. F. epistemologies explain the reasons that we must do Stalley, Eds.). Oxford: Oxford Unversity Press. this work, and they provide the tools to get it done. Bachrach, P. & Baratz, M. (1962). Two Faces of Pow- Indigenous communities must continue their work er. The American Political Science Review, 56(4), restoring Indigenous worldviews and languages, and 947–952. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/ non-Indigenous communities must create space for about/terms.html,bycontactingJSTORatjstor-in- Indigenous epistemologies, while we work together [email protected],orbycallingJSTORat to solve our common challenges. Baskin, C. (2005). Storytelling Circles: Reflections As has been discussed, Indigenous People un- of Aboriginal Protocols in Research. Canadian derstand the force power that has disrupted the trajec- Social Work Review, 22(2), 171–187. Retrieved tory of Indigenous lives on this continent and around from https://about.jstor.org/terms the world. However, the data of this research shows Baskin, C. (2016). Strong Helpers’ Teachings: The that Indigenous People continue to practice the rich Value of Indigenous Knowledges in the Helping theory and philosophy behind traditional ways of liv- Professions. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press ing and of being Indigenous, which has everything Inc. to do with power, and nothing to do with force. It is Battiste, M., & Henderson, J. (2000). Protecting In- the reason that Indigenous People have survived the digenous Knowledge and Heritage: A Global colonial experience up until now. Indigenous People Challenge. Saskatoon: Purich Publishing Ltd. understand that our power is in the community, and Brooks, T. (2006). Knowledge and Power in Pla- we work together toward community-oriented goals. to’s Political Thought. International Journal of Theory of power is not always about force – and this Philosophical Studies, 14(1), 51–77. https://doi. is an important point – because it is a point of entry to org/10.1080/09672550500445137 a new understanding of power. Burrows, J. (2007). Recovering Canada: The Resur- Canadians and Indigenous People must work gence of Indigenous Law. Toronto: Toronto Uni- together toward truth and reconciliation. The goal is versity Press. peaceful and ethical coexistence. However, this re- Chilisa, B. (2012). Indigenous Research Methodolo- quires that ongoing colonial violence be addressed. gies. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. It requires that we place the “truths” of Western epis- Clayton, E. (2004). Aristotle: Politics. In The Inter- temology on the same shelf as the “truths” of Indig- net Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from enous epistemology and respect their value equal- https://www.iep.utm.edu/aris-pol/ ly. Indigenous People are not asking for a dramatic Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry and Research switch from Western methods to Indigenous methods. Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (3rd Instead, we need willingness from the settler popu- ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Inc. lation to allow for Indigenous ways of knowing to Dahl, R. A. (1957). The Concept of Power. Behav- share the same space as Western ways of knowing. ioral Science, 2(3), 201–215. https://pdfs.se- This will only grow our collective pool of resources manticscholar.org/b6a1/33a495488468b9b24c- from which we can draw solutions to our challenges. de4728e7472ca0560d.pdf Dahl, R. A. (1961). Who Governs?: Democracy and

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Volume 1, Issue 1 RENEWAL “ Chief Lady Bird ”

2020 Digital Illustration “This kwe embodies Spring. She is growing, healing, blooming. This kwe prioritizes her pleasure and enjoyment of life. She is wild. A free spirit. Can we all be free spirits?” Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Reimagining Indigenous Vol. 1(1), 27-36 © The Author(s) 2020 Spaces of Healing: Institutional https://doi.org/10.33137/tijih.v1i1.34239 Environmental Repossession

Vanessa Ambtman-Smith1 & Chantelle Richmond2

Among the global Indigenous population, concepts of health and healthy living are wholistically intertwined within social, physical, natural and spiritual systems. On-going processes of colonization and experiences of environmental dispossession have had the effect of removing Indigenous Peoples from the lands, people and knowledge systems that have traditionally promoted their health. In 2014, Big-Canoe and Richmond introduced the idea of environmental repossession. This concept refers to the social, economic and cultural processes Indigenous People are engaging in to reconnect with their traditional lands and territories, the wider goal being to assert their rights as Indig- enous People and to improve their health and well-being. As Indigenous mothers, both who live in urban centres away from our families and traditional lands and knowledge systems, we highlight the ways in which this conceptual model can promote Indigenous health and healing in urban institutions and spaces not located within or near traditional territory. Specifically, we draw on three examples – an urban hospital, a university food and medicine garden, and a men’s prison – to illustrate how Indigenous Knowledge, ceremony and land-based learning can be incorporated into these institutions and spaces to foster healing and improved wellness for Indigenous People. With increasingly urbanizing Indigenous populations in Canada, and around the world, these findings are important for the development of healing places for Indigenous Peoples, regardless of where they live.

Keywords Environmental repossession, Traditional healing, Indigenous health, Institutions, Space, Place, Health geography, Indigenous Knowledge (IK)

Introduction and co-workers is antithetical to the foundations of our societal norms and cultural practices. Among Indige- We write this paper in the thick of a global pandem- nous Peoples, where concepts of health and healthy ic. To date, the most prolific response to curbing living are wholistically intertwined within social, COVID-19 is through the practice of social distanc- physical, natural, and spiritual systems, these prac- ing. For people and communities around the world, tices are even more challenging. Indigenous health the idea of isolating ourselves from our friends, family and healing have traditionally been promoted through land-based ceremony and other practices that support a wider spectrum of wellness, including the physical, 1PhD Candidate, Indigenous Health Lab, Department of Geogra- phy, Western University, [email protected] mental, emotional, and spiritual (Greenwood, 2005). 2Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair, Western Uni- These practices have kept people healthy because they versity, [email protected] foster interaction with the land and its bounty of food Reimagining Indigenous Spaces of Healing 28 and medicine, and also because they strengthen cul- People are asserting their rights to improve health tural identities and deepen one’s sense of belonging. and wellbeing. In this paper, we embrace the concept Indigenous Knowledge (IK) provides the foundation to explore if and how key elements of environmental for these interactions and practices (McGregor, 2004; repossession – land, social relationships, Indigenous Cajete, 1994). Winona LaDuke (1994) defines IK as Knowledge – can be useful for enhancing health and “the culturally and spiritually based way in which In- healing benefits within three Indigenous spaces locat- digenous Peoples relate to their ecosystems and with ed within institutional environments in urban spaces. one another” (p. 127). Among the Anishinaabe people, for example, these relationships are considered Who We Are central for living mino biimadisiwin (the good life). While many use mino biimadisiwin in reference to As co-authors on this paper, the content and ideas for living a healthy life, it is, in fact, an Anishinaabe phi- this paper are both personal and practical. As moth- losophy about living in the world and relating in a ers to young children, we both find ourselves in ur- good way with people, animals, medicines, and the ban settings wherein we are physically and socially spiritual (Borrows, 2016; McGuire, 2016). It is the distanced from our families and homelands, and the idea that living in a balanced way centrally supports Indigenous Knowledge systems contained therein. healthy living. The first author is a mixed-ancestry Indigenous per- COVID-19 aside, in order to understand the son, whose life path has been shaped by many ex- concept of environmental repossession, we must periences, including being a Sixties Scoop survivor examine the historical and political context of what and growing up and living most of her life in Calgary, happened to Indigenous People through the process Winnipeg, Hamilton, Toronto, and London. of colonization, within the geography of Canada. The first author’s history is also shaped, in This history impacts and shapes the realities that In- part, by the disconnections to her family of origin and digenous People experience in contemporary times. the physical relocation from her ancestral homelands; Through disruption and severing of social connec- she has been able to reclaim knowledge of herself tions, and displacement of land ownership, includ- and identity (Niizh Binesiwag, Two Thunderbirds) ing subsurface rights, a systematic restructuring has through access to Elders, ceremony and traditional created an environment of inequality for Indigenous medicines she has accessed through urban Indigenous Peoples, and resulted in numerous inequities that health spaces. Author Two is Anishinaabe, originally shape and serve to maintain conditions of disparity from Biigtigong Nishnaabeg. Since 1997, when she in almost every domain of quality of life ( ). Along- left northern Ontario, she has lived in the homelands side this reality, we must not lose sight of the delib- of the Haudenosaunee, Algonquin, and now the Mun- erate Indigenous scholarship and resurgence that has see Delaware, Oneida and Chippewa’s. While she has taken rise within Indigenous communities. Birthed lived in London, Ontario for the past twelve years, from within a place of tension, and budding within this home cannot replace the people, places, and the field of Geography, Indigenous youth and voic- knowledges of the traditional territory from where es from the ground have helped to shape a hopeful she was raised. and new research paradigm known as environmental Together, we have come to understand that repossession (Big-Canoe & Richmond, 2014). This many of the experiences we have had, and continue concept brings to light a hopeful, theoretical frame- to have, as Indigenous People who are physically work “supported by three interconnected concepts disconnected from our ancestral family of origin and that includes that sharing of Indigenous knowledge, homelands are not unique to us. Indigenous Peoples the social space to share this knowledge, and connec- have been displaced from their traditional territories tion to the land” (Mikraszewicz & Richmond, 2019, and urbanized for many reasons. As Indigenous wom- p. 3). Alongside the erosion of access to land and the en, we raise our children in the city of London and far knowledge that comes with these practices, new and away from our home territories, and we believe that hopeful opportunities have been created through the we have a right to access spaces and places to create deliberate reclamation of place wherein Indigenous meaningful connections with the land and practice

Volume 1, Issue 1 29 Ambtman-Smith & Richmond (2020) our culture, which is foundational to the health and centrally important, recognizing that as we engage wellbeing for ourselves and our families. As scholars in these concepts in new ways at the intersection of who have worked in various health care and univer- health, we have come to recognize the profound in- sity settings, we are continually examining the ways fluence of ‘space’ and ‘place’ on health, and thus rel- in which we, and other Indigenous People, are able evant to being able to address the most pressing and to enact our right to be connected to the land. It has complex contemporary health questions. been our experience that Indigenous People benefit Health geographers recognize that places in- more from health care and educational environments fluence our sense of wellbeing and can support health- that have established a healing base rooted in land- care, just as places can also make us sick, and that the based practices than those that do not. Building on relationship between space, place, and health is spe- these personal reflections, this paper will highlight cific to the context, is complex to understand and can three urban sites wherein the process of environmen- be messy (Crooks et al., 2018). Health geographers tal repossession is occurring. Drawing from Big-Ca- also recognize that both health and place are social- noe and Richmond’s early work (2014), we explore if ly constructed, yet it is rare to find an earnest under- and how these places can address issues of access to standing of the impact that health and place have on land, IK, and social relationships. one another, making this dimension an important area of study. Crooks et al. (2018) note that in centering Theoretical Context: Place, Space, the relationships between health and place, it may be Health and Indigenous Geographies possible to identify “new solutions to old problems” (p. 227). Building in important ways on themes of re- The core focus of this paper is rooted within spatial newal and unpacking the meaning of place, the ge- awareness of ‘space’ and ‘place’, two terms central ographies of Indigenous health is a sub-discipline of to the wider field of Geography, a broad discipline Health Geography that seeks to understand the com- that considers the meanings, characteristics, uses, and plex relationship between Indigenous People’s health relationalities of spatial environments. The study of and the land (Wilson, 2003; Wilson and Rosenberg, ‘space’ and ‘place’ are essential to all aspects of Hu- 2005; Richmond et al., 2005; Richmond & Big-Ca- man Geography (Crooks, Andrews, & Pearce, 2018). noe, 2018). In 2003, Wilson concluded that “concep- How we construct these multidimensional settings tualizations of health and place within the Geography and locations of everyday life matter as ‘places’ are of Health literature were only partial,” thereby calling both physical and social (Cresswell, 1996). Thus, on others in the field to expand their ways of think- ‘place’ is not a neutral term; rather, it is a concept that ing about, and measuring, Indigenous health (p. 83). describes a location of social construction and hierar- Wilson’s seminal research set the context for a field chy that influences the place-making activities such that would wholeheartedly embrace this challenge. as community-building activities which can facilitate Drawing in large part on critical theory and decolo- a relationship and emotional attachment to that place nizing methodologies, Indigenous health geographers (Castleden, Crooks, Shuurman et al., 2010). The con- are propelled by a moral imperative to use research as temporary construct of ‘place’ is the result of a colo- a tool to support Indigenous self-determination about nial society, replacing and dispossessing the original their own health matters and environmental futures. constructs of Indigenous ‘place’, wherein colonialism survives on establishing positions of power embed- About Environmental Repossession ded within hierarchical structures. It is also possible to view ‘place’ as a landscape that operates through What is ‘Environmental Repossession’ and social interactions, and one that hosts environments Where Did it Originate? such as institutions, and is the foundation of econom- The concept of environmental repossession originates ic and political decisions, with concrete boundaries. from theory and method rooted in the geographies of This is in direct contrast to the meaning of ‘space’, Indigenous health. Environmental repossession is which is far more abstract and without fixed boundar- part of a movement that seeks to align and enhance ies. An understanding of ‘space’ and ‘place’ becomes Indigenous self-determining research processes by

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Reimagining Indigenous Spaces of Healing 30 providing practical, visible and applied outcomes, and connection to the land, the greater objective be- occurring within a clearly defined context that ben- ing to support Indigenous community self-determi- efits Indigenous people (Mikraszewicz & Richmond, nation and improved health (Mikraszewicz & Rich- 2019; Hatala, Morton, Njeze et al., 2019; Tobias & mond, 2019). Building on Hatala et al.’s (2019) call Richmond, 2016; Richmond, 2015). Based on nur- to support Indigenous land-based healing in the city, turing social relationships between IK and the land, we draw from environmental repossession as a theo- and revitalizing connections enacted through social, retical framing to explore the ways in which proxies cultural, economic and political processes, Indige- for IK, land and social relationships – the key pillars nous People are striving to ‘repossess’ or reconnect of environmental repossession – are used to support with their environments and to assert their rights to health and healing for urban Indigenous Peoples in improve community health and wellness (Big-Canoe institutional settings as described below. & Richmond, 2014). The concept first made its appearance through Environmental Repossession in the a case study in northern Ontario, wherein, Indigenous City: A Hospital, Prison, and University youth contemplated the negative impacts of environmental dispossession on their daily living, and how In this study, we draw on three case studies to explore this troubling pattern can be improved upon (Big-Ca- and describe the ways in which these urban institu- noe & Richmond, 2014). Specifically, the youth iden- tions are supporting the health and healing of Indig- tified a need for greater opportunities to engage with enous Peoples. These cases serve as proxies for the Elders, from which they argued they would learn three pillars of environmental repossession – social IK through being out on the land. “As conceptual- relationships (e.g. roles within community, Elders in ised by Biigtigong’s youth, environmental reposses- Residence; Aunties, Grandmothers can offer substi- sion is supported by three interconnected concepts tute for kinships not accessible); connections to the that includes that sharing of IK, the social space to land (e.g. ceremonies, including smudging; tradition- share this knowledge, and connection to the land” al medicine harvests; Sweatlodge ceremonies); and (Mikraszewicz & Richmond, 2019, p. 3). Because IK systems (incorporate traditional teachings, values, environmental repossession is grounded in critical language, and knowledge about health and healing and place-based theory, it can serve as a theoretical and how to incorporate what’s available to enable framing or lens in drawing out local meanings and this). It is important to note that there is not a large contexts that are missing from our current knowledge body of knowledge collected in the academy about base (e.g. places wherein decolonizing and reconcil- Indigenous Peoples’ relationship to spaces that have iatory processes have taken hold), prompting access been transformed. Therefore, in the following sec- to land-based learning and healing practices. Exam- tion, we will identify three case studies of places that ples of these reconciliatory processes are diverse and demonstrate activity within the core facets of envi- broadly span various institutional spaces that have ronmental repossession, what they are doing to sup- historically harmed Indigenous People, including the port Indigenous healing, and how we identify proxies Indian Residential School system, Indian hospitals for repossession. and Inuit experiences in the sanatoria. Experiences of colonialism have commonly marginalized Indigenous Case Study 1: The Ceremony Grounds, People from their traditional homelands, cultures, and The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health ways of living. In modern times, these processes con- (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario tinue to inflict extreme harm on Indigenous health “Our new buildings will be so much more and wellbeing. than walls, floors and ceilings. They will be Yet, Indigenous Peoples are not mere victims respectful and dignified places that promote in their experiences of dispossession. Over the past healing and recovery. They will be a powerful few decades, an exciting and empowering research symbol of CAMH’s move away from institu- paradigm has developed to support work with Indig- tionalization and towards integration within enous populations to revitalize knowledge systems

Volume 1, Issue 1 31 Ambtman-Smith & Richmond (2020)

our community. And they will serve our ac- approach is to combine connections to Traditional ademic mission to advance mental health re- Knowledge of health and healing and leveraging the search, nationally and globally.” CAMH Pres- natural environment as a part of this process. These ident and CEO Dr. Catherine Zahn (CAMH, processes have been made possible through the trans- 2020, para. 3). formation of institutional space to create access to a For the past decade and a half, the Centre for Addic- land-base in an urban centre. This space restores a tion and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s oldest historic connection that Indigenous People have had and largest mental health teaching hospital, has been with the land that is now occupied by the hospital as undergoing a process of “physical transformation… “CAMH is situated on lands that have been occu- turning what was once a walled institution into a pied by First Nations for millennia; lands rich in civ- symbol of hope for the future of mental health care” ilizations with knowledge of medicine, architecture, (CAMH, 2020). Through these changes to modern- technology and extensive trade routes throughout the ize and reimagine space to be open, inclusive, dig- Americas” (CAMH, 2020). Through the reclamation nified, and respectful, the landscape and connection of space, CAMH has recognized, with guidance from to what was formerly a Provincial Lunatic Asylum the local Indigenous communities, that the use of this in the 1850’s has been altered, both physically and space to host sacred ceremonies is in keeping with symbolically. In the spring of 2016, CAMH opened the land recognition of how this place was used for the Ceremony Grounds, a narrow track of land nes- hundreds of years prior to the development of the tled between two of CAMH’s buildings, hosting the hospital. A Reconciliation Working Group (RWG) Sweatlodge, Medicine Garden, and Sacred Fire, cre- has been in place since 2017, bringing together Indig- ated to facilitate ceremonies “designed to help purge enous and non-Indigenous people to host cultural, so- body and mind of past abuse and trauma - essential cial and Indigenous learning opportunities. Through on the path to recovery” (Diane Longboat in Hon- this active work, the committee has created connec- derich, 2016, para. 5). This space provides access to tions to Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and to Ab- traditional healing embedded within a formal treat- original Services within CAMH to build partnerships, ment plan for “every First Nations, Inuit and Métis increase visibility of Aboriginal services, and to facil- client who requests it [and] is considered part of the itate access to education on Indigenous cultural safety standard of care at the hospital” (CAMH, 2020). A (Longboat, Green, Shkaabe Makwa et al., 2019). critical part of the Ceremony Grounds is the Sweat- This case study offers a promising example of lodge, which is a covered structure made of willow how an institutional hospital space in downtown To- branches built into a ‘womb-like’ design, creating sa- ronto could enable processes of environmental repos- cred space where ceremony attendees gather and sit session, re-organizing space to support a Sweatlodge, directly on the earth covered with cedar sprigs (see Fire and Medicine Garden in response to Indigenous Figure 1). Within this space, ceremony is conducted patient and community desires, and to enact control by an Elder who facilitates the transfer of knowledge over Indigenous health and healing practices. While and leads the ceremony involving the use of grand- these practices have never been explicitly labelled or fathers, which are fire-heated rocks that are used to talked about within an environmental repossession induce sweating, burning plant based medicines, and framework, it is interesting to see that these promis- bringing about an altered state of consciousness that ing practices meet the conditions. As a result of these enables one to transcend, release, and potentially ex- elements, CAMH’s Indigenous space and programs perience life altering benefits, including healing from could be considered proxies for a health-promoting abuse and trauma. environment where access to one’s own ancestral These services are offered for both staff and land-base, knowledges, and social connections may patients of CAMH, and are connected to the Aborigi- not be traditionally available. Some of the limitations nal Services, which employs Indigenous and non-In- apparent in this promising example include the lack digenous health professionals, social workers, and of formal research or publication, leading the prima- a residential Elder and Healer. A critical part of this ry author to conclude that more needs to be known about these healing spaces within hospitals, including

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Reimagining Indigenous Spaces of Healing 32 peoples’ relationships to the space, what their expe- istration, and also on the ability of Indigenous people riences are, and how this lends to health, healing and to be self-determining in these spaces” (Peach, Rich- reconciliation of healthcare environments. mond & Brunette-Debassige, 2020, p. 117). While there may be opportunities to strengthen the potential Figure 1: A bare sweatlodge frame with a pit for the grandfather and grandmother stones that will be used in cere- of the garden as a space for self-determination, the mony once heated in the Scared Fire, located outside of the current model of the IFMG, run by students, staff, and sweatlodge within the Ceremony Grounds at CAMH, To- volunteers at Western University, does serve to meet ronto (CAMH website, 2020). the criteria of environmental repossession. For example, the garden hosts many well-respected Elders in residence and Knowledge Keepers from local Indige- nous communities who contribute their expertise and wisdom on the IK systems inherent with the use of the land and the relationships to the food and medicines. The IFMG produces food and medicines for Indigenous students and visitors through items har- vested, including ingredients required to make soup for Corn Soup Day and stocking the Elder’s Closet (i.e., the storage space for gifts and offerings at In- Case Study 2: Western University Indigenous digenous Student Services) with traditional tobacco Food and Medicine Garden (IFMG), London, (Peach, 2018, p.8). Ontario Through the transformation and reclamation Located at Western University, within the City of of space, students and visitors have access to ways to London, and on the traditional territories of the An- learn and practice connections to IK and the land in ishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and At- ways that are not typically available within an aca- tawandaron peoples, the Indigenous Food and Med- demic institutional environment. The garden has been icine Garden (IFMG) is situated on land within an characterized as a space which forms a place where institution, wherein the “assertion of Indigenous con- Indigenous People can practice IK, have it valued and trol was the primary use of the space” (Peach, 2018, practice culture. Additionally, through the involve- p. i). The space was originally reimagined by an In- ment of Elders, social connections are made, nurtur- digenous graduate student and has been a fixture on ing a health- promoting environment by affirming In- the main campus of the university since 2014 (Peach, digenous identity and belonging (Peach, Richmond & 2018). Development of the IFMG involved recreat- Brunette-Debassige, 2020; Peach, 2018). The IFMG ing the “necessary conditions (e.g., social, environ- offers a place of connection for students attending mental) for these traditional ways of eating [that] Western University and missing the connections to have been significantly incapacitated from colonial their homelands, as well as for Indigenous People mechanisms, both past and on-going, since the arrival who have never had the opportunity to hold connec- of Europeans” (Peach, 2018, p. 10). In her Master’s tions to IK before. In both situations, the IFMG is de- Thesis, Peach (2018) examines the local meaning of scribed as an important space and proxy a tradition- the IFMG, or the garden, and finds that “the garden al land base and a linkage to health and wellbeing at provides a vitally important space for the Indigenous Western. community at Western to practice, share and strengthen their Indigenous Knowledges” (p. i). These find- Case Study 3: A Study Based on Prison ings also document the limitations of repossession Institutions in Canada; Stephanie Wellman within an institutional structure, stating that “the rec- Thesis 2017, Literature Review and Primary onciliatory impact of Indigenization projects, such as Research Gardens, relies heavily on the strength of relationship The final case study is compiled from a collection of between Indigenous people and the University Admin- interviews with Indigenous men who have all been formerly incarcerated in either federal or provincial

Volume 1, Issue 1 33 Ambtman-Smith & Richmond (2020) correctional institutions in Canada within the last de- rate of recidivism and a reduced likelihood of sub- cade. The data has been drawn from both the primary stance use (Kunic & Varis, 2009). research of Wellman (2017) and includes references to her literature review and drawn from literature Discussion from James Waldram (1997). The thesis documents experiences of men who accessed Indigenous pro- These case studies demonstrate that it is important gramming guided by Elders (e.g. Healing Circles, to look at how institutions support Indigenous peo- Healing Lodges), or programs carried out by Correc- ple, and why. As exemplified in the case studies of tions Services Canada staff with the assistance of an CAMH, the Medicine Garden, and prisons, we hope Indigenous Elder. Some of the rehabilitation supports to express how we see processes of environmental re- include traditional medicine use or ceremonies con- possession applied in these institutional spaces, and ducted on a land-base, such as the Sweatlodge, or cer- how these practices are designed to foster health and emonies organized independently amongst inmates, healing. These examples surface some of the tensions such as smudging. In examining the experiences of inherent in activities combining traditional medicine incarcerated men, the thesis highlights important so- and healing within a non-Indigenous facility. For ex- cial connections and relationships imparted through ample, inmates in Case Study 3 have identified is- programming, such as the Aboriginal Offender Sub- sues and challenges of Indigenous-specific programs stance Abuse Program (AOSAP), a high-intensity within correctional settings, such as the difficulty for intervention program that blends cultural and cog- Indigenous spirituality to be legitimized in a cultur- nitive practices. This program addresses “physical, ally appropriate manner, and a pan-Indigenous ap- mental, emotional and spiritual affects of substance proach where Indigenous spirituality and identity is use through Indigenous cultural and spiritual values viewed to be homogenous (Wellman, 2017). Though, and ceremonies, while incorporating cognitive ther- in response to this critique, both Waldram (1997) and apy, social learning theory, harm reduction, stages of Wellman (2017) found that “none of the men found change, motivational interviewing, and relapse pre- pan-Indigenous programming to be problematic… vention” (Kunic & Varis, 2009, p. 8). In this way, IK is the men in the present research project discussed the integrated into treatment for the inmates, demonstrat- respect and inclusivity inherent in Indigenous cul- ing the efficacy of Indigenous spirituality programs in ture…” (Wellman, 2017, p. 78). Additionally, some resolving identity conflicts. To add, Waldram (1997) of the men noted that they felt comfortable in know- found that prison is often a place where Indigenous ing that “everyone in the Circle was coming together men first learn about and/or participate in their cul- and participating for the right purposes, which was to tural practices and that Indigenous men enter prison talk to the Creator and thank him for their breath of with conflicted identity issues as a result of colonial life, and to be proud of being Indigenous” (Wellman, projects, racism, discrimination, and marginaliza- 2017, p. 79). There is also some debate about how we tion. This speaks to the critical importance of offering create a space to fill a purpose, including pushback on proxies for environmental repossession in institutions the use of symbolic gestures recreated within institu- such as prisons. The results of the study “highlight tions. In Case Studies 1 and 2, additional tensions sur- the importance and necessity of Indigenous-specific rounding the combination of IK systems with main- prison programming to incarcerated Indigenous men, stream practices is controversial and these proxies are as well as the healing potential of Indigenous culture not widely accepted; yet, based on the demand from and spirituality” (Wellman, 2017, p.ii). Thus, this ex- Indigenous People in these places, applications have ample of repossession has demonstrated an intricate been found to be useful and sometimes critically im- measure to restore a sense of balance within institu- portant for health and wellness. tional life and beyond. In fact, the restorative mea- As reported in the results of Case Study 2, sures of repossession have been evaluated through the “growing traditional foods and medicines on Western AOSAP and point to the efficacy of these approach- University’s campus supports Indigenous self-deter- es versus non-Indigenous interventions, citing lower mination and land reclamation; it provides a criti-

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Reimagining Indigenous Spaces of Healing 34 cal space for the sharing and learning of Indigenous these examples we hope to offer ways to consider fu- Knowledge, and the practical place for ‘doing’ the ture applications of environmental repossession and growing, tending, procuring, harvesting, sharing, and increase awareness of the potential value of these pro- eventual consumption of traditional foods” (Peach, cesses for Indigenous People who are not connected Richmond & Brunette-Debassige, 2020, p. 124). With to a land-base or displaced from their homelands. We this practical space, Indigenous students are able to believe that there are many unidentified opportunities choose to deliberately engage in IK, and to learn and to locate new solutions, or advance and grow current grow in ways not typically associated with an insti- initiatives that can support enhanced well-being and tutional environment, especially one that may be lo- health for Indigenous People within urban spaces, cated away from their traditional territory. These case or non-Indigenous places, such as those described studies help to identify the possibility of re-establish- above. Current data reminds us that at least 75% of ing critical connections and relationships to support Indigenous People in Ontario reside off-reserve, and the many Indigenous People experience environmen- the majority of this population live in urban centres; tal dispossession, including those who are living in thus, the health, social, and cultural needs of Indige- institutions or urban areas. A key observation of these nous Peoples in urban settings is deserving of great- examples is that social relationships and IK are nur- er research and policy attention. It is important to tured through Elders and Knowledge Keepers who re-imagine the city and its various places and spac- are brought into institutional places to facilitate these es not as isolating and health-damaging, but rather processes. Without their critical support, the opportu- as full of opportunity to be identified and utilized as nity for benefits to Indigenous health and healing may places that promote Indigenous health and wellness. not exist. Even the most advanced technical physi- Circling back to the current context of the COVID-19 cal spaces are not brought into the realm of place and pandemic, and the emphasis on spatial re-organiza- become an environment of care without practitioners tion and the health benefits of re-creating place, the – those that enable and access socially constructed pandemic may be an opportune time to consider en- experiences. Thus, key actors are required to enable vironmental repossession as a goal. The opportunity Indigenous cultural spaces to become places of health to mitigate harms associated with physical proximi- and healing. ty to one another and the transmission of disease is one variable that has life saving potential; however, Conclusion rethinking these spatial strategies to encompass the values described within environmental repossession Indigenous scholars have identified many promising may offer longer-term benefits that go beyond harm examples that reinforce the fact that “cultural wounds reduction, and seek to build on a wellness plain. demand cultural medicines” (Chandler & Dunlop, 2015). In Canada, it is common for institutions to be References created in such a way that Indigenous cultural spaces are not typically considered in spatial planning. To Big-Canoe, K., & Richmond, C. A. (2014). Anishi- facilitate traditional healing and land-based applica- nabe youth perceptions about community health: tions, places like hospitals and prisons require con- Toward environmental repossession. Health & siderable structural and spatial transformation. When Place, 26, 127-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. Indigenous cultural spaces are integrated in the ini- healthplace.2013.12.013 tial planning in new builds or restructuring phases in Borrows, J. (2016). Seven Gifts: Revitalizing Living existing institutions, there is significant - yet under- Laws Through Indigenous Legal Practice. Lake- reported and underexamined - gains in Indigenous head Law Journal, 2(1), 2-14. https://llj.lakehe- health and wellness in these institutions. adu.ca/issue/viewIssue/75/21 In this paper, we have drawn from the concept Cajete, G. (1994). The Environmental Foundation of of environmental repossession to examine if and how Indigenous Education. In G. Cajete, Look to the it may be useful for supporting health and healing for mountains: ecology of indigenous education (pp. Indigenous Peoples in urban institutions. Through 74-114). Durango, Colorado: Kivaki Press.

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Castleden, H., Crooks, V.A., Schuurman, N., and Han- china2017/library/LaDuke.pdf lon, N. (2010). “It’s not necessarily the distance Longboat, D., Green N., Shkaabe Makwa (formerly on the map…”: using place as an analytic tool to Aboriginal Engagement and Outreach [AEO]), elucidate geographic issues central to rural pallia- & Provincial System Support Program (PSSP). tive care. Health & Place, 16(2), 284-290. https:// (2019). Reconciliation Working Group Annu- doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2009.10.011 al Report 2018-2019. Centre for Addiction and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (2020). Mental Health. https://camh.ca/-/media/files/ Retrieved April 30, 2020 from https://www. shkaabe-makwa-rwg-annual-report-2018-2019- camh.ca/en/driving-change/building-the-mental- pdf.pdf health-facility-of-the-future McGregor, D. (2004). Coming full circle: Indigenous Chandler, M. J., & Dunlop, W. L. (2015). Cultur- knowledge, environment, and our future. Amer- al wounds demand cultural medicines. In M. ican Indian Quarterly, 28(3/4), 385-410. www. Greenwood, S. De Leeuw, N. M. Lindsay, & C. jstor.org/stable/4138924 Reading (Eds) Determinants of Indigenous Peo- McGuire, P. D. (2013). Anishinaabe Giikeedaasi- ples’ Health: Beyond the Social, (pp. 78-89). To- win–Indigenous knowledge: An exploration of ronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press. resilience (Doctoral dissertation, University of Cresswell, T. (1996). In place/ out of place: Universi- Saskatchewan). https://harvest.usask.ca/han- ty of Minneapolis Press. dle/10388/ETD-2013-09-1212 Crooks, V., Andrews, G., & Pearce, J. (2018). Mikraszewicz, K., & Richmond, C. (2019). Pad- Introducing Section 4: Places and spac- dling the Biigtig: Mino biimadisiwin practiced es. In Routledge Handbook of Health Ge- through canoeing. Social Science & Medi- ography (1st ed.,pp.227-229). https://doi. cine, 240, 112548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. org/10.4324/9781315104584-32 socscimed.2019.112548 Greenwood, M. (2005). Children as citizens of First Peach, L. J. (2018) “You can’t just take a piece of land Nations: Linking Indigenous health to early from the university and build a garden on it”: A childhood development. Paediatrics & child case study of the Indigenous food and medicine health, 10(9), 553-555. https://doi.org/10.1093/ garden at Western University” (5430) [Master’s pch/10.9.553 thesis, Western University]. Electronic Thesis Hatala, A. R., Morton, D., Njeze, C., Bird-Nay- and Dissertation Repository. https://ir.lib.uwo. towhow, K., & Pearl, T. (2019). Re-imagining ca/etd/5430 miyo-wicehtowin: Human-nature relations, Peach, L., Richmond, C., & Brunette-Debassige, C. land-making, and wellness among Indigenous (2020). “You can’t just take a piece of land from youth in a Canadian urban context. Social Sci- the university and build a garden on it”: Exploring ence & Medicine, 230, 122-130. https://doi. Indigenizing space and place in a settler Canadi- org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.04.012 an university context. Geoforum, 114, 117–127. Honderich, H. (2016, June 24). CAMH sweat lodge a https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.06.001 ‘higher level of healing’. The Star. https://www. Richmond, C. (2015). The relatedness of people, land, thestar.com/news/gta/2016/06/24/camh-sweat- and health: stories from Anishinabe elders. In M. lodge-a-higher-level-of-healing.html Greenwood, S. De Leeuw, N. M. Lindsay, & C. Kunic, D., & Varis, D. (2009). The Aboriginal Of- Reading (Eds) Determinants of Indigenous Peo- fender Substance Abuse Program: Examining the ples’ Health: Beyond the Social, (pp. 93-101). effects of successful completion on post-release Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press. outcomes. Correctional Service Canada. https:// Richmond, C., Big-Canoe, K. (2018). The geogra- www.csc-scc.gc.ca/005/008/092/005008-0217- phies of Indigenous health. In A. Valorie, G. J. 01-eng.pdf Andrews, & J. Pearce (Eds) Routledge Hand- LaDuke, W. (1994). Traditional ecological knowledge book of Health Geography (1st ed., pp. 179–188). and environmental futures. Colo. J. Int’l Envtl. L. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315104584-26 & Pol’y, 5, 127. https://www.uky.edu/~rsand1/ Richmond, C., Elliott, S., Matthews, R. and Elliott,

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B. (2005). The political ecology of health: perceptions of environment, economy, health and well-being among ‘Namgis First Nation. Health & Place, 11(4), 349–365. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2004.04.003 Tobias, J., & Richmond, C. (2016). Gimiigiwemin: Putting knowledge translation into practice with Anishinaabe communities. International Journal of Indigenous Health, 11(1), 228–243. https:// doi.org/10.18357/ijih111201616019 Waldram, J. (1997) The way of the pipe: Aboriginal spirituality and symbolic healing in Canadian prisons. Peterborough: Broadview Press. Wellman, S. (2017). Re (claiming) Indigenous Iden- tity Within Canada’s Prison System: Indigenous Identity and Indigenous-Specific Prison Pro- gramming (Doctoral dissertation, Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa). uO Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-717 Wilson, K. (2003). Therapeutic landscapes and First Nations peoples: an exploration of culture, health and place. Health & Place, 9(2), 83–93. https:// doi.org/10.1016/S1353-8292(02)00016-3 Wilson, K. and Rosenberg, M. (2002). Exploring the determinants of health for First Nations peoples in Canada: can existing frameworks accommodate traditional activities? Social Science & Med- icine, 55, 2017–2031. https://doi.org/10.1016/ s0277-9536(01)00342-2

Volume 1, Issue 1 Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Baawaajige: Exploring Dreams as Vol. 1(1), 37-47 © The Author(s) 2020 Academic References https://doi.org/10.33137/tijih.v1i1.34020

Amy Shawanda1

Baawaajige: my ideas for research are often revealed while sleeping. We as Anishi- naabe People are able to connect to the spiritual realm through dreams. I will explore how Anishinaabe People utilize dreams and validate Indigenous ways of knowing without feeling shy and to be proud of where we obtain our knowledge. We need to normal- ize our dreams and visions within our writing. My conference presentation explores the use of dreams in academic writing as validated research. I want to privilege Indigenous research method and methodology that appears within our dreams, visions, and through fasting. How do we reference these in our academic writing? How do we provide context to such intimate moments between us and the Spirit World? How do we honour that knowledge in colonial academic papers? I will explore these questions while contributing to Indigenous research methods, and methodologies.

Keywords Baawaajige, Dreams, Academics, APA, References, Storytelling

Introduction the validity of spirituality within Western academia. This article blossomed from my presentation at the This article aims to: Canadian Indigenous/Native Studies Association 1. Address the literary gap by understanding (CINSA) Conference hosted by Trent University. In Dream Knowledges as a valid source of this article, I tackle the literary gap of dream cita- knowledge for Indigenous students and tion guidelines because the academy has not viewed scholars, and justifying it from an Indige- dreaming as a valid source of knowledge. The arti- nous perspective, cle is from an Anishinaabe kwe (woman) perspective 2. Encourage Indigenous students and schol- and weaves in the Indigenous academic practice of ars to include their dreams within their re- storytelling. Eurocentric ideologies often ignore In- search and writing, and digenous Knowledges, more specifically, Dream 3. Provide guidelines to referencing dreams Knowledge, because the colonial narrative questions for Indigenous students and scholars within their academic writing. To accomplish this, I will share my Dream Knowl- Acknowledgements: I would like to acknowledge Manulani edges that have impacted my scholarly understand- Meyer for having the discussion around dreams and the spiritual world. I want to say chi-miigwech to my mother Nancy for ings and writings. I propose several citation formats assisting me with language translations as well as watching my based on dream specifics and by first citing who vis- children so that I continue my academic journey. I want to say ited within the dream. Citation formats will engage miigwech to my sister for ensuring the my children were always with either Ancestral Accounts, Unknown Ancestors, busy and helping access books when it was needed. Lastly, I and Nii’kinaaganaa (All my relations). I have also want say chi-miigwech to my cohort Malinda, Marisol, Cathy, Gabe, and Jason to consult, critique, and support my writing. created six subcategories based on descriptions of the 1Amy Shawanda, PhD Candidate, Trent University, amyshawa- type of dream and how the collected knowledge oc- [email protected] curred within the dream: dream conversation, dream Baawaajige 38 visitation, dream message, dream interpretation, day- mation they could not possibly derive from the most dream, and prophecy/vision. I have utilized the Amer- intense observations of the physical world” (Deloria ican Psychological Association (APA) citation style Jr., 2006, p. xxv). All of the information acquired is because it is used in multiple disciplines. I conclude Dream Knowledge. this paper by encouraging Indigenous students and scholars to incorporate their Dream Knowledge with- Anishinaabemowin in the literary framework. Generally, in Anishinaabemowin, it is all about context. My mother is fluent in Anishinaabemowin, she Baawaajige assisted with the translations so that I could better demonstrate the similarities in sounds of Anishinaabe Baawaajige means to dream. The understanding is words. I want to discuss in my language “nbaa” is that when we are sleeping, we are “…travelling in used in reference to sleep and “nbaa” refers to he/she the form of spiritual light when the body is at rest” is sleeping. If an Ojibwe speaker were to come over to (Horton, 2017, para. 13). Through thought, prayer, my place and ask “aapiish beebeenhs?”, I would reply ceremony, and dreams, it is where we can access in- “nbaa,”, and they would understand I am referring to formation because the belief is our spiritual light is a him as “sleeping” most likely in another room. I just central tenet to the cosmological dimension (Spiritual want to provide a bit of context as the Anishinaabe Realm). The Anishinaabek believe in the metaphys- language heavily relies upon it. In “nbaa” the baa is ical world, and dreaming is an element within our similar to the nursery rhyme song “baa, baa black intellectual framework. Our dreams are part of our sheep”. methods as we co-create with universe and the Ances- If you had spoken to someone who has walked tors. When we are asleep, we receive dreams, which the Earth and you had known them, then you would could be just dreams, but we also receive guidance refer to the person “‘their name’ -ba or -baa” (the hy- and messages from the Spiritual Realm (Da Silva, phenated indicates they have walked on to reside in 2010). Smith (2012) writes that the power of dreams the Spiritual Realm and acknowledge that they have is essential to Anishinaabek identity and survival. passed on). As emphasized earlier, context is every- Dream Knowledge is integrated into our daily lives thing. For example, when I discuss grandmother Al- as we continually bridge two knowledge systems: the ice-ba or Alice-baa (pronounced buh), many Anishi- spiritual knowledges gained in dreams and the scien- naabe speakers would understand she has passed on tific knowledges gained through empirical observa- and I am acknowledging her. The single “a” or a dou- tions. This knowledge, obtained through dreaming, ble “aa” will be used interchangeably to demonstrate has allowed us to sustain our Nations and ways of there is no right or wrong way, but it is the author’s being for thousands of years. preference. I am explaining this because I do not want When Indigenous People pray to access the to have someone sleeping confused with someone Spiritual Realm, it is very common to receive infor- passed on. mation in the dream state. Smith (2012) explains that remembering our dreams is important as we receive Anishinaabe Ontology vital instructions either implicitly or explicitly because For the Anishinaabek, dreams are important as they we have communicated with the manidoog (spirits). remind us that we are entangled within the cosmolog- The information that is transmitted can range from a ical energies. We understand our relationships extend variety of things such as medicinal plant use, healing beyond the material world. Ultimately, cosmology instructions, ceremonial guidance, finding their lost shapes our perception of who we are, how we come to items/people, conversing with the animate and inan- know, and why we are here. Furthermore, in Anishi- imate, and the knowledge of future events (Deloria naabe ontology, the Creation of the universe begins Jr., 2006). Dreams that are prophetic provide anoth- with a dream by Gzhe Mnidoo (Great Mystery). Elder er layer of understanding when the People accepted Doug Williams (2018) shares, “way back in time, it that “the living universe came forward to urge them to was total darkness. There was nothing. At this time take certain well-defined paths of behaviour… infor- Gzhwe Manidoo had a dream. In that dream, Gzhwe

Volume 1, Issue 1 39 Shawanda (2020)

Manidoo saw the world that we know today” (p. 13). ing. I have had conversations with my peers as to why Our Creation story describes that we are a gift from we need to take a stand within the University by chal- Gzhe Mnidoo’s vision and we were created from lenging Western knowledge to expand Indigenous zaagi’idiwin – love (Peacock, 2020). Through this Knowledges and understandings to be included with- teaching we get our Spiritual Knowledge. It is where in the academy. Again, Kovach (2009) conveys this the plants, animals, or even the metaphysical Spirits as “[t]he proposition of integrating spiritual knowings will share their giikendaasowin (knowledge) within and processes, like ceremonies, dreams, or synchro- dreams. We can obtain Dream Knowledge throughout nicities, which act as portals for gaining knowledge, the day and at night, as well as through vision quests, makes mainstream academia uncomfortable” (p. 67). ceremonies, rites of passage, healing, prophecies, and Some Indigenous students are using dream experienc- when looking for guidance. Simpson (2011) elabo- es within action, which brings Indigenous Knowledge rates on the importance of dreams, writing that our to Western institutions. Anishinaabe intellect is grounded within the ability I will illustrate a few Indigenous authors who to dream. Gzhe Mnidoo was “demonstrating that the had dreams that had impacted their research. To start process of creation – visioning, making, doing – is with, Archibald (2008) dreamed about bringing oral the most powerful process in the universe” (Simp- narratives into the Western educational setting be- son, 2011, p. 42). The Anishinaabek understand that cause our stories are an essential part of Indigenous when we sleep at night, we have the ability to return pedagogies and epistemologies. Another example, to our previous metaphysical state of existence. For Absolon (2011), who describes her research concept example, Nanaboozhoo, the first Anishinaabe, has the of petal flower that presented itself after she followed ability to transform into any being because he was Indigenous protocol of offering tobacco and prayed half-human and half-spirit (Smith, 1995). Our stories for guidance. She reveals that, “a gift of a dream was of Nanaboozhoo provide the foundational teachings sent to me – I dreamt of a petal flower… I drew out the of the human and spirit relationship and other life petal flower and identified its components in relation lessons and exemplify our paradigm of living Mino to Indigenous methodologies” (p. 48). Furthermore, Bimaadiziwin – how we interact with the environ- Absolon (2011) reimagined an Indigenous Knowl- ment around us while trying to live a harmonious life. edge Framework by utilizing a flower that would Dreaming gives us the capability to transcend into incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing through Sacred Space and return to our Ancestors’ land. Here, metaphors; thus, allowing Indigenous students and time is not linear, so dreaming allows us to co-exist scholars to build their research with an Indigenous within the same domain as the Ancestors, that is in paradigm. Simpson (2000), shares that she is contin- the past, present, and future simultaneously. We have uously guided by her dreams and her own volition to the unconscious connection and can draw parallels of do community work. When she is doing community Nanaboozhoo transformations to our gift of dream- work and needs assistance from the Spiritual Realm, ing. The Dream World is where we can be anything she will make tobacco offerings to the manidoog to and see almost everything and everyone. Moreover, provide guidance. She explains the information re- Gzhe Mnidoo ensured if we ever forgot our way that ceived often assists her work to move forward. Lastly, the spirits could always access us through dreams. Noodin (2014) utilizes Bawaajige as the entry point of her book and later explains the importance “to re- Baawaajige Giikendaasowin (Dream verse-engineer the Native critical landscape, to create Knowledge) paradigms and methodologies that stem from indig- Kovach (2009) articulates that “[s]acred knowledge enous (sic) systems of thinking” (xvii). When Indig- is not really (sic) accepted in Western research, other enous students and scholars include Dream Knowl- than in anthropological, exotic, kind of way” (p. 67). edge within their academic writing, they are reverse This is not new knowledge to Indigenous Peoples as engineering the Western methods of accessing infor- they often face criticism when trying to incorporate mation because we are infusing traditional knowledge Indigenous Knowledges into their work because it is that honours our ways of knowing. I want to add that not scientifically grounded in Western ways of know- this is not an exhaustive list as there are many more

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Baawaajige 40

Indigenous students and scholars who are guided by p. 20). Johnston-baa (1976) reflects that the dreamer their dreams. could be afraid of the messages shared. An example Knowledge is shared within dreams and when of this is a story shared about Weegwaus who ap- we are awake it is up to us to take action to share proached Elder Chejauk for interpretation because it that information. I will illustrate this by providing a was so alarming. In this narrative, Chejauk assisted few brief examples of famous scientists who not only with unpacking the dream and described the dream as had dreams but took action such as René Descartes – the Four Hills of Life teachings; these have since been philosopher and mathematician – who resigned from described as the ups and downs of life’s journey. This the army because his dreams altered his path, which teaching was a gift to Weegwaus who was to share placed him on a pursuit of human knowledge; Albert these new understandings of how people progress and Einstein had a dream about the Theory of Relativity; how life can be challenging for them. The Four Hills Dmitri Mendeleev had a nap and he formulated the of Life teaching is now shared amongst the Anishi- Periodic Table, and Srinivasa Ramanujan was able naabek. to produce more than a thousand of new mathemat- ic calculations because of the dream he had (Roland Anishinaabek Children 2018; 20 Famous Scientists, 2015). There are many Many Indigenous children are encouraged to dream other scientific breakthroughs along with modern in- so that they may continue to be guided in their re- ventions that appeared in dreams. lationship with the cosmos. Pomedli (2014) expands If one is well-versed in Anishinaabek stories that through our beliefs as Anishinaabek that the meta- they may know we often stray away from the Mi- physical stories come alive and it is where “Ojibwa no-Bimaadiziwin path, therefore we require assis- children go to school in dreams” (p. xix). Densmore tance from the Spiritual Realm to find our way back. (1979) recounts how a Chippewa Elder described the Dokis (2018) recalls that she was hired for a water importance of the knowledge gained from dreaming: project, which was suspended because of the ques- “in the old days our people had no education. They tionable research goals and methodology. As she could not learn from books or teachers. All their wis- embarked on a canoe trip with colleagues and a First dom and knowledge came to them in dreams. They Nation youth group, she dreamt of serpent emerging tested their dreams, and in that way learned their own where she was paddling through the water. She was strength” (p. 78). Anishinaabek children learn a great not fearful, but rather felt peaceful and reassured on deal by observing their parents, listening to stories, how they should proceed in the water project. How- and by helping their community. They also learn that ever, when she awoke she wondered if it was a warn- their community extends beyond the people and being about potential water dangers. It was not until she ings they physically see. Dream Knowledge requires met a grandmother who shared the knowledge of the patience because we may not always remember right serpents responsibility to care for the water (pp. 230- away, and the knowledge will unfold when the time 233) that Carly shared in detail how her dream man- comes. For example, when a baby is born, an Elder, ifested and reflected that it was the sign she needed Knowledge Keeper, or a family member is approached to move forward in protecting the water and with the to name the baby, which may take a few days as the research. Similarly, Miller (2013) explains that war person may rely on dreaming so that they can access leaders would access the Spiritual Realm to see how the Spiritual Realm to assist in naming the new spirit. they should engage in war or what the possible out- It is the one who is responsible for the baby’s name comes would be. There were many interpretations of to ensure that they interact with the spirits and honour what war leaders had dreamed about so it was cau- their joint vision in a good way. tionary. Our traditions have adapted over time to Oral narratives illustrate that the realm of maintain our spiritual connection to our traditional dreams creates new knowledges essential to maintain- Anishinaabe teachings by various pedagogies. For in- ing human life because they are “born in the worlds of stance, the dreamcatcher is hung above the child to waking experience and dream, are true because they protect them from nightmares and provide the child are meaningfully real to their owners” (Smith, 2012,

Volume 1, Issue 1 41 Shawanda (2020) with a sense of security when they go to sleep. My because I know the difficulties of referencing dreams. community knowledge of the dreamcatcher is that it I believe that a reference guide for Indigenous stu- is designed to catch the bad dreams in the webbing dents and scholars is crucial for an expansion of In- and only allow the good dreams to funnel through digenous Knowledge to validate Dream Knowledge the central gap. It is part of the child’s sacred bun- by Western academia. dle to encourage dreaming and not to be afraid of the bad dreams. When my child shares that he is having Why Do We Need Dream-Based Scholarship? nightmares, I will help him light sage and tell him to Dreaming is an important and a Sacred form of reactivate the dreamcatcher’s power by cleaning out knowledge; it is a part of the Anishinaabe Knowledge the bad dreams with the smoke. By taking care of our Framework. Deloria (2006) explains that non-Indig- bundles, we facilitate the ongoing traditional teach- enous people would explain away our experiences; ings of co-existing within the Sacred System, which that our dreams were coincidences; or the way we is understood to be the “entire cosmos [that] cannot encountered our dreams through ceremonies was be contained in our daily lives, we learn that sacred through some form of exhaustion. Knudston and Su- places represent the power by showing us that we can zuki (1993) add “science seems destined to ‘de-sanc- become part of a pre-existing set of relationships” tify’ the universe, to, in effect, systemically suck the (Deloria, 2006, p. 202). ‘sacred juices’ from the Earth” (p. 123). Indigenous People understand the role that science plays, but we How Did This Research Come to Be? also understand the natural world would communi- Since childhood, my dreams have been so vivid and cate with us within the Sacred Realm. We want to profound – so much that they remain with me to this share our Indigenous voices, but not sever our spiri- day. I am able to recall what has been prophesized tual connection, as such when an Indigenous student unto me, and everything I sensed – physically, emo- incorporates their Dream Knowledge, they are chal- tionally, and spiritually. This includes those who have lenging conventional Western knowledge. left this realm through the western doorway before us. When Manulani Aluli Meyer came to visit at Trent Methods University we had conversations about dreams and how it relates to the holographic epistemology (2013) It could be argued that we are creating another layer in great detail, which was particularly relevant to me of contentious ground, but I want to discuss that citing as a dreamer and as an Indigenous scholar. Our con- dreaming is similar to citing an Elder or Knowledge versation on that day planted the seed to write about Holder/Keeper that has shared teachings with you. Dream Knowledge. Within the Anishinaabek points-of-view, we are not As mentioned, Indigenous Knowledge and reproducing other’s work but rather we are co-creat- dreams are valid sources of knowledge that Western ing with our Ancestors. By having a method to cite academia has disregarded for generations. We started dreams and teachings it can help mitigate some of this to share similarities of how Indigenous students and tension in Western academia. In developing a dream scholars have had conversations on how they could related citation method, I followed my intuition and incorporate dreams into their work. How do we infuse employed an Anishinaabe research methodology to our spirituality into the current literature to support the shape this work. Anishinaabe research methodology next generation of Indigenous studies scholarship? I was given the breath of life because it is similar to continued to think about this question for months, but Grounded Theory (GT); GT is one of the more flex- it was not until the CINSA put a call out for papers ible methodologies that allows the researcher to ex- that my thoughts returned to the importance of Dream plore the phenomenon through data inductive analy- Knowledge. Inspired by my conversation with Manu- sis. I had enough raw data from my own experiences lani Aluli Meyer earlier that Spring, I was determined as well as listening to the dream experiences of the to ensure students and scholars had a reference guide Elders, Knowledge Keepers, peers, and friends. It for Dream Knowledge. I wanted to create something was obvious that I began to analyze the data through meaningful so my peers would have something to use my own Anishinaabe epistemology and I realized I

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Baawaajige 42 already had a framework in place. It is distinct from could have taken part in the various migrations, lived Western research methodology and methods, allow- through times of war, witnessed treaty-making pro- ing Indigenous students and scholars to organize their cesses, and participated with anything in-between. experiences in which the knowledge was received in Our Ancestors do not necessarily have to go that far a Sacred Space. back; they could be part of our more recent histories This article was guided because of my own where they had contracted colonized diseases or vi- dream visitation with my grandmother. We were sit- ruses, been the children that attended Indian Residen- ting by a brook watching the water flow by, and she tial Schools, or those that are missing or murdered was speaking Anishinaabemowin. When I awoke, I that caused them to reside in the Spiritual Realm. I went about my day oblivious about my dream, but a want to distinguish that I utilize the term Ancestors to few days later, I sat with my computer trying to think signify that they are from the past because we are the about how Dream Knowledge could be articulated. descendants of those strong, resilient lineages. The information began to flow within my writing, and For this article, I have chosen Spirits to rep- then I was able to recollect most of our conversation. resent a future, those that are unborn or those that My grandmother was my instructor, and she gave me we have not met yet. I provide this for the reader not the information I needed to move forward. to confuse the past and future. Unless the way you describe your dream does not require you to specify Results who is in your dream at that moment in time. The term Nii’kinaaganaa “All my relations” After the presentation at Trent University, I received is our connection to our relatives that are animate and great feedback and interest from the conference at- inanimate. Anishinaabe teachings share that all things tendees. They were impressed with my idea that are imbued with Spirit and made from the Creator’s dreams could be referenced as sources of knowledge love. The Elder brothers and sisters have existed since and information and appreciated the citation guide time immemorial and make up the physical landscape that I provided. Many scholars and students did not such as the mountains, plants, trees, water, animals, have a reference guide especially when inspired to birds, insects, and water dwellers and more. They write about the Sacred Dream Knowledge. Before we have so much to teach us and will remind us of their begin, I need to distinguish who the Ancestors and teachings through dreams. Spirits are and how these terms will be used through- The Ancestors are also part of the metaphys- out the remainder of this paper. I will provide an ex- ical connection. They are the ones that co-existed at planation about the use of Anishinaabemowin. Since the time with Nanaboozhoo including the Animiki- my presentation, I have expanded the information and ig (Thunderbirds), Mishiginebig (Serpents), Saabe created three different ways of citing dreams that are (Big foot), Pahiinhsag (Little People), and Niibinaabe recognized through an Ancestral Account, Unknown (Mermaids). Although, these Ancestral Spirits may Ancestors, and Nii’kinaaganaa (All my relations). not often be seen, we acknowledge their presence and Six unique descriptions of detailing your collected the gifts they share with us. I have intentionally called knowledge are also shared below. them Ancestral Spirits because they resided here since Nanaboozhoo, and yet their life cycle seems to be in- Who Are the Ancestors? finite and live longer than the plants and animals. Anishinaabek believe that the Ancestors are those that reside in the Great Unknown. The Ancestors are part Ancestral Accounts of our metaphysical thinking as we understand that Since my deceased grandmother helped with the “the fluidity of Ojibwe life-world… a landscape in- creative process, I will use her as an example along habited by metamorphosing people – human and oth- with my great-great-great-grandpa to illustrate what erwise… present a web of associations and patterns I mean. that is distinctively and consistently Anishinaabe” Shawanda-ba, A. (2015). Anishinaabe Stories. (Smith, 1995, p. 17). Our Ancestors could have Dream conversation. Sudbury, ON. walked the Earth in the early days with Nanaboozhoo,

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When you know who the person is in your time I was thinking of my grandmother for two days dream include the first initial of their name. It is and questioned whether or not I was doing meaning- important to include the year you had the dream in ful research, and then in my dream, I was looking at this physical realm. I place this information here be- the mirror from an angle where I could not see my cause that is when you had the dream and have come reflection. She was walking by in her patterned blue to know that knowledge. In the dream state, time is dress with her blue eyes and she looked exactly as non-existent in the way we record it. Next, you would I remembered her from when I was a little girl. She describe the general theme or message of that dream simply nodded in the mirror and kept walking. I was followed by the Dream Intention descriptor. When I able to complete my Master’s thesis because of her am discussing dream intentions, I want the readers to visitation. understand how the information came to be because Shawanda –ba, A. (2016). Strength of your there are several ways our Ancestors communicate future. Dream visitation. Sudbury, ON. with us within the dream. I have listed the following: dream conversation, dream visitation, dream mes- Unknown Ancestors sage, dream interpretation, daydream, and prophecy/ This citation format allows the inclusion of Ances- vision. You could utilize more technical terms such as tors from the past and future Spirits, who await in the telepathic dreams, where we visit or have had conver- Great Unknown. For those future Spirits we have not sations with the Ancestors or with other Spiritual en- met yet, they can be anyone from a partner, neigh- tities. Also, there are pre-cognitive dreams meaning bour, unborn children, friends, etc. Even though we they are prophecies, visions, and premonitions in both may not have met them yet, they guide us in the di- good and bad connotations. However, I do not bundle rection we are meant to be in. They could be eager to them altogether because they are unique in the way meet us and will appear in our dreams to signify that we experience them and retrieve the dreams. we are on the right path or provide clarity in times If you remember where you had this dream, of need. Also, our Ancestors watch over us and send it would be important to include the city of where us their wisdom, light, and remind us of our intimate your dream took place. In my own dreams I may not spiritual connection. They remind us of the dynamic always know the location of where it took place as relationship we hold within the Sacred Space because sometimes the background could be in someone’s we can sit with our past Ancestors and future Spirits home I’ve never been, a meadow, by a lake, or simply within one dream. in a solid black space. I will provide a broad citation format of many My great-great-great-grandpa did not have Ancestors gathered together. This citation format can a last name but rather a singular Anishinaabe name. be used for this type of Dream Knowledge. I had a Since he resides in the Spiritual Realm and there are dream about Anishinaabek Kweok (women) at a pow- many others with a single name or that may have “ wow who kept inviting me to join, but I was unsure if I –kwe” (woman) or “ –nini” (man) attached to their should because I was shy. They grabbed my hand and Anishinaabe name. gently pulled me into the circle, when I looked down, I was wearing my childhood purple jingle dress and Naakwaam-baa. (2017). Way of Knowing. started dancing with them. I woke up with my legs in Dream conversation. Wikwemikong, ON. a kicking motion and blankets on the floor because I was dancing in my sleep. This is how I recommend Naakowaam nini-baa. (2017). Medicines. citing many Ancestors: Dream message. Sudbury, ON. When describing your dreams and you are visited Anishinaabek Kweok. (2012). Jingle Dress by one of the Ancestors but you are unsure if it is a dancing. Dream visitation. Sudbury, ON. conversation or a message, you can describe it as a Alternatively, it could be cited as: visitation. I distinguish this because this situation is still playing out in your present time or that you can- Chi-Anishinaabek. (2012). Jingle Dress danc- not describe it as either. An example would be of the ing. Dream visitation. Sudbury, ON.

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Similarly, if you have a conversation with two or more written about it at that time it would have looked like: Ancestors/Spirits they would look like this: Unknown Spirit. (2008). Mother. Dream in- Anishinaabe Kweok. (2012). Healing Dance. terpretation. Orillia, ON. Dream conversations. Sudbury, ON. Now that he is born and has a name, I could refer to If you know the Ancestors visiting you it could look him with his Anishinaabe name: like: Sheminankwat-nini. (2008). Mother. Dream Shawande-ba, M. & Roy-ba, H. (2013). message. Orillia, ON. Kitchen conversations. Dream Conversations. Wikwemikong, ON. Nii’kinaaganaa (All my relations) There is yet another category of sources of Dream In certain circumstances involving Dream Knowledg- Knowledges. How do we reference those that have es you might be unaware of who, specifically, your been here long before we walked the Earth? I gave it Ancestors are, or you might be unsure of their names. some thought and it would be best to refer to “All Our I recommend using the following formats, and that Relations/Relatives” in your Indigenous language. I they be cited as Unknown Ancestor or for an in-text had a daydream going to a hockey game one night. citation (this is a similar citation to an unknown au- I was staring out at the dark highway when my heart thor in APA): raced and three waawaashkesh (deers) galloped across • Summarizing a dream would look like: I was at the road. I was shaken. I did not say anything because the old Indian Day School by my mother’s house. I knew I was daydreaming and thought it is probably I am playing in the yard with the children. An old- just my fear of driving at night and dismissed my day- er lady approached me to give me this bright white dream. However, after the hockey game the three deer fancy shawl. I looked at her puzzled because I am jumped onto the highway, where we almost got into a jingle dress dancer. I asked her repeatedly why a collision. It is this type of premonition or daydream she is giving me the shawl? She handed to me that became reality. I wanted to honour the waawaas- and I accepted it (Unknown Ancestor, 2015). To hkesh as we have interrupted and altered their land- this day I am still uncovering the meaning of the scape. This is how I would reference Elder brothers dream. and sisters in both animate and inanimate form: • This also applies to quotes from a dream if there Waawaashkesh. (2000). Caution. Daydream. was a quote it would look like, “Women are like Sheguindah, ON. canoes on the water, they hold their own paddles and can steer their destinies into any direction” In this example, the Giizhig (cedar tree) came to me (Unknown Ancestor, 2020). in a vision. I was searching for this knowledge for over a year. I was not being patient with the medicine. Referencing this in your bibliography would look I sat staring blankly at my computer when the vision like: came strong. I utilize it in my own research. Unknown Ancestor. (2015). Fancy Shawl. Giizhig. (2018). Storytelling. Vision. Peter- Dream visitation. Wikwemikong, ON borough, ON. Here is the last important citation source example of Unknown Ancestor. (2020). Canoe destiny. Dream Knowledge. I was sitting in ceremony listen- Daydream. Sudbury, ON. ing to the singing and drumming until this image ap- Now to discuss an Unknown Spirit (future). I peared in my mind. I remember seeing these black had a dream about my son. At the time I did not know figures fly to the mountain top. I felt reassured about who he was. He told me he wanted to come into this everything in my life in that point in time. It was my world but was waiting for me. He was continuously clan giving me the sign to keep on my journey. I did sending me messages in my dream about pregnancy not know what I was looking at as they were majes- and motherhood. He is from the future and if I had tic and flying at the mountain peaks. I knew in my

Volume 1, Issue 1 45 Shawanda (2020) heart they were Animikiig (Thunderbirds). I would ture that spiritual element and to identify the various catch a brief glimpse of light and see the outline of energies that communicate with us, which may not be them. They were magnificent and I could feel their understood by Western academics or may elude that spiritual energy radiating. I believe it is important to dreams are not real academic references. utilize Anishinaabemowin when we are referring to Another limitation is that I did not seek out the original brothers and sisters. This is so we honour Elders within the Indigenous academic community as the spirit of our language and acknowledge our con- dreams are personal medicine. I am thinking broadly nection to them. and optimistically that including dreams could also be Animikiig. (2013). Mino-Bimaadiziwin. beneficial to our Nations. It is up to each individual to Vision. Atikameksheng Anishinabek, ON. decide on what they want to share, but we do run the risk of severing that Spiritual connection. However, There are many ways we can obtain dreams such as use your discretion on what you would like to share. ceremonies, healing, and through other personal ac- I employed an APA style because many Indig- counts. I wanted to refrain from the specificity of cer- enous students within the social sciences often utilize emonies because I did not want Indigenous People quantitative writing style. Although, this is written to feel obligated to state where they received it such in APA, it leaves out other referencing styles such as as sun dance ceremony, rain dance ceremony, sweat MLA, Chicago, etc. Dream referencing would be sup- lodge ceremony, rites of passage, etc. In the last ex- ported within any discipline because it allows Indig- ample, I provided a summary by stating general ac- enous students to incorporate their dreams as part of count of a ceremony that I attended. With ceremonies their own knowledge journey. being a Sacred Space, I did not want to state which This information is from an Anishinaabe kwe ceremony because that is between me and the Ances- point-of-view. I hope that Indigenous students and tors and I want to keep my vision without severing the scholars will utilize their own languages and consult Holistic Knowledge. It is up to each writer to identify with their Knowledge Keepers. The outline of citing if they would like to disclose which ceremony that your Dream Knowledge would look like this: was attended; however, they should not feel obligated to do so. Ancestor/Spirit. (Year). Theme. Dream intention. Location. Limitations The last limitation is about those that cannot recall The first limitation of this approach is that I did not their dreams. How do they reference their dreams if consult with the non-Indigenous academic commu- they do not remember or are removed from Indige- nity. I believe the academic community will dismiss nous Knowledges? I would encourage dream journ- Dream Knowledge because it is a new approach that aling. Dreams do not have to come only from sleep. infuses spirituality into academics, as such there will You can have a daydream or a vision within ceremo- be criticisms from the Western academics as the gen- ny, whichever the case maybe it is still a part of your eration of information is not from the Western scientif- spirit accessing the Sacred Space. ic method. However, if Indigenous students adapt this into their papers regularly, it will eventually become Discussion a standard just like how Personal Communication is now accepted into the citation style. This approach In the original presentation I shared, “How do we ref- allows for the citing of Traditional Knowledges and erence dreams in our academic writing?” I explained Oral Knowledges of Indigenous Peoples. It took years my dreams and how and what we have obtained in the for the Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous People Dream World is important. Most of our dreams may to be included within APA citations. Therefore, this need to be interpreted or discussed with a trusted per- was produced from an Anishinaabe kwe Spiritual son who has good insight. They could help you dissect lens; it is imperative that this work be written through the dream and various interpretations. an Indigenous perspective as it is important to cap- How do we provide context to such intimate

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Baawaajige 46 moments between us and the Spirit World? We use our It is a privilege to have such communication within discretion on what we want to share because we open the Spiritual Realm to access Sacred Knowledge. This ourselves up to criticism like I have done in this arti- is our living truth and we embody those cosmological cle. It is important that what you share, is your truth connections. Lastly, I hope you are able to manifest and to request permission from the Ancestral Spirits Dream Knowledges into reality because they have giv- as well. It is always a good practice to give thanks and en us the means of putting the vision into action. seek guidance from the supernatural world as they have knowledge that we are not privy to. Miigwech. How do we honour that knowledge in colonial academic papers? Again, as part of Anishinaabe protocol we use tobacco to communicate our knowledge References to the Spiritual Realm. It is important we give thanks Abosolon, K. E. (2011). Kaandosswin: How we come once we receive that information. Through this, we to know. Fernwood Publishing. honour them, our truth, and connection to Creation. Archibald, J.-a. (2008). Indigenous Storywork: Ed- Alternatively, if you cannot do that, have your own ucating the heart, mind, body, and spirit. UBC ceremony, to say a prayer that acknowledges that you Press. have received the message and to give thanks in your Da Silva, J. (2010). Hashinoqwah. In L. Simpson, Indigenous language. This is part of the reciprocal na- & K. L. Ladner, This is an honour song: Twen- ture so that we are honouring that connection and the ty years since the blockades (pp. 59-74). ARP transformative shift that is about to take place in our Books. writing. Deloria, V. (2006). The world we used to live in: Re- What if people are dishonest about their membering the powers of the medicine men. Ful- dreams? This is part of academic integrity, which is crum Pub. similar to the Anishinaabe teachings of the Seven Densmore, F. (1979). Chippewa Customs. Minnesota Grandfather Teachings which are: Truth, Honest, Re- Historical Society Press. spect, Brave, Wisdom, Humility and Love. There are Famous Scientists. (2015, November 1). 7 Great Ex- many Nanaboozhoo stories that caution us to live by amples of Scientific Discoveries Made in Dreams. the Seven Grandfather Teachings. This is very im- https://www.famousscientists.org/7-great-exam- portant to not make up stories about dreams and pass ples-of-scientific-discoveries-made-in-dreams/ them off as knowledge. Indigenous People have had Geniusz, W. M. (2009). Our knowledge is not primi- this issue happen to their culture, in terms of iden- tive: Decolonizing botanical Anishinaabe teach- tity claims or appropriation. Also, it has occurred in ings. Syracuse University Press. the anthropology discipline where anthropologists Horton, R. (2017, December 18). Anishinaabemowin: were documenting a “vanishing” culture. If you can Ojibwe Language. The Canadian Encyclopedia. feel that truth and sincerity coming from the written https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/ar- word, then you can feel the writers’ intention. ticle/anishinaabemowin-ojibwe-language Johnston, B. (1976). Ojibway Heritage. McClelland Conclusion & Stewart. Knudston, P., & Suzuki, D. (1993). Wisdom of the el- The citation formats described in this paper are in- ders. Stoddart. tended to encourage Indigenous students and schol- Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous Methodologies: ars who want to include Dream Knowledge and uti- Characteristics, conversations, and contexts. lize dream referencing within their written work. We University of Toronto Press. will continue to honour our Ancestral Knowledge by Meyer, M. A. (2013). Holographic Epistemology: sharing and speaking about our gift of dreams. We do Native common sense. China Media Research, not need to be validated from academia because our 9(2), 94-101. https://education.illinois.edu/docs/ Ancestors hear us, see us, and communicate with us. default-source/default-document-library/here-

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ca256a3980b76a29a33dff4b008a8698.pdf?s- fvrsn=0 Miller, C. (2013). Every Dream Is a Prophecy: Re- thinking Revitalization—Dreams, Prophets, and Routinized Cultural Evolution. In H. K. Jill Do- erfler, Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Under- standing the World Through Stories. (pp. 119- 132). Michigan State University Press. Noodin, M. (2014). Baawaajimo: A dialect of dreams in Anishinaabemowin language and literature. Michigan State University Press. Peacock, T. D. (2020). The wolf’s trail: An Ojibwe Story, told by wolves. Holy Cow! Press. Pomedli, M. (2014). Living with animals: Ojibwe spirit powers. University of Toronto Press. Restoule, P., Dokis, C., & Kelly, B. (2018). Working to protect the water: Stories of connection and transformation. In D. McGregor, J.-P. Restoule, & R. Johnston, Indigenous Research: Theories, Practices, and Relationships. (pp. 219-240). Ca- nadian Scholars Press. Roland, E. (2018). 13 world-changing ideas that came from dreams (literally). Reader’s Digest Australia. https://www.readersdigest.com.au/ true-stories-lifestyle/history/13-world-changing-ideas-came-dreams-literally Simpson, L. (2000). Stories, Dreams, Ceremonies: Anishinaabe ways of learning. Journal of Ameri- can Indian Higher Education, 11(4). 26-29. Simpson, L. (2011). Dancing on the Turtle’s Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg re-creation, resurgence, and a new emergence. Arbeiter Ring Publishing. Smith, T. S. (1995). The Island of the Anishinaabeg: Thunderers and water monsters in the traditional Ojibwe life-world. University of Nebraska Press. Williams, D. (2018). Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg: This is our territory. ARP Books.

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Ogitchidaakwe “ Deserve Sweetness, Too ” Chief Lady Bird 2018 Digital Illustration “Ogitchidaakwe - we wear our stories on our skin. Tattoos, scars and stretchmarks. Honour these stories. Brush over these stories with sweet kisses. Warrior women deserve sweetness too.” Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Developing an Indigenous Vol. 1(1), 49-57 © The Author(s) 2020 Goal-Setting Tool: Counting Coup https://doi.org/10.33137/tijih.v1i1.34007

Iitáa Dáakuash (Rae Birdhat-Howe), Alma Knows His Gun McCormick, Shannen Keene, John Hallett, & Suzanne Held1

Chronic illness self-management best practices include goal-setting; however, the goal theory that many tools employ relies on individualistic principles of self-efficacy that are not culturally consonant within many Indigenous communities. During the creation of the Báa nnilah program, a chronic illness self-management intervention, we developed a goal-setting tool specific to the Apsáalooke Nation. Emerging from an Indigenous paradigm and methodology, Counting Coup serves as a goal-setting tool that promotes the Apsáalooke culture, connects individuals with their ancestors, and focuses on achievement of goals within relationships. Future research and practice should be grounded in the historical and cultural contexts of local communities when designing and implementing goal-setting tools. Limitations to Counting Coup as a goal-setting tool include the need for program facilitators to have a relationship with participants due to Counting Coup’s foundation in relational accountability and that the environmental context may pose difficulties for participants in moving towards healthy behavior change. Keywords Chronic illness, Indigenous research methods, Community-based participatory research, Goal- setting

Introduction their coup stick. Today, chronic illness is an enemy for Indigenous people, including the Apsáalooke Na- Before colonization, Counting Coup was the highest tion. For example, American Indian and Alaska Na- honor a warrior could achieve in many plains Indige- tives over 18 years of age are 2.4 times more likely nous tribes, including the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation. to be diagnosed with diabetes (Centers for Disease A warrior could Count Coup by touching an enemy Control and Prevention, 2016). with their hand or coup stick and coming away un- One way to address these disparities is through harmed, showing superiority over their enemy. After research; however, research conducted in Indigenous Counting Coup, the warrior could add a feather to communities has often been referred to as “helicop- ter research”, meaning the research did not benefit Acknowledgements: We are grateful for the following funders: communities and was done on, rather than with them Montana Healthcare Foundation, The Mountain West Clinical (Sobeck, Chapleski, & Fisher, 2003). The Apsáalooke Translational Research Program, National Institute of Gen- community has had this experience and our research eral Medical Sciences, NIH 1U54GM104944; Montana IN- BRE, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH, works to counter deficit-based, extractive research P20GM103474; Improving Chronic Illness Management by using Indigenous research methods (IRM) and a with the Apsáalooke Nation: The Báa nnilah Project, NIH, community-based participatory research (CBPR) ap- U01MD010619. The content is solely the responsibility of the proach. IRMs place emphasis on the social, historical, authors and does not represent the official views of NIH. and political contexts that have shaped Indigenous 1Department of Health & Human Development, Montana State University, [email protected] experiences, lives, positions, and futures (Martin & Developing an Indigenous Goal-Setting Tool 50

Mirraboopa, 2003). IRM includes a conversational health clinic. While innovative, both programs expe- method where knowledge is gained through oral sto- rienced difficulties translating the program into the rytelling within and through relationships. These are local community and sustaining engagement. “relationships not just with people or objects, but re- The difficulties these programs experienced lationships that we have with the cosmos, with ideas, are not surprising. It is understandable that there is concepts, and everything around us” (Wilson, 2001, resistance to research, to programs being developed p. 177). We build these relationships through devel- for minority communities by the dominant society, oping shared understandings of commonalities, such and to adapting programs developed for the majority as who we are related to, and is facilitated by social population. The dominant society imposing their will activities such as basketball and cultural events – we on those they have colonized, have caused the health call this relationality (Kovach, 2009). disparities we are working to address. This behavior Community-based participatory research is an is endemic to society (Brayboy, 2005). For example, approach where the community guides research top- there are direct links between consumption of com- ics based on their own strengths and resources (Israel modity foods and unhealthy states (Gordon & Oddo, et al., 1998; LaVeaux & Christopher, 2009). It works 2012; Shanks et al., 2016). to equally distribute power amongst the research team We focus on the communities’ voice in de- and seeks to foster a true collaborative effort to devel- scribing their own health disparities and how the com- op and implement programs that are beneficial for the munity wants to address them. We rooted our program community (Minkler & Wallerstein, 2008). development process within the lived experiences of This research was conducted through a part- Apsáalooke people. Acknowledging and understand- nership between Messengers for Health (MFH), a ing local cultures and developing programs specific to non-profit organization located on the Apsáalooke these cultures reaffirms the power inherent in individ- Reservation in Montana and faculty and students from uals in ways that only they can truly feel. Montana State University (MSU). MFH’s mission is We developed our chronic illness self-man- to strengthen community capacity by empowering agement program, titled Báa nnilah, using communi- individuals to assess and address their own unique ty members’ experiences with chronic illness. In the health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Apsáalooke language, Báa nnilah means the cultural The partnership began in 1996 to address a communi- practice of sharing advice with others, often through ty-identified issue of low cancer screening rates. Pro- stories. Twenty community members shared their life gram ideas came from the community and were com- stories and what makes it easier and more difficult for municated through history, story, humor, relationality, them to manage their chronic illness. As a team we and conversational methods. In 2013, our community listened to their stories and discussed what touched advisory board (CAB) determined that working to our hearts. We co-developed a new method for data help community members who have chronic illness analysis in order to keep stories together and honor would be our next focus area. community voices, so as to not break-up stories into Past programmatic research on improving pieces for data analysis, as is the case in content or chronic illness self-management has been primarily thematic analysis (Hallett et al., 2017). Community developed for and tested in the majority population members who are doing well managing their chronic (Barlow et al., 2002; Lorig et al., 2013). Much of the illness facilitate seven gatherings with ten community research on chronic illness self-management inter- members who are interested in learning to better man- ventions has occurred using the Stanford Universi- age their chronic illnesses. The content and approach ty-developed Chronic Disease Self-Management Pro- for each of the gatherings arose from data analysis gram (CDSMP). Some of this research has occurred discussions (Held, et al., 2019; Schure, et al., 2020). in Indigenous communities and includes Warren and One activity we wanted to include in our pro- colleagues (2005), who modified and implemented gram was goal-setting. Goal-setting is an integral the CDSMP in rural Australia and Blue Bird Jernigan component of chronic illness self-management pro- (2010), who made minimal changes to the CDSMP grams (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2018; and implemented the program in a US urban Indian Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2012; Nuovo, 2007), and

Volume 1, Issue 1 51 Dáakuash et al. (2020) goal theory (Lock & Latham, 1990; 2006) informs Bozeman. When I completed my undergrad many goal-setting exercises in these programs. Often degree I immediately transitioned into grad- program participants choose from a list of potential uate school. By accident, I was introduced goals or identify a health-related goal they would like to Suzanne Held, by my wife. Suzanne said, to achieve. Participants are taught to make their goals “have you heard of Messengers for Health, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely do you know Alma McCormick?” That’s my (Australian Government Department of Health and auntie! I began working with MFH in 2015, Ageing & Flinders University, 2009). Typically, they have attended community meetings and de- then identify potential barriers to achieving their goal veloped relationships with program staff and and strategies for overcoming these barriers (IOM, the CAB. I completed the work described in 2012; Antonucci, 2008). this paper while a graduate student in Com- Goal-setting theory and its application munity Health at MSU. emerged from a Western mindset. Consequently, they Alma Knows His Gun McCormick is the Executive are not appropriate for Apsáalooke community mem- Director of the non-profit organization MFH and bers due to conflicting epistemologies. In the Indige- a member of the Apsáalooke Nation who fluently nous worldview, stories provide insight into ways of speaks her language. Her compassion for working in being and knowing – they are our culturally validated health stems from her personal experience of losing theories. At the time of developing our goal-setting her daughter to cancer. Suzanne Held is a professor tool, we were unable to locate publications that dis- in Community Health who is white, originally from cussed goal-setting from a non-Western perspective Wisconsin and sees that health disparities exist be- or that used IRM. cause of colonization and current policies that privi- When using IRM, it is crucial for researchers/ lege whites and wants to do her part toward a health- authors to place themselves and to describe the com- ier and more equitable future. Alma and Suzanne munity; therefore, we will do this here. For additional have worked together since 1996. John Hallett is a information on the Apsáalooke Nation see Linderman white resident physician in Family and Community (2003); Medicine Crow (1992); Medicine Crow & Medicine at University of California Davis. He be- Viola (2006); and Snell (2000). gan working with the project in 2013 while attending My name is Iitáa Dáakuash (always has a good MSU, where he deepened his commitment to serv- place to be) or Rae Birdhat-Howe, and I have ing with communities, prior to attending University lived on the reservation over 20 years, identi- of Colorado School of Medicine. Shannen Keene re- fy as a Crow woman, and I consider myself an ceived her master’s degree in Community Health at active member of my community. Growing up MSU and started working with the project in 2017 on the rez and moving away for education was and currently works at the Urban Indian Health In- one of the toughest decisions of my life. My stitute. Her commitment to promoting health equity great-grandparents, the only two humans I’ve stems from her Filipino-American identity. Other been close to and in contact with for my entire team members include our CAB, the ten mentors who life needed me. My grandfather (kaaga) had a facilitate the Báa nnilah program, and other faculty stroke and needed me to move home with him and students from MSU. because he didn’t want to stay in hospital. My This paper describes the development and grandmother (kaala) was diabetic and flirting application of a goal-setting tool specific to and ap- with dementia. I moved back into our coun- propriate for the Apsáalooke within the Báa nnilah try home. We were eating healthier, drinking program. Our aim was to use an IRM and CBPR ap- more water, my kaalas blood sugar was nor- proach, moving toward health and wellness using the mal and she was actively recalling memories strengths of the community. from when I was young and her own childhood. The opportunity came for me to go to Methods school, my kaala and kaaga were healthy and wanted me to go back to school. I moved to This is a descriptive journey of IRM planting seeds

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Developing an Indigenous Goal-Setting Tool 52 through CBPR. This journey co-relates with the sto- ma was, where I played ball, and we learned ry of a two spirit Apsáalooke woman named Iitáa how we are connected to each other. In each Dáakuash, fancy dancing with the predominantly of our community meetings, I found relations white institution and the power found in Apsáalooke with many of our team members; that I went relationships. As a research paradigm, IRM are com- through school with their children, that they prised of four interrelated concepts: ontology (nature are related to my grandma, or that they teach of reality); epistemology (nature of knowing); axiol- where I went to high school. I loved these ogy (nature of moral judgement); and methodology community meetings, we were gathering (nature of uncovering) (Wilson, 2008). Enacting these again, and so, I began bringing “Aloe Vera concepts in research is difficult and it is culturally in- Mae.” I could feel the respect given when my appropriate and impossible to both use these concepts grandma got wheeled into the room. I was and outline a concrete, linear process as is expected in proud. My grandma spoke and said the things Western research. Appropriately using these concepts we needed to hear to solidify our program. in research is more like a fancy dancer who hears, She said, “I used to be in community meet- twirls, and spins to the beat of the community. ings… we haven’t had them in years. You are Thus, the method of developing an Indige- doing a good thing here.” It was powerful and nous goal-setting tool happened through relational ac- everyone felt it. That respect, relationship, countability or honoring relationships. It is necessary and history replenished our blood memory in IRM for research processes to include spending and from this, the idea of Counting Coup as time together, talking about history, culture, common- our goal-setting tool was born. alities, and disparities; all the while building relationships. Methods come from relationships and stories. The method was the stories shared in our Honoring this, the first author shares an excerpt of her meetings and the relationships that were built. We story of using IRM to develop a goal-setting tool. went back to our kaalas and kaagas of the past, back to before there were chronic illnesses. Back to the days I come from a 5-generation family, my of living together, thriving, sharing each other’s expe- great-grandmother raised me, I grew up in the riences, and providing for each other. These meetings country on our reservation dancing at pow- ignited our blood memory, strengthened our identi- wows, playing/coaching basketball games, ties, and reminded us of a time when we were a strong getting food for kaalas and kaagas at family and healthy people. When we went into battle, came reunions, old people’s feasts, and birthday away unharmed, and Counted Coup. We went back in parties. My great grandma, Ferole Mae is her time and took ownership of this old-time war deed for name, she is known as “Aloe Vera Mae.” She the future of our tribe. Today, one of our greatest ene- knows everyone, we stopped and had cof- mies has become chronic illness; our stories paint the fee with so many people I could never know battlefields of our illnesses. And so we Count Coup. who is all a part of my family. Growing old- Our community has a bridge between our An- er, I became the granddaughter who invited cestors and present day in Joe Medicine Crow who, you in, made sure the house was cozy and as a soldier in World War II, Counted Coup in battle. brewed a cup of coffee, made sure we had We picture him stealing horses from a German camp donuts for story time and catching up. Every singing a traditional Crow honor song as he rode off. weekend I would come back to our country We engage our historical beings through our Ances- home and be ready for visitors. Today things tors and the concept of Counting Coup and what that have changed, and we don’t visit as much. I means today. became a member of MFH in 2015 through finishing my undergrad degree. I began going Results to our community meetings with the program. I saw so many Crows that I didn’t know, and Báa nnilah (advice) is the name of the chronic ill- as we visited, they found out who my grand- ness self-management program developed to im-

Volume 1, Issue 1 53 Dáakuash et al. (2020) prove community health and wellness. It weaves the of each gathering. In these feathers, participants write white world and Indigenous worlds to have one goal, ways in which they look to Count Coup (make goals) to make stronger people. The program includes sev- that will enable them to fulfill their Apsáalooke roles en gatherings, facilitated by a community member in the community. The word Apsáalooke encompass- (Aakbaabaaniilea, the ones who give advice) who es a culture that cannot be written, rather it is under- is managing a chronic illness, and who has recruited stood. family and people they knew who could benefit from Coup feathers can pertain to areas of everyday this program. Gathering topics include: beginning the life that correspond to program content areas. In the Báa nnilah journey; ongoing health conditions; strong introduction of the journal, we talk about what this heart daasachchuchik; healthy food and physical ac- new way of thinking about Counting Coup means to tivity; positive healthcare experiences; healthy com- us as a people: munication and overcoming challenges; and clos- As Apsáalooke, it is our desire to live a long, ing and graduation ceremony. Gatherings start with healthy life. We value each other and we group members arriving with their program binders value life. We want to be here for our loved and Counting Coup journals. We gather for a healthy ones. We want to see our grandchildren, our meal and to catch up. We smudge, check in, poke fun great grandchildren, our great-great grand- at one another, and say what we need before we focus children. We want to be here as a clan uncle on gathering topics. or clan auntie. We want to be able to fulfill Báa nnilah gatherings took place in acces- our roles in our family and in our communi- sible community spaces across and near the Apsáa- ty. Consider our ancestors, who lived long, looke Nation. Each of the ten Aakbaabaaniilea led healthy lives, and could fulfill their roles be- two groups of ten participants for a total of 200 par- ing resilient, strong, and proud. Our ances- ticipants. Gatherings were held bi-weekly and last- tors had hope for the future and for the ones to ed approximately three hours. Participants received come. We are the ones our ancestors prayed health-related incentives (e.g., walking shoes, activity for. We call this Counting Coup because in the tracker) and gas vouchers to assist with transportation. old days when our warriors would achieve a Most importantly, participants had the opportunity to brave war deed, they could add a feather to restore their relationships or kinship bonds rooted in their coup stick. They could Count Coup by their ancestral history. Additional details about pro- touching the enemy with their hand or coup gram content and approach can be found at Held et stick and come away unharmed. Counting al., (2019) and Schure et al. (2020). Coup is about making goals for ourselves to Through these gatherings we share stories, enable us to fulfill our roles. We are now rid- laugh, experience community setbacks and possible ing into battle with our health and we look solutions, care for the younger generations and in- to find more ways we can Count Coup in this quire about family members, speak Apsáalooke to battle. To be resilient, healthy, and strong for one another, and form a bond not to be forgotten. We our family, our community, and for the ones open each gathering with a story, we share, ask ques- to come. The feathers we receive will enable tions, encourage one another, and listen to our ances- us to see our future generations and to car- tral history through our blood memory. Our program ry on as proud Apsáalooke. The Báa nnilah binders keep us on task by providing us with meeting program encourages each of us to revive the outlines, a story, and health information sheets. The strong ties among the Apsáalooke, to revive power in our methodologies depict the story of how ourselves and become stronger and healthier we, as Indigenous people, do things, know things, and in body, mind, and spirit. To live longer lives engage survivance. and be role models in our communities. We The Counting Coup tool is used in our pro- can do this together, supporting and nurturing gram as a part of a journal that each participant re- one another. It can be helpful to write down ceives at the first program gathering. See Figure 1 barriers or challenges to gathering your below of one of the pages of feathers that is at the end

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Developing an Indigenous Goal-Setting Tool 54

feathers and ideas for how you can overcome how they can incorporate their history through a war them. Below are ideas for receiving feathers. deed to self-motivate toward healing and health. Visit a relative, walk, bike, talk with Counting Coup acknowledges Apsáalooke original others in Apsáalooke, talk with an Elder, ask ways of life and enables community members to find about history, eat the same as the old timers, a motivation that can only be measured through story. share a meal with others, retell a story like As Indigenous peoples, we want and desire to Count Old Man Coyote or creation stories, gather Coup (accomplish our goals) and make our Ancestors food, hunt, pick berries, plant seeds, eat more proud. Counting Coup comes from our history and fruits and vegetables, eat less desserts, eat our relationships with each other. It is in our blood to less carbohydrates like white breads and ba- listen to our culture. gels, avoid pop and alcohol. Stories of Counting Coup Figure 1. Inside page of Counting Coup journal At the first gathering, participants join into support- showing the area to write in feathers (goals). ive partnerships of two or three. We ask the partners to be in touch with each other at least once per week during the program. In each of the subsequent six gatherings, partners share stories with each other to support and provide encouragement on how they are Counting Coup (Kovach, 2009; Wilson, 2008). Participants shared many ways of how they Counted Coup. One participant dealt with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from a horrific car accident and said she would never drive again. Through the impact of this program and through Counting Coup, the feather she gathered was to be able to drive again. Another participant, through gathering feathers of healthy eating, cutting down on sugar-sweetened beverages, and exercising more, lost 50 pounds. One participant received a gift of a guitar from her father, who taught her how to play. Her father died tragically and when this happened, she closed the guitar case and put it away. Through the program, she discovered repressed feelings from this loss, had a safe space to talk, and realized she With our Counting Coup tool, there are no numerical could connect with him through the guitar, opened scales to assess how effective participants feel a goal the case, and began to play again. Other common may be for them, or to state their level of commit- ways participants Counted Coup included drinking ment. The idea is to imagine the warriors and imagine more water, having better communication with their themselves going into battle with their chronic illness doctors, and improving relationships with family and saying, “I know I am sick for so many reasons. members. How can I be more like the warriors?” Participants One of the characteristics of Indigenous look to gather feathers by showing superiority over communities is that community members live in their chronic illnesses. How can they touch this ene- the present with the philosophy of survivance. This my, humiliate this enemy? It places participants in a is in contrast to the future orientation embedded in time where they know what they need, igniting blood Western goal-setting. Survivance captures the resis- memories to be the ones their Ancestors prayed for. tance of assimilation through Indigenous communi- This gets them to a deeper meaning of their chron- ties surviving and thriving in their cultures (Deloria, ic illnesses, the paths they have traveled to them and 1970). Moreover, this historical value is woven into

Volume 1, Issue 1 55 Dáakuash et al. (2020) contemporary Indigenous identity, which strength- of being that is connected to Ancestors and history. ens community connections and relational account- Other goal-setting tools developed for use ability. We developed a tool that could offer rewards with Indigenous populations included a collaborative (sharing the gathering of feathers) in the present. goal-setting tool that engaged an individual’s family and other professionals (Watts & Carlson, 2002); Limitations an adapted section of a self-management program called “My Health Story” (Battersby et al., 2018); Counting Coup implementation has various limita- and a medicine wheel that was adapted into the Na- tions. First, program facilitators need to have a re- vajo Goal Wheel that integrated Navajo philosophies lationship with participants due to Counting Coup’s (Garner, Bruce, & Stellern, 2011). foundation in relational accountability. Without a strong relationship to the facilitator, participants’ mo- Conclusions tivation for gathering feathers may not be rooted in Indigenous identity and ways of being. Additionally, From our experience, we believe research is strongest the environmental context may pose difficulties for and most impactful to community health when it orig- participants in moving towards behavior change. Po- inates from an Indigenous paradigm. “An Indigenous tential barriers may include political tension, extreme paradigm comes from the fundamental belief that weather (e.g., fires, flooding, snow), limited resourc- knowledge is relational. Knowledge is shared with all es related to meeting basic needs, and cultural taboos of creation” (Wilson, 2001, p. 176). Báa nnilah was (e.g., communication between genders). developed through relationships shaped by the Apsáa- looke culture and is building a bridge between Indige- Reflections nous and Western ways to develop programs inclusive to Indigenous communities. In other words, methods Through the Counting Coup goal-setting tool, par- are circular like the movements of a fancy dancer and ticipants awakened a connection to their Ancestors. can be grounded in IRM and CBPR approaches. By Counting Coup reinforced the community’s history bringing together these diverse ways of knowing in in a positive way and reconnected community mem- daily practice, researchers are able to create and en- bers to this history by realizing how much healthier courage new ways of doing research (Botha, 2011). the community was before colonization. It reminded We hope that this work will inspire other Indigenous the community of their history and related it to their communities to decolonize Western goal-setting tools well-being. Community members inspired each other by integrating their unique histories and languages with their rich culture and took ownership of Count- into future community-based evaluation efforts. ing Coup again in contemporary time. Additionally, sharing challenges and failures References while Counting Coup allowed participants to process and share the day-to-day experience of having a Antonucci, J. (2008). A new approach to group vis- chronic illness and created avenues of support. In this its: Helping high-need patients make behavior- way, Counting Coup assisted program participants al change. Family Practice Management, 15(4), in conceptualizing the daily management of chronic A6-A8. https://www.aafp.org/fpm/2008/0400/ illnesses, which often feels abstract and difficult to fpm20080400pa6.pdf grasp. Australian Better Health Initiative. (2009). Capabili- There are current goal-setting tools used in ties for supporting prevention and chronic condi- Western-developed chronic illness self-management tion self-management: A resource for educators programs. However, in Indigenous cultures, the de- of primary health care professionals. Flinders velopment of goals can feel like an isolating exercise. University. http://www.flinders.edu.au/medicine/ Rather than approaching goals as specific objectives fms/sites/FHBHRU/documents/publications/Ca- to achieve outside of their normal routine, individuals pabilities%20Self-Management%20Resource. may use Counting Coup to shape a contemporary way pdf

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Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: socscimed.2019.112583 Characteristics, conversations, and contexts. To- Shanks, C., Smith, T., Ahmed, S., & Hunts, H. (2016). ronto: University of Toronto Press. Assessing Foods Offered in the Food Distribu- LaVeaux, D. & Christopher, S. (2009). Contextual- tion Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) izing CBPR: Key principles of CBPR meet the Using Healthy Eating Index-2010. Public Health Indigenous research context. Pimatisiwin: A Nutr., 19(7), 1315-1326. https://doi.org/10.1017/ Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Communi- S1368980015002359 ty Health, 7(1), 1-25. Snell, A. H. (2000). Grandmother’s grandchild: My Linderman, F. B. (2003). Pretty-Shield: Medicine Crow Indian life (B. Matthews, Ed.). Lincoln, woman of the Crows. Lincoln, NE: University of NE: University of Nebraska Press. Nebraska Press. Sobeck, J. L., Chapleski, E. E., Fisher, C. (2003). Locke, E., & Latham, G. (1990). A theory of goal set- Conducting research with American Indians: ting & task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: A case study of motives, methods and results. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in So- Locke, E. & Latham, G. (2006). New directions in cial Work, 12(1), 69-84. https://doi.org/10.1300/ goal-setting theory. Current Directions in Psy- J051v12n01_04 chological Science, 15(5), 265-268. https://doi- Warren, K., Coulthard, F., & Harvey P. (2005). Ele- org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00449.x ments of Successful Chronic Condition Self-Man- Lorig, K., Ritter, P., Ory, M., Whitelaw, N. (2013). agement Program for Indigenous Australians. Effectiveness of a generic chronic disease 8th National Rural Health Conference. https:// self-management program for people with type 2 www.ruralhealth.org.au/8thNRHC/Papers/war- diabetes. The Diabetes EDUCATOR, 39(5), 655- ren_coulthard.pdf 663. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145721713492567 Watts, E. & Carlson, G. (2002). Practical strategies Martin, K., & Mirraboopa, B. (2003) Ways of know- for working with Indigenous people living in ing, being and doing: A theoretical framework and Queensland, Australia. Occupational Thera- methods for Indigenous and indigenist re‐search. py International. 9(4), 277-293. https://doi.org/ Journal of Australian Studies, 27(76), 203-214. 10.1002/oti.169 https://doi.org/10.1080/14443050309387838 Wilson, S. (2001). What is an Indigenous research Medicine Crow, J. (1992). From the heart of the methodology? Canadian Journal of Native Edu- Crow Country: The Crow Indians’ own stories. cation, 25(2), 175-179. New York, NY: Orion Books. Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous Medicine Crow, J., & Viola, H. J. (2006). Counting research methods. Black Point, Nova Scotia: Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reser- Fernwood Publishing. vation and Beyond. Washington, DC: National Geographic. Minkler, M. & Wallerstein, N. (2008). Communi- ty-based Participatory Research for Health: From Process to Outcomes (2nd ed.). San Fran- cisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Nuovo J. (Ed.). (2007). Chronic Disease Manage- ment. New York City: Springer. Schure, M. B., Allen, S., Trottier, C., McCormick, A., Other Medicine, L., Castille, D., & Held, S. (2020). Daasachchuchik: A trauma-informed approach to developing a chronic illness self-management program for the Apsáalooke people. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Under- served, 242, 992-1006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health 2017 Digital Illustration “I created this piece as a celebration of self-love, to show my kin that they are beautiful and worthy, and deserve to feel safe enough to love themselves loudly. The Nish kwe in this illustration is a reflection of the beauty I see with- “ Reclaim in myself and my community - and I want to celebrate it! There is a sacredness in our sensuality; when we learn Your to love our bodies, we are channelling a deep ancestral love that extends to the land and our languages. When Power we learn to love our bodies, we are rejecting the legacy of colonial violence that has attempted to sever our connection to our bodies, spirits, and by extension, culturally sig- ” nificant teachings of interconnectedness, including Indige- Chief Lady Bird nous cosmologies and epistemologies. When we prioritize these forms of connection, we are reclaiming our power.” Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Wii Niiganabying (Looking Ahead): Vol. 1(1), 59-71 © The Author(s) 2020 Rearticulating Indigenous Control https://doi.org/10.33137/tijih.v1i1.34017 of Education

Joshua Manitowabi1

Fifty years ago, Indigenous Elders and leaders drafted their response to the Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy (White Paper of 1969). Their formal re- buttal, Citizens Plus (Red Paper), published in 1970, was a turning point in Indigenous education policy. It marked the beginning of the shift away from government-controlled, assimilationist educational policies to greater Indigenous control over funding and pedagogical methods. The Red Paper refuted the White Paper’s main conclusions and stated that Indigenous Peoples are citizens plus because the federal government is legally bound to provide Indigenous Peoples with services in exchange for the use of the land they occupy. The most important Indigenous rights to be upheld included education, health care, Aboriginal status, and Aboriginal title. These unique rights recognized that Indigenous Peoples are the original owners of all the natural resources on their traditional treaty lands. The Red Paper became a political turning point for Indigenous Peoples in Canada by presenting an Indigenous vision for a new political and legal relationship between Canada and Indigenous Peoples based on Aboriginal and treaty rights. Since the 1970s, Indigenous leaders have struggled to maintain control of educational funding while having to abide by provincial standards of educational curricula. Indigenous communities want to provide more positive learning experiences and positive identity through reconceptualizing educational curricula. They are exploring ways to indigenize the educational experience by igniting cultural resurgence through the integration of In- digenous languages, knowledge, culture, and history by reconnecting students to their Elders, land, and communities. Keywords Decolonization, Indigenization, Anticolonial, Aboriginal Rights, Treaty Rights, Indigenous resurgence, Indigenous education, Liberalism

Introduction contained clauses that stipulated that the Crown, in exchange for the use of First Nations’ lands, would For nearly seven decades, Indigenous leaders have provide education that was equitable to the provincial been advocating for more control of the social and system and that would operate in tandem with tradi- political policies regarding educational infrastructure tional education systems. Furthermore, these clauses and funding, and curriculum development. The trea- indicated that the communities would be responsible ties negotiated in the 1870s, known as Treaties 1-7, for selecting where and how the schools would operate. However, these treaty obligations were quickly 1PhD Candidate: Brock University. abandoned, and colonialist ideology and assimila- Email: [email protected] tionist educational models prevailed. For a century, Wii Niiganabying 60

Indigenous communities did not receive equitable educational opportunities and did not have any con- History of Educational Policies in trol over their children’s education. In the 1970s, In- Canada digenous communities began to apply pressure for education reforms, and education reform acts began The first Canadian educational policies were con- to emerge. However, “the promise of a treaty right tained in the education clauses of the numbered trea- to education, the opportunity not only to gain quality ties of the 1870s. From the time of these signings, formal education but also at the same time to maintain there was disagreement as to their intent. Indigenous their own linguistic and cultural identity, remained signers believed that they had been given a right to a elusive” (Carr-Stewart, 2001, p. 139). lifetime of education that would prepare them for a Indigenous educators and parents have come new way of making a livelihood. Within that system, to recognize that the Eurocentric educational system the federal government would provide an education has failed to meet the learning and developmental equivalent to that of provincial schools, while includ- needs of Indigenous students in Canada. There are ing Traditional Knowledge and skills. Indigenous increasing demands for the decolonization of the ed- People also believed that the treaties gave them the ucational system: demands that Indigenous Knowl- responsibility of implementation and control of edu- edge and Knowledge Holders, teaching methods, and cation, including where and when schools would be learning styles achieve parity with European educa- constructed. However, the Crown “did not fulfill its tion models. Academic achievement, attendance, and constitutional obligations and, from the outset, chose retention/graduation rates for Indigenous students are to provide limited educational services not as a treaty significantly lower than for non-Indigenous students, right, but as an assimilation mechanism through its along with higher rates of depression, substance criteria, the Indian Act” (Carr-Stewart, 2001, p. 126). abuse, and suicide (Little Bear, 2009). Indigenous ed- The Indian Act of 1876 was based on the colonialist ucator Marie Battiste states that “Aboriginal peoples ideology that it was the duty of the dominant society in Canada and Indigenous Peoples throughout the to civilize and protect the primitive race, eliminate world are feeling the tensions created by a Eurocen- tribal systems, and rapidly assimilate the tribes into tric education system that has taught them to distrust the dominant culture. It imposed Euro-Canadian so- their Indigenous knowledge systems, their elders’ cial structures and cultural values on Indigenous com- wisdom, and their own inner learning spirit” (Battiste, munities, and through its educational system, sought 2013, p. 24). to eliminate Indigenous languages, cultures, and be- Battiste (2013) also asserts that the privileg- liefs, as well as traditional ways of knowing and of ing of European knowledge over Indigenous Knowl- imparting knowledge. edge leads to cognitive imperialism and an education- The model for the dismantling of Indigenous al assimilation model that has resulted in Indigenous Knowledge Systems was developed during the mid- children developing a cultural identity of inferiority 19th century, when Egerton Ryerson, the superinten- and impotence. To ameliorate the “traumatic, nihil- dent of education, created a report (1847) for the De- istic effects” of the Eurocentric educational model partment of Indian Affairs regarding Indian education requires “decolonizing the assimilation model, . . . within the province of Canada. This report provided Indigenizing the compulsory curricula, and creating a design that would eventually become the Canadi- a balanced compulsory curricula reform based on re- an Indian Residential School system. Ryerson argued spect for constitutional rights of Aboriginal peoples” that Indians should be schooled in boarding schools (Battiste and Henderson, 2018, p. 567). This article away from their community, based on Christian prin- examines the history of educational policies for In- ciples and habits, in gender-separated, English-only, digenous students in Canada and the underlying ide- industrial education institutions (Ryerson University ologies that supported the policies and practices that Aboriginal Education Council, 2010, p. 3). Follow- were detrimental to Indigenous students to provide an ing the passage of the Indian Act, the Department of understanding of the current demands for major edu- Indian Affairs formed a partnership with three- reli cational reforms. gious organizations to construct, operate, and main-

Volume 1, Issue 1 61 Manitowabi (2020) tain schools, which were primarily residential schools the White Paper proposed abolishing all existing le- rather than the day schools on reserves that the sign- gal documents relating to Indians, including all trea- ers of the treaties had expected (Carr-Stewart, 2001). ties and the Indian Act. First Nations peoples were to In 1894, amendments to the Indian Act made educa- be fully incorporated under provincial governments tion for Indigenous children compulsory from ages 7 as equal citizens, and private property laws would be to 16. From their inception, residential schools were imposed on reserves. First Nations education admin- underfunded and poorly supervised, resulting in chil- istration and funding would be transferred from the dren living in inadequate housing, being poorly nour- federal government to the provinces. This policy was ished, and suffering from frequent illnesses, neglect, a part of Pierre Trudeau’s plan of a “just society” in and abuse (Wilk, Maltby, and Cooke, 2017). Residen- Canada. tial students’ education also suffered in part due to the Indigenous opposition to the White Paper practice of half-day labour. Children were expected to and increasing demands for recognition of Aborigi- work in the fields, take care of livestock, clean, cook, nal rights surprised Canadian government officials. and sew, which greatly limited the time available for During this time, the government became over- schooling. This inadequate education led to chronic whelmed with trying to amend Indian Policy. The unemployment or underemployment, poverty, poor government had hoped to disrupt Indigenous People’s housing, and poor health for residential school survi- unity and weaken Indigenous leaders by scattering vors (Wilk, Maltby, and Cooke, 2017). federal funds for Indigenous People’s social and eco- The residential schools remained the pre- nomic needs, including education, to the provinces. dominant form of education available to Indigenous Marie Battiste (2013) comments on this era as fol- communities until the 1970s, when Indigenous par- lows, ents began to demand greater involvement in the ed- Transferring the failed federal efforts of Indian ucation of their children (Carr-Stewart, 2001). These education entirely to the provinces through a studies identified the psychological and cultural iden- process of federal transfer of treaty obligations tity damage incurred by residential-schooled children for education was a proposal that was firmly and the intergenerational trauma caused by the loss rejected by First Nations leadership across of family life. Reviewing 61 studies of the long-term Canada, as well as by the provinces, that were impacts of residential schooling, Wilk, Maltby, and willing to take on these extraordinary new re- Cooke (2017) found that the studies reached similar sponsibilities. The uproar was heard through- conclusions: loss of attachment bonds and commu- out Canada. This left the Liberal government nity ties, loss of language and culture, and subjec- of Canada with few alternatives except to find tion to physical, psychological, and sexual abuse had an alternative solution proposed by the First profound effects at “every level of experience from Nations people themselves. (p. 61) individual identity and mental health, to the structure and integrity of families, communities, bands Indigenous Elders, leaders, and scholars immediately and nations” (n.p.). On self-rated health inventories, began developing their responses to the White Paper. residential school survivors reported higher rates of One year following the release of the White Paper, chronic and infectious diseases, and on mental health the Indian Chiefs of Alberta, under the leadership of questions, reported high rates of mental distress, de- Harold Cardinal, published their foundational docu- pression, addictive behaviours, and suicidality (Wilk, ment titled Citizens Plus (Turner, 2006), informally Maltby, and Cooke, 2017). referred to as the Red Paper. Since that time, Indig- In 1969, in response to increasing demand for enous Peoples have constantly been working with more community-based and community-controlled the settler state of Canada to address various issues educational systems and more equitable funding for surrounding Indigenous rights and control of finan- Indigenous schools, the Trudeau government released cial funding for Indigenous curricula. The Red Paper the Statement of the Government of Canada on Indi- rebutted the White Paper’s main conclusions and stat- an Policy, which became known as the White Paper. ed that Indigenous Peoples are citizens plus because Based on a Eurocentric, assimilationist perspective, the federal government is legally bound to provide

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Wii Niiganabying 62

Indigenous Peoples with services in exchange for the and perspectives of Anishinaabe Elder educators on use of the land. According to the Red Paper, the most Indigenous education, several reported that, during important Indigenous rights to be upheld included this period, Indigenous Knowledge was still deval- education, health care, Indian status, Aboriginal ti- ued, and little time and few resources were allotted tle, and land claims. These unique rights recognized for including Indigenous language and culture in the that Indigenous Peoples are the original owners of curriculum (Manitowabi, 2017). all the natural resources on their traditional treaty The push for local community control coin- lands. One of the main points that this paper argues cided with the push for legal recognition of Aborigi- is that what the Canadian federal government defines nal and treaty rights. In the 1980s, Indigenous com- as Crown land (non-Indigenous lands) is also in fact munities turned to the legal system to have their treaty Treaty land, where the economic values of the natural rights honoured, including their right to an education resources for off-reserve Treaty lands are supposed and for the government to fulfill their fiduciary re- to be shared with the First Nations within their responsibility in fulfilling treaty obligations. In 1982, spective treaty areas. There are both Treaty Lands and the Canadian Constitution was created, and the Su- Unceded Lands within British Crown lands, and until preme Court’s decisions in the R v. Sioui case in 1990 all Canadians realize this fact, we can never have any and the R v. Badger case in 1996 affirmed existing authentic reconciliation in Canada. New Indigenous Aboriginal and treaty rights with positive implica- organizations were formed on both the federal and tions for communities gaining control of the curric- provincial level, including the National Indian Broth- ulum and teaching methods, as well as receiving ad- erhood, now known as the Assembly of First Nations, equate funding to pursue programs beneficial to their and the Union of Ontario Indians. These new political communities (Carr-Stewart, 2001). entities increased the Indigenous presence in Cana- Aboriginal rights are interpreted by the Cana- dian politics. The 1970 Red Paper became a political dian state as international law and not domestic Cana- turning point for Indigenous Peoples in Canada by dian law. These legal compliances originate from the presenting an Indigenous vision for a new political Royal Proclamation of 1763, where the British Crown and legal affiliation between Canada and Indigenous recognized Aboriginal title to their lands (Henderson, Peoples. 1995). When treaties were made between various In- Following the publication of the Indian Con- digenous nations and the British Crown, they includ- trol of Indian Education report in 1972 (ICIE), the ed education rights. The treaties defined education Canadian government recognized the principle of pa- as a treaty right because traditional education for In- rental involvement and control. However, the admin- digenous Peoples is based on Indigenous Knowledge istration of education did not change, and the funding and cultural traditions that are rooted in the land and arrangements continued to follow the policy and gov- protected by Aboriginal rights. Aboriginal peoples, ernance framework of the 1876 Indian Act. This fund- through these nation-to-nation negotiations, agreed to ing arrangement limited the communities’ jurisdiction share the land with settlers as described in the treaties over education and their capacity to integrate Indige- with the understanding that the British Crown agreed nous Knowledge into the curriculum and to revitalize to educate Indigenous Peoples so that the two cultures their languages and cultures. By the end of the twen- would live peacefully and coexist equally within the tieth century, Indigenous communities were assum- same geographic space. ing administrative control of education services. Still, One of the first treaties between Europeans they were required to follow the provincial curricu- and Indigenous Peoples was the Two Row Wampum, lum requirements, with funding remaining under the made in 1613 between two nations: the Dutch and guidelines of the Indian Act. Gaining more control of the Mohawk. This treaty is notable not only for its their children’s education did not result in significant priority as a basis for later understandings and trea- improvement in academic achievement, because In- ties but because of the powerful visual metaphor of digenous schools continued to be poorly funded, and the two parallel rows signifying the independence of the curricula and teaching approaches were not under the voyages of the two nations. The Mohawks and their control. In a previous study on the experiences other Haudenosaunee peoples were governed by a so-

Volume 1, Issue 1 63 Manitowabi (2020) phisticated democratic system and respected those of ognized in Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution, other nations as well. Indigenous Peoples, including where it states, “the existing Aboriginal and treaty the Mohawks, have considered treaty agreements to rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada are here- be perpetual. In contrast, Canadian and other gov- by recognized and affirmed” (Turner, 2006, p. 3). The ernments have not accorded them the same respect, successful defense of Indigenous rights has been tied and in fact, violating most of them. Wampum belts to the liberal principles of promotion of equal free- are considered the “text” of diplomatic relations be- dom and well-being, both individually and collec- tween two sovereign nations (Turner, 2006). As In- tively, through relationships that Indigenous Peoples digenous philosopher Dale Turner (2006) states, “this have with their families, clans, nations, and the nat- process was respected for every issue that affected ural world (Alfred and Corntassel, 2005). However, the welfare of the Confederacy. This kind of demo- there first had to be successful challenges to the liber- cratic representation was grounded in the principles al tenets that had been used to justify colonialism: the of reciprocity and renewal” (p. 49). In continuation prioritizing of individual rights over collective rights, of the spirit of the Two Row Wampum, in 1988 the the obligation to “civilize” by imparting capacity for Assembly of First Nations rearticulated the ideas of reason, the establishment of self-government and pri- Indigenous control over Indigenous education. The vate property ownership, and the idea of assimilating Assembly “emphasized Aboriginal peoples’ inherent and homogenizing Indigenous Peoples into the Cana- right to self-government as the basis for control over dian political system. education” (White and Peters, 2009, p. 24). They ar- The recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights gued for a constitutional amendment or federal leg- by the Supreme Court was significant for gaining rec- islation that would “ensure future dealings between ognition of education as a treaty right with treaty-stip- First Nations and the federal government were on a ulated obligations for equitable educational services, government-to-government basis” (White and Peters, community control, and retention of Indigenous ed- 2009, p. 24). ucational practices. Since the publication of Citizens Ivison (2002) argues that, from a postcolonial Plus, various federal commissions have created doc- liberal perspective, Aboriginal rights refer to a distinct uments attempting to address Indigenous education set of claims based on the prior occupancy of their issues between Indigenous Peoples and the federal homelands by Indigenous Peoples. Aboriginal rights government. Tensions rose between the government then were viewed, in opposition to colonialism-liberal of Canada and Indigenous Peoples during the Oka concepts, as collective group rights that are tied to an crisis in the summer of 1990. In response, the Roy- Aboriginal title to land and the right to their own cul- al Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was tures and self-determination. Aboriginal rights, how- founded in 1996 with the intent of improving rela- ever, are bound to existing norms and institutions and tions between settler Canadians and Indigenous Peo- were not fully defined in the revised Canadian Con- ples. RCAP produced important work using research stitution in 1982 and, therefore, still require ongoing by Indigenous Elders, leaders, and scholars and was negotiation and compromise. If a dominant culture a continuation of the foundational Indigenous report attempts to assimilate or oppress a minority culture in 1972, titled Indian Control of Indian Education into the larger cultural group, then that minority cul- (ICIE). The international treaties upon which the nature has unique collective rights which protect them, tion of Canada was founded influenced the formation such as Section 35 of the Constitution Act pertaining of ICIE after the Citizens Plus report was initially de- to Aboriginal rights. As Duncan Ivison (2002) states, veloped. These two foundational reports in the 1970s “Applied to indigenous peoples, the argument would are based on Aboriginal rights, which are embedded be that the nature of indigenous difference is such within the Treaty relationship between Indigenous that without the preservation of their culture, they are nations and the British sovereign, which is represent- left at a severe disadvantage in terms of coping with ed by the British Crown and the Governor-General of Western institutions and practices” (p. 125). Canada. The push for the recognition of treaty rights The failure to meet the educational needs of would eventually lead to Aboriginal rights being rec- Indigenous children and their communities and the

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Wii Niiganabying 64 recognition of the psychologically damaging conse- There is also growing evidence that a resurgence of quences of the residential schools and racism were traditional culture, reclaiming history, geographic addressed in the final report of the Truth and Rec- knowledge, and a reconnection to land, can promote onciliation Commission (TRC). The TRC issued 94 a greater sense of stability and positive identity in In- Calls to Action intended to “address the legacy of digenous youth and lead to improved academic per- residential schools and advance the process of Cana- formance (Manitowabi, 2017). dian reconciliation” (TRC, 2015). Indigenous scholar The TRC reports brought awareness to the Basil Johnston (2011) believes that to create positive problem of racism in the Canadian educational sys- change in Canada towards enhancing the settler–In- tem and the need to teach how racism has been a digenous relationship, we must educate all Canadi- dominant force in policies and practices construct- ans at a younger age about the history and culture ed by the federal government throughout the history of Indigenous Peoples. Among the Calls to Action, of Canada. Conceptions of race are seen as a social recommendations include providing funding to train construction that justifies colonialism and the domi- teachers how to integrate Indigenous Knowledge and nation and control of Indigenous Peoples. As Marie teaching methods and for Aboriginal schools to uti- Battiste (2013) noted, “a theory of scientific racism lize Indigenous Knowledge and teaching methods, established by scientists then provided a coherent ac- and requiring curricula from kindergarten to twelfth count of observed differences and originated a com- grade to include material on residential schools, trea- prehensive theory of European superiority over other ties, Indigenous People’s historical and contemporary peoples” (p. 131). contributions to Canada, and on antiracism (TRC, There is currently a high demand in set- 2015). As Priscilla Settee (2013) states, “Indigenous tler-colonial nations such as Canada, New Zealand, Knowledge Systems can play an important role with- Australia, and some regions of the US, to decolonize in the larger society, where misconceptions and mis- education not only for Indigenous students but for information exist about Indigenous people. Formal non-Indigenous students and educators as well. De- educational institutions do not adequately teach about colonization in education refers to the undoing of Indigenous history, culture, and the history of colo- racist beliefs that, among other problems, made the nialism” (p. 47). colonized feel inferior. This involves raising aware- While most Indigenous students now receive ness of overt and hidden racist ideology, cultivating their education in their communities, academic per- respect for and inclusion of Indigenous knowledge formance and school retention rates appear to have and perspectives, having high expectations for Indig- been negatively affected by the lack of equitable enous students, and developing policies and practices funding, limited community control over educational for retaining Indigenous students in secondary and policies and practices, the slow pace of incorporat- post-secondary schools (Kanu, 2011). ing Indigenous Knowledge into the curriculum, and Frantz Fanon’s (1952) and Paulo Freire’s (1970) effects of intergenerational trauma. Kulmann (2012), work has been influential in the reconceptualization in a study of knowledge transmission between Elders of education for Indigenous students. They discussed and Anishinaabe youth at two First Nations in Ontario the nature of colonialist oppression, its impact on sup- found that a history of land dispossession, removal pressed peoples, the persistence of racial and social to residential schools, and loss of language, cultural hierarchies and power imbalances in embedded colo- knowledge, and traditional practices of knowledge nial ideologies in social, cultural, and political narra- transmission were associated with high levels of tives and education systems, and the need for critical social and psychological distress, hopelessness, de- pedagogy and decolonization of the mind. Their work pression, and suicide. Similarly, efforts to revitalize on the decolonization of the mind and self-identity traditional language and cultural beliefs, incorporate has provided intellectual space for Indigenous Peoples practices and traditional methods of knowledge trans- to reclaim their cultures, their ways of knowing, and mission, and increase control over educational, health their histories. care, and child welfare policies and practices, were In his foundational book Black Skin, White associated with lower rates of depression and suicide. Masks (1952), Fanon described how the dehumaniz-

Volume 1, Issue 1 65 Manitowabi (2020) ing, oppressive experiences of marginalized Indige- Prior to the arrival of Europeans, there was nous People under colonialism had a profoundly neg- a myriad of Indigenous cultures, with many gover- ative impact on their mental health and self-identity. nance systems, across the vast territories of the Amer- He also asserted that resisting oppression is essential icas. Although Indigenous Peoples in North America to restoring and maintaining positive mental health. share similar cultures and ways of knowing, there is Fanon (1952) recognized that the process of decolo- no pan-Indigenous identity, but various forms of tra- nization is required to resist the self-identity of inferi- ditional health and well-being, education, and orga- ority that accompanies culturally identifying with the nized political systems. These types of histories need dominant colonizer. The colonized have to become to be utilized and taught to the next generation of In- socially conscious and move away from an assimila- digenous youth while our Elders still carry these types tion stance. Fanon (1952) saw the recovery of one’s of knowledges within their Indigenous languages and Indigenous culture as an important step in the decol- cultures (Manitowabi, 2017). Indigenous resurgence onizing of the mind. His work provided insights into must be cultivated to further improve the sense of cul- the need to decolonize education and how Indigenous tural pride by integrating more values and norms of cultural resurgence, such as integration of Indigenous Indigenous cultures. This mental wellness framework oral traditions and true history, may be beneficial to is the foundation for incorporating a culturally specif- the development of Indigenous children. ic holistic intervention to advance the overall wellness Like Fanon (1952), educator and philosopher of Indigenous individuals, families, and community Freire (1970) recognized that oppressed people need- mental health (Boksa, Joober, and Kirmayer, 2015). ed a new form of education, one that was anticolonial and offered them a path out of their oppressed con- Postcolonial Liberalism and Indigenous dition. His Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Freire, 1970) Political Theory formed the basis of the educational philosophy and social movement of critical pedagogy. The aim of crit- The moral and political foundations of recent educa- ical pedagogy is to reform oppressive power structures tional reform acts are based on the goals and ideals by raising a critical consciousness in oppressed and of postcolonial liberalism, which emphasize justice, marginalized individuals through a pedagogical ap- equal rights, individual rights, and human well-being, proach that emphasizes interaction and dialogue, and recognition of Indigenous cultural, land, and resourc- that respects Indigenous knowledge. Freire’s (1970) es claims, and a belief in accommodation to differenc- philosophy of education stressed the political nature es and ongoing dialogue for reaching reconciliation of teaching and learning. He asserted that in order (Ivison, 2002). The ICIE paper (1972), the 1996 Roy- for subjugated peoples to overcome their condition of al Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) Rec- oppression, students and teachers need to be able to ommendation 3.5.2, and the 2015 TRC 94 Calls to critically analyze political and social power structures Action reflect many of the goals and ideals of postco- that are inherent in educational agendas. lonial liberalism. However, Indigenous political the- Freire (1970), like Fanon (1952), recognized orists question how liberalism, with its Eurocentric that the process of decolonization is complex, in part biases and embedded hierarchies, and its history of because the internalization of an identity of inferi- having been used to justify colonialism and assimi- ority and marked ambivalence toward the dominant lation policies, can help Indigenous People to bridge culture create stress and confusion. However, his rais- the gap between educational attainment and the needs ing of awareness of the impact of oppression in the of their communities (Carr-Stewart, 2001). educational system on the academic performance While postcolonial theories have been useful and school retention of Indigenous children has con- to Indigenous scholars in providing methods for ex- tributed to a reevaluation of Indigenous schools and amining the social and political relationships that sus- curricula and to efforts to decolonize the education of tain colonialism and neocolonialism, and ultimately Indigenous children. Freire (1970) considered social, subjugate Indigenous Knowledge, there is growing race, and class dynamics to be interlaced in educa- debate about the utility of these theories for address- tional systems. ing the material conditions of Indigenous Peoples in

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“decolonized” countries where economic, cultural, be inherent. and linguistic domination continues. Dei and Asghar- Ivison in Postcolonial Liberalism (2002) ar- zadeh (2001) cite this continued domination and gues that, despite the rejection of liberalism by postco- control of Indigenous and minority populations as lonial theorists, being Euro-centrically biased, valuing evidence that we are not really in a postcolonial era, individual rights over Indigenous group rights, and as postcolonial theorists assume. They also question failing to address the critical issues of self-determi- whether the current definition of colonialism is ade- nation, sovereignty, self-government, and Indigenous quate to address the intersections of race, gender, and claims to preserving and re-finding cultures, liberal- class oppression for marginalized peoples in neocolo- ism can still provide a framework for establishing a nial situations and whether postcolonial theories can just and peaceful coexistence. He asserts that the lib- lead to agendas of social change. Dei and Asgarzadeh eral goals of justice, freedom, individual rights, and (2001) argue that social theories must be anticolonial human well-being when combined with the recogni- and fundamentally transformative and that the post- tion of group or collective rights, can meet the chal- colonial theories are not. lenges of multiculturalism and diverse society. Ivison Indigenous Peoples from various parts of the (2002) recognizes that there are multiple definitions world share a common history of systemic racial op- of Indigenous rights, including human rights, specif- pression and have survived extensive periods of col- ic cultural rights, and entitlement and common-law onization. Most modern Indigenous Peoples share a rights derived from treaties. These Indigenous rights common worldview that is based on resistance to co- derive from original occupancy, a constitutional re- lonial policies that have contributed to the degradation lationship to the Crown, a legacy from colonialism of their culture. This worldview can also be called an and forced assimilation, and continuing challenges to anticolonial framework. Dei and Asgharzadeh define community and individual well-being. Ivison (2002) an anticolonial framework as “an understanding of believes that people can work towards the ideal of power relations that originated from the oppression of reconciliation based on recognition of differences and marginalized people” (Dei and Asgharzadeh, 2001). historical injustices, and a commitment to equality, This can lead to the formation of alliances and part- dialogue, the empowering of Indigenous People, and nerships among anti-oppression activists. Indigenous an ongoing accommodation to different and changing political theorists Simpson (2007), Coulthard (2007), situations. and Corntassel (2008), have argued for a more com- Audra Simpson (2007), on the other hand, prehensive understanding and broader definition of questions whether accommodation aimed at reconcil- settler colonialism that can better address multiple iation is in the best interests of Indigenous Peoples or forms of oppression in various geographic and cul- whether it just reproduces the power imbalances that tural spaces, including education. They assert that we perpetuate the original settler-colonial relationship, are not in a postcolonial period, as demonstrated by because the politics of reconciliation remain within a the oppression experienced by Indigenous People in system still guided by colonial liberalism with its em- health, education, and justice, the control by settler bedded hierarchies. She sees the democratic practice colonialists of Indigenous land and resources, the of recognition of Indigenous rights as transforming lack of Indigenous Peoples’ political power, and their Indigenous Peoples from sovereign nations to minori- occupation of the lowest level of the socioeconom- ty citizens. Simpson (2007) asserts that Indigenous ic hierarchy. These authors argue that it is necessary self-governance requires a politics of refusal aimed to reject the conditions of domination that perpetuate toward sovereignty and self-government and a resur- the settler-colonial relationship to advance Indige- gence of Indigenous culture. Coulthard (2007) sup- nous interests. They recommend, instead, advocating ports Simpson’s theoretical approach of refusal and for Indigenous Peoples’ self-governance and recogni- resurgence, and rejects the politics of reconciliation, tion of their sovereignty, as well as collective, group because its methods tend to minimize the violence and rights within the context of cultural revitalization and trauma of Indigenous displacement from their lands reintegration. It is a framework in which Indigenous and culture. He also agrees that settler colonialism rights to control the education of their children would persists, with its attendant inequities and conditions

Volume 1, Issue 1 67 Manitowabi (2020) of oppression, and stresses that Indigenous Peoples should not rely on the politics of recognition from Conclusions the Canadian state for their inherent land rights to be recognized, but instead advocate for sovereignty and Despite efforts to restructure and improve educational cultural revitalization through Indigenous resurgence. results and secondary school retention rates, Indige- Alfred (2009) cautions that it is important for nous students in federal and provincial schools con- Indigenous communities to understand that, in the tinue to have lower achievement and retention rates discourse and framework on Indigenous rights, it is than Euro-Canadian students. They also show ele- recognized that “Indigeneity is legitimized and nego- vated levels of social and psychological difficulty, as tiated only as a set of state-derived individual rights demonstrated by increased rates of substance abuse, aggregated into a community social context—a very depression, and suicide (Chandler and Lalonde, different concept than that of collective rights pre-ex- 2008). Ideas of classical liberalism in the postcolonial isting and independent of the state,” (p. 112) and that era have had to be modified to meet the realities and only the latter concept can lead to sustainable self-de- challenges of culturally diverse, culturally pluralistic termination. Indigenous leaders today have to be societies. Policies with regards to Indigenous popu- wary of modern, state-recognized political legislation lations and Indigenous–settler relationships reflected that provides frameworks for Indigenous self-govern- a shift from the liberalism of the colonial and federal ment because these Canadian state derived policies eras — with its emphasis on individual rights, pater- are created by the state itself and not Indigenous gov- nalistic assimilation policies, and Eurocentric con- ernments. New political frameworks or modern trea- ceptualizations of human well-being and justice—to ties are created mostly to benefit the state rather than the recognition of Indigenous, collective group rights, Indigenous communities. If Indigenous Peoples want rights to language, culture, and self-governance, a to achieve authentic self-determination and reconcil- duty to honour treaty obligations protecting land and iation with Canada, then political policies that affect natural resources, and rights to health, welfare, and Indigenous Peoples must be created by the Indige- education (Ivison, 2002). nous Peoples themselves and only then implemented The shift towards postcolonial liberalism in by the federal government. Canada began with First Nations’ rejection of the Turner (2006), in This is Not a Peace Pipe: White Paper’s recommendation that would have dis- Towards a Critical Indigenous Philosophy, rejects lib- solved all treaties and forced assimilation. The imple- eralism as an approach for resolving disagreements mentation of the Indian Control of Education report between settlers and Indigenous Peoples in Canada in 1972, and the recommendations by the Royal Com- and for framing policies on Indigenous rights. Turner mission on Aboriginal Peoples, marked recognition of examines several proposals made during recent de- Indigenous communities’ rights to education, control cades that aim at resolving conflicts and determines of educational services, and integration of Indigenous that none are successful, because they do not accept knowledge and skills into curricula and pedagogy. Indigenous People on their terms. Instead, the propos- The TRC Calls to Action expanded these recommen- als assume a single version of Canadian culture based dations to include training of all teachers in the his- on liberalism’s core values of individualism and indi- tories of Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous-settler vidual rights, to the disadvantage of the group rights relations, in the integration of Indigenous culture and of Indigenous Peoples, and thus they are seen as as- knowledge into all curricula, and in anti-racism. similationist in nature. Turner (2006) asserts that “In- Indigenous political theorists continue to digenous rights are a sui generis form of group rights question whether liberalism can lead to fulfilling In- and not merely a class of minority rights” (p. 31). The digenous goals of self-governance, control over their question remains whether the Canadian educational lands and education systems, fulfillment of treaty ob- system has rejected assimilationist models and fully ligations, and cultural revitalization, as there is a hier- accepted the legitimacy of Indigenous knowledge and archy of power implicit in the practices of recognition philosophy, as well as Indigenous rights to self-deter- and reconciliation in which rights are state-derived in- mination and control of Indigenous education. dividual rights rather than the pre-existing collective

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Wii Niiganabying 68 rights present during the nation-to-nation treaty ne- to bring more Indigenous Knowledge into schools, gotiations. In addition, these Indigenous political the- and also into the minds of the general public on what orists all stress the importance of cultural revitaliza- it means to be Indigenous in Canada today, and how tion and, in particular, look to a reformed educational the Indigenous relationship with settlers can move system that can produce land and community-based towards true reconciliation. It is current initiatives intellectuals, philosophers, and historians who revive like the FNWSC, Kenjgewin Teg, and collaborative and produce cultural knowledge (Simpson, 2014). Indigenous museum education like the OCF that hon- Indigenous communities in Ontario, Canada our the Indigenous Elders and educators of our past. are currently taking control of their education systems We remember the fiftieth anniversaries of the Red through government funding and community-based Paper in June 2020 and Indian Control of Indian Ed- research initiatives. The Anishinaabek Education ucation in the year 2022 and the struggle since the System (AES) agreement was ratified in the fall of 1970s to attain control of educational funding. Indig- 2016 so that participating First Nations in Ontario enous communities want to provide more positive could establish more control over their education. In learning experiences and better academic outcomes the same year, there was also the development of a for their students and want to promote positive identi- committee, between eight Ontario First Nations who ty by reconceptualizing curricula and practices. They did not accept the AES but wanted a right to control are exploring ways to both decolonize and indigenize their education, called the First Nations with Schools the educational experience by integrating Indigenous Collective (FNWSC). These First Nations are Wik- language, knowledge, culture, and history into cur- wemikong Unceded Territory, Bkejwanong, Chip- ricula, and by reconnecting students to their land and pewas of the Thames, M’Chigeeng, Mississaugas of communities. the New Credit, Sagamok Anishinaabek, Oneida on Leanne Simpson (2011) has advocated to in- the Thames, and Six Nations of the Grand River (the corporate Indigenous Knowledge within curricula by last currently participating as observers). The FN- using oral history. She motivates Indigenous Peoples WSC was motivated by the guidance of the late Elder toward cultural resurgence on an individual level Louis Debassige-baa of M’Chigeeng First Nation. through their traditional education systems by utiliz- Louis-baa was a member of the consultation team ing their languages and stories from the knowledge of for Citizens Plus in 1970, as well as one the original their Elders. Indigenous resurgence must begin with- drafters of Indian Control of Indian Education. These in the individual and then move towards family and FNWSC communities are creating curricula by utiliz- community, building strength within their specific na- ing their tools, resources, and Indigenous educators tions. Indigenous Knowledge is rooted within Indig- and scholars. enous languages, “which carry rich meanings, theory, Between November 2017 and May of 2018, I and philosophies within their structures” (Simpson, was fortunate to be part of the Anishinaabek research 2011, p. 49). and curricula development team at Kenjgewin Teg Health and wellness within Indigenous com- Educational Institute at M’Chigeeng ON, made up of munities are maintained by holistically addressing all Elders, scholars, and educators. There we developed the spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental aspects secondary and post-secondary courses on decoloniz- of the people. This approach is largely absent from ing education by utilizing Anishinaabe ecological current systems of education, resulting in detrimen- knowledge and regional treaty history. tal effects on the mental health of Indigenous youth, The development of the Indian Control of In- including loss of languages and positive identities, dian Education (ICIE) policy paper took place from and lower levels of self-esteem (Boksa, Joober, and 1970 to 1972. The ICIE was formally presented to Kirmayer, 2015). If a decolonized understanding is the Canadian government on December 21, 1972, applied to educational curricula, Indigenous philoso- and accepted by the Minister of Indian Affairs on phies could be utilized to strengthen the overall health February 2, 1973. The Ojibwe Cultural Foundation and well-being for all Indigenous nations across Turtle (OCF), also located in M’Chigeeng, was inspired by Island (known as North America) by using the knowl- ICIE, and recently collaborated with Kenjgewin Teg edges still retained by Indigenous Elders (Manitow-

Volume 1, Issue 1 69 Manitowabi (2020) abi, 2017). The symptoms and psychiatric disorders lonialism. Government and Opposition, 40(4), from this specific type of trauma can be combated by 597-614. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477- enhancing the cultural resiliency of Indigenous Peo- 7053.2005.00166.x ples through self-determination and continued devel- Assembly of First Nations. (1988). Tradition and opment of cultural identity (Boksa, Joober, and Kir- Education: Towards a Vision of Our Future. A mayer, 2015). Indigenous parents can begin to turn Declaration of First Nations Jurisdiction Over to cultural revitalization and language restoration to Education. https://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/ed- help heal the traumas of the past and to promote the ucation/7._1988_december_afn_tradition_and_ psychological well-being of their children and youth. education-_a_declaration_on_fn_jurisdiction_ The federal government can begin to imple- over_education.pdf ment more of the recommendations which were first Battiste, M. (2013). Decolonizing Education: Nour- introduced in the RCAP report (1996) and then car- ishing the Learning Spirit. Purich Publishing. ried over into the TRC Final Report (2015). Post- Battiste, M., Bell, L., and Findlay, L.M. (2002). De- secondary curricula can start to include Indigenous colonizing Education in Canadian Universities: humanities, visual art, and culture, Indigenous litera- An Interdisciplinary, International, Indigenous tures and social sciences, which explore decolonizing Research Project. Canadian Journal of Native methodologies within various interdisciplinary aca- Education, 26(2), 82-95. demic disciplines, thus becoming collaborative and Battiste, M., and Henderson J. Y. (2018). Compulso- embedded within the existing university curricula. As ry Schooling and Cognitive Imperialism: A Case Marie Battiste, Lynne Bell, and L.M. Findlay (2002) for Cognitive Justice and Reconciliation with state, Indigenous Peoples. In: K. Trimmer, R. Dixon, As university educators who have been work- and Y.S. Findlay (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook ing towards a postcolonial education, we find of Education Law for Schools. London, UK: Pal- our current efforts underscore and animate grave Macmillan. RCAP (1996) research recommendations ad- Bishop, R. (2011). Freeing Ourselves. Sense Pub- opted by us as a postcolonial agenda of writ- lishers. ing back and teaching back to established re- Boksa, P., Joober, R., and Kirmayer, L. (2015). Mental search and institutional practices, and in this Wellness in Canada’s Aboriginal Communities: way beginning to reveal how institutions can Striving Toward Reconciliation. Journal of Psy- transform themselves and their capacities to chiatry and Neuroscience, 40(6), 363-365. http:// affirm and achieve justice (p. 86). jpn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/40-6-363. pdf The education system can be a tool for Indigenous Carr-Stewart, S. (2001). A Treaty Right to Education. Peoples to exercise Indigenous self-determination Canadian Journal of Education, 26(2), 125-143. and renewal of the treaty relationships between the https://doi.org/10.2307/1602197 federal government and First Nations. If the organiza- Chandler, M. J., and Lalonde, C. E. (2008). Cultural tion and development of curricula are structured dif- Continuity as a Protective Factor Against Suicide ferently than in the past, the education system can be in First Nations Youth. Horizons—A Special Is- a powerful tool for reconciliation in Canada. sue on Aboriginal Youth, Hope or Heartbreak: Aboriginal Youth and Canada’s Future, 10(1), 68-72. https://www.researchgate.net/publica- References tion/239921354_Cultural_Continuity_as_a_Pro- tective_Factor_Against_Suicide_in_First_Na- Alfred, T. (2009). Wasáse: Indigenous Pathways tions_Youth of Action and Freedom. University of Toronto Chandra, U. (2013). Liberalism and Its Other: The Press. Politics of Primitivism in Colonial and Postcolo- Alfred, T., and Corntassel, J. (2005). Being Indige- nial Indian Law. Law and Society Review, 47(1), nous: Resurgences against Contemporary Co- 135-168. https://doi.org/10.1111/lasr.12004

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Corntassel, J. (2008). Toward Sustainable Self-De- Manitowabi, J. (2017). It Sometimes Speaks to Us: termination: Rethinking the Contempo- Decolonizing Education by Utilizing Our Elders’ rary Indigenous-Rights Discourse. Alterna- Knowledge. MA Thesis, Hamilton, ON: McMas- tives 33, 105-132. https://doi.org/10.1177% ter University. http://hdl.handle.net/11375/22292 2F030437540803300106 Means, A. (2014). Educational commons and the Cote-Meek, S. (2014). Colonized Classrooms: Rac- new radical democratic imaginary. Critical Stud- ism, Trauma and Resistance in Post-Secondary ies in Education, 55(2), 122-137. https://doi.org/ Education. Fernwood Publishing. 10.1080/17508487.2014.903502 Coulthard, G. (2014). Red Skin, White Masks: Re- National Indian Brotherhood [Assembly of First jecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition. Uni- Nations]. (1972). Indian Control of Indian Ed- versity of Minnesota Press. ucation. Assembly of First Nations. www.oneca. Dei, G. J. S., and Asgharzadeh, A. (2001). The com/IndianControlofIndianEducation.pdf Power of Social Theory: The Anti-Colonial Paquette, J., and Gerald F. (2010). First Nations Edu- Discursive Framework. The Journal of Edu- cation Policy in Canada: Progress or Gridlock? cational Thought, 35(3), 297-323. https://doi. University of Toronto Press. org/10.11575/jet.v35i3.52749 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP). Fanon, F. (1952). Black Skin, White Masks, Transl. (1996). Final Report of the Royal Commis- Richard Philcox, Revised edition 2008, New sion of Aboriginal Peoples, Volume 3, Gather- York, NY: Grove Press. ing Strength. Canadian Communication Group. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New http://data2.archives.ca/e/e448/e011188230-03. York, NY: Seabury Press. pdf Government of Canada. (1985). Indian Act (RSC, Ryerson University Aboriginal Education Coun- 1985, c. I-5). Canada. https://laws-lois.justice. cil. (2010). “Egerton Ryerson, the Residential gc.ca/eng/acts/i-5/fulltext.html School System and Truth and Reconciliation.” Grande, S. (2004). Red Pedagogy: Native American https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/aec/pdfs/ Social and Political Thought. Rowman and Lit- egerton%20ryerson_fullstatement.pdf, accessed tlefield Publishers. July 20, 2020. Henderson, J. (1995). Treaties and Education. In Settee, P. (2013). Pimatisiwin: The Good Life, Glob- First Nations Education in Canada: The Circle al Indigenous Knowledge Systems. J. Charlton Unfolds, M. Battiste and J. Barman (Eds.), pp. Publishing. 245-261. University of British Columbia Press. Simpson, A. (2007). On Ethnographic Refusal: In- Ivison, D. (2002). Postcolonial Liberalism. Cam- digeneity, ‘Voice’ and Colonial Citizenship. bridge University Press. Junctures, 9, 67-80. https://link-gale-com. Johnston, B. (2011). Think Indian: Languages Are proxy.library.brocku.ca/apps/doc/A176129665/ Beyond Price. Kegedonce Press. AONE?u=st46245&sid=AONE&xid=8783493b Kanu, Y. (2011). Integrating Aboriginal Perspectives Simpson, L. (2011). Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back: into the School Curriculum: Purposes, Possi- Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence, bilities, and Challenges. University of Toronto and a New Emergence. Arbeiter Ring Publishing. Press. Simpson, L. (2014). Land as Pedagogy: Nishnaabeg Kulmann, K. (2012). We Should be Listening to Our Intelligence and Rebellious Transformation. De- Elders: Evaluation of Transfer of Indigenous colonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, Knowledge Between Anishinabe Youth and El- 3(3), 1-25. ders. MA Thesis, University of Western Ontario: Tully, J. (2000). The Struggles of Indigenous Peo- Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. ples for and of Freedom. In Political Theory and Paper 710. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/710 the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, D. Ivison, P. Little Bear, L. (2009). Naturalizing Indigenous Patton, and W. Sanders (Eds.), pp. 36-59. Cam- Knowledge: Synthesis Paper. University of Sas- bridge University Press. katchewan Press. Turner, D. (2006). This is Not a Peace Pipe: Towards

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a Critical Indigenous Philosophy. University of Toronto Press. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Can- ada. http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/ File/2015/Honouring_the_Truth_Reconciling_ for_the_Future_July_23_2015.pdf, accessed April 17, 2019. White, J.P., and Peters, J. (2009). A Short History of Aboriginal Education in Canada. Aboriginal Pol- icy Research Consortium International (APRCi). 23. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/aprci/23?utm_source=ir. lib.uwo.ca%2Faprci%2F23&utm_medium=PD- F&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages Wilk, P., Maltby, A., and Cooke, M. (2017). Resi- dential Schools and the Effects on Indigenous Health and Well-being in Canada—a Scoping Review. Public Health Rev., 38, 8.. https://doi. org/10.1186/s40985-017-0055-6

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Enacting the Otipemisiwak Vol. 1(1), 72-77 © The Author(s) 2020 Worldview: Reflections from One https://doi.org/10.33137/tijih.v1i1.33992 Métis Clinician and Researcher

Justin Turner1,2

Applying one’s cultural teachings to their research or clinical practice is an important endeavour that requires intensive reflection. I recently had the honour of studying in detail my Métis or Otipemisiwak culture by taking a class called Advanced Métis Studies taught by a respected Métis Elder. In this article, I document some specific learnings from the course, and reflect on how to apply them to both my occupational therapy clinical practice and my research praxis as a PhD student. I offer specific and more theoretical applications of Otipemisiwak culture to my own life and encourage the reader to engage in a similar reflective process regarding their own culture. This article also serves as a chance to introduce myself to other Indigenous health researchers.

Keywords Métis, Occupational therapy, Rehabilitation, Métissage, Indigenous methodologies

Introduction wanted to absorb some of Earl’s wisdom as an El- der in our Métis community. I believe I have accom- From January to April 2020, I had the honour of tak- plished these two goals; however, my most important ing a class entitled Advanced Métis Studies at the takeaway from Earl’s teachings is a deepened appre- University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), ciation for the beauty and uniqueness of my culture. taught by respected Métis Elder Earl Henderson In this paper, I will consider how to apply some of (Henderson, 2008). My initial reasons for taking the the teachings from Advanced Métis Studies to differ- class were two-fold. First, I am a Métis PhD student ent parts of my personal and professional life. I am embarking on a research project in collaboration with aware that the process of learning about one’s culture other Indigenous communities, so I hoped Advanced is a lifelong endeavour; however, I have some initial Métis Studies would enable me to participate in some reflections as a young Otipemisiwak that I wish to important reflections on Métis culture and its teach- share with my community of learners and faculty. My ings regarding intercultural relations. Secondly, I hope for this paper is to encourage readers to reflect on their own journeys of reflection regarding their cultures with implementation into the various parts of Acknowledgements: I would like to acknowledge Métis Elder their lives. Earl Henderson for his wisdom which inspired this manuscript. I am also grateful to the British Columbia Lung Association and Background the Irving K. Barber British Columbia Scholarship Society for their financial support in my graduate studies. 1MOT.Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of To give some context about myself, my name is Jus- Medicine, University of British Columbia, Coast Salish Territo- tin Turner and my parents are James Turner and Co- ry, Vancouver, BC, Canada rey Favell (see Figure 1). I was born in the spring of 2 Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, University of British Colum- 1991 in Lethbridge, Alberta (AB) and have lived in bia, Coast Salish Territory, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Email: Jus- [email protected], Twitter: @OTJustinT various places throughout Alberta and British Colum- Enacting the Otipemisiwak Worldview 73 bia (Drumheller, Calgary, Irricana, Banff, Olds, Cas- Figure 1. Photo of my mother Corey Favell (top left) tlegar, Vancouver, Victoria, Fernie). My dad James who has Half-breed Métis ancestors from the Red was born in Vancouver, BC and has mixed European River Settlement, my father James Turner (top right) Settler ancestry from England, Scotland, and Nor- who has European Settler ancestors from England, way. My mom, Corey, was born in Camrose, AB and Scotland, and Norway, and me (middle) sitting on a motorcycle near Drumheller, AB. 1992. is descended from Métis people from the Red River Settlement (some of our Métis family names include Favel and Favell, Dahl, Irvine, and McDonald). Most of my Métis Ancestors were identified as English and Scottish Half-breeds on historical records and I know some Métis people self-identify with the term Half- breed (Dahl, 2013), but when discussing my own cultural identity, I prefer Métis or Otipemisiwak (meaning the people who rule themselves in Cree [Ouellet & Hanson, 2009]). I currently live on the unceded territory of Lheidli T’enneh First Nation in Prince George, BC and am a member of the Prince George Métis Community Association (PGMCA), itself a Métis Chartered Community within the Métis Nation of BC (PGMCA, n.d.). Connecting with my local Mé- tis community has been an incredibly rewarding process which has strengthened my Métis identity.

In addition to my Métis identity, I am an occupational therapist. Occupational therapists work with individuals and groups who are struggling to complete the activities which occupy their time and develop reha- ing the Métis worldview into my clinical and research bilitative and compensatory strategies so the client(s) work, and how I plan to do so in the future. can get back to doing those meaningful occupations (Townsend & Polatajko, 2013). I enjoy working as a Reflections on Otipemisiwak Clinical clinician but have always wanted to push myself for- Practice ward (and have been encouraged to do so by friends and family). In January 2020, I began a PhD program Caring is an attribute that has always come natural- in Rehabilitation Sciences at UBC. My supervisor ly to me, and I believe I inherited this quality from is Dr. Pat Camp and, together, we are undertaking a both my Métis and non-Indigenous Ancestors. I re- mixed-methods collaborative project with our First member at age five finding a dead gopher onmy Nations partner organization, Carrier Sekani Fami- Auntie and Uncle’s farm near Drumheller, which my ly Services (CSFS), to learn how wildfires in North cousin had shot the day before. I realize now that go- Central BC affect the Dakelh First Nations people phers are a nuisance to farmers because their holes and communities from the region, with an emphasis can damage equipment and injure livestock, but as a on people with lung health challenges (“Our People”, child, all I could think was, “this poor creature, it’s n.d.). The Dakelh are the original inhabitants of the so sad.” To commemorate the burrowing rodent’s region now called Central Interior British Colum- life, I held a small funeral for it, which my bemused bia. Some Dakelh Nations include Nadleh Whut’en, parents and another cousin attended. I wonder now Lheidli T’enneh, and Wet’suwet’en First Nation. Now if I was intuitively honouring the gopher’s life in the that you know a bit more about me and my research way many Indigenous cultures teach. The phrase “All context, I want to lead you in this paper through my my relations” is stated by many Indigenous People reflections, which describe how I have been integrat-

Volume 1, Issue 1 74 Turner (2020) during prayer and refers to the deep connection we which is what I aspire to do to honour my Ancestors feel between all things living and non-living, human and provide culturally appropriate care to my clients and non-human (King, 1990). In any case, this innate who share my culture. empathy has followed me throughout my life, and has When I think of influences on my clinical been a blessing and a curse. practice, what immediately comes to mind are the oc- At age 20, I suffered the rare autoimmune cupational therapy practice models I learned at uni- neurological condition of Guillain-Barré Syndrome versity, the teachings of my various clinical mentors, (GBS), which caused temporary paralysis in my en- and the lessons I have learned from going through my tire body (Taubensee, 2019). In GBS, one’s immune own major health challenge. I wish I could list my system attacks their peripheral nerves, like in multiple Métis culture among those most significant and direct sclerosis (MS), except that GBS is usually reversible, influences on my clinical practice, but so far in my ex- whereas MS causes permanent nerve degeneration perience, I cannot. However, there are examples from (Lopez, 2020). For several months, I could not walk, my clinical career during which I have felt very Mé- brush my teeth, get dressed, or toilet independently. tis. In early 2019, when there was still lots of snow on Thankfully, I made a full recovery in a few months the ground, I ran a snowshoeing mental health group through intensive physical and occupational thera- for people with severe and persistent mental illnesses. py, and with support from the people who care about It was a wonderful experience being outside in nature me. In my months at the hospital with GBS, my room while getting some exercise and, of course, engaging was rarely without a cousin, auntie, parent, or friend, in an activity that my Ancestors would regularly do. which I have learned is common for many Indigenous In one of the group’s sessions, I snowshoed to the top hospital patients due to the collectivistic view in In- of Connaught Hill Park in Prince George and stum- digenous cultures about healing and wellbeing. bled upon a herd of 20 deer, which is an animal I have Before my experience with GBS, I had worked come to view as spiritually significant to me. Aside in various social service jobs, all with an emphasis on from the snowshoeing group, I have felt my Otipe- helping and caring, including being a family support misiwak culture shine when worker, child development assistant, and crisis phone working with Indigenous Elders, which is a line operator. After my recovery, it became clear common experience in Prince George given the city’s I needed to use my unique experience about losing large Indigenous population (Provincial Health Ser- control of my own body functions and rehabilitation vices Authority, 2019). When working with the El- to help others in tangible ways. Around my 25th birth- ders, I am deliberately aware that I give extra time day, I was accepted into UBC’s Master of Occupa- and attention to them because I know that they have tional Therapy program, and that September I began more knowledge than I (indeed, I think I have learned my clinical training. I graduated from the program in more from many of my clients than they have from 2017, and have worked since then as an occupational me). The question is, how can I apply this knowledge therapist in several practice settings in Prince George, to my clinical practice moving forward? including acute surgical care (e.g., helping car acci- Taking Advanced Métis Studies has given me dent survivors with multiple orthopedic injuries to a couple of tools to think about regarding Métis clin- return to independence and to return home), inpatient ical practice. A highlight of my class is a new under- rehabilitation (e.g., working with brain-injured indi- standing of Métis people’s struggles resulting from viduals to regain their daily life skills such as dress- racist policies, such as the scrip system in which Métis ing, cooking, and parenting), and community-based people were dispossessed of their land from approx- mental health outreach (e.g., supporting people with imately 1870 to1924 – as summarized in Schaeffer’s schizophrenia to obtain meaningful work and volun- 1997 documentary The Métis Scrip System. Some teer opportunities). What I have learned from being other examples of our collective trauma include: be- an occupational therapist is that mastering clinical ing forced to live in road allowance communities, as skills comes easily with time and reflective practice. shown in Schaeffer and Cottrell’s 1996 documentary The more challenging skill for me has been integrat- Road Allowance People; feeling the need to hide our ing the Otipemisiwak worldview into my therapy, culture to assimilate into Canadian society, which is

Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health Enacting the Otipemisiwak Worldview 75 demonstrated through Christine Welsh’s search for her cess of the tiny, doubly landlocked European country family’s history in the movie Women in the Shadows of Liechtenstein were visiting Southern Alberta so I (Bailey, 1991); and the astounding overrepresentation boldly wrote them a letter requesting a private meet- of Métis children in the Canadian foster care system ing to learn what it is like to live and be royalty in such as presented by Sherry Wildman, Social Worker from a small place, which they obliged (see Figure 2). Af- the Métis Commission for Children & Families of BC ter geography, I became fascinated by astronomy, and during a class on January 15, 2020. Indeed, my own at one point could recite the names of every celestial Métis relatives and family have their own stories of body in our solar system, including all the moons. In trauma, some of which reflect these learnings from my teenage years, I became particularly obsessed with class, but I must admit to not fully appreciating how movies and pop culture, spending endless hours on much the Métis have suffered as a people until now. the Internet Movie Database and learning the names Now that I better understand our history, I have a of practically every prominent North American actor deepened pride that we are still here and continue and singer. When I went to university, I channeled my to practice our ways of life. I am very motivated to curiosity to papers and assignments, and published enact Métis traditions as part of my clinical practice, my first peer-reviewed paper in 2014, which present- which will include regularly wearing Métis symbols ed findings from a study of cross-language influences when I am working (e.g., L’Assomption sash lanyard in French-English bilingual children’s speech (Turner with my employee ID), offering to say a prayer when et al., 2014). Now, I am a researcher affiliated jointly I work with Métis clients, providing therapy in na- between Carrier Sekani Family Services and the UBC ture when it is appropriate and practical to do so, and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Research Laboratory, and I learning some specific Indigenous healing techniques am investigating how Northern BC’s wildfires affect like the use of natural medicines (Barkwell, 2018). I First Nations people with lung health conditions. would also like to structure future support groups like A question that I have recently been interest- Indigenous sharing circles and employ the medicine ed in is how to implement the Otipemisiwak world- wheel as an assessment and treatment tool – both are Figure 2. Photo of newspaper article in Drumhell- used successfully by Indigenous clinicians (Kirmayer er Mail documenting my meeting with Prince Al- et al., 2003). I also know that the more I understand fred von Liechtenstein and Princess Raffaella von myself and my own culture, the more I can be there to Liechtenstein in Lethbridge, AB. 2002. support others, so Advanced Métis Studies is not the end of learning about my people. Implementing the Métis ontology into my clinical practice will be an ongoing reflective process, and one that I also have been applying as a researcher.

Reflections on Otipemisiwak Research Praxis

Like my affinity to helping others, a curious mind is something that has been present within me for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, this manifested in developing obsessions about certain topics which, thankfully, my family supported (particularly my pa- ternal grandparents). I was fascinated by geography and world maps starting in grade two or three, and quickly learned the names of every country and their capital city. I was particularly interested in geographic anomalies, especially small or big countries. At age 10, I read in the newspaper that the Prince and Prin-

Volume 1, Issue 1 76 Turner (2020) view into my research? In another class I completed at regards to Indigenous Peoples. UNBC, Advanced Qualitative Research Methodology, Since I am working with humans, building I learned about Métissage research praxis. In research, relationships is of utmost importance to me. I have the concept of Métissage refers to bringing together learned from Advanced Métis Studies that Métis peo- different ontologies, often from separate cultural tra- ple historically relied upon relationships with other ditions, to create a new practice (Lowan-Trudeau, Indigenous communities for survival. For example, 2012). Burke and Robinson (2018) argue that “Mé- Métis living in the Pembina region in the 1850s col- tissage… [allows] researchers to mindfully and stra- laborated immensely with First Nations in the area tegically choose from both Indigenous and Western during their buffalo hunt, which was “critical to forg- research methods to craft frameworks that enable ing lives on the Plains” (Hogue, 2015, p. 50). Mean- them to conduct research in a way that genuinely while, Métis in the Île à la Crosse region developed a honours their lived realities” (p. 152). The exact mani- unique sharing economy with Cree and Dene people festation of Métissage varies between researchers, and starting in the early nineteenth century, and Haggarty the concept is not exclusively used by Métis people. (2013) argues this cultural feature continues to define However, our history as cultural bridgemakers makes Northwestern Saskatchewan Métis. Today, many Mé- Métissage praxis a natural approach for many Oti- tis individuals establish strong relationships with oth- pemisiwak academics. For example, Lowan-Trudeau er Indigenous People and communities, as evidenced (2012) used the Métis infinity symbol to illustrate his by Vowel’s “Statement of Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Métissage research process of integrating Indigenous Land Defenders” (2020), which is signed by nearly and non-Indigenous methods and perspectives into 500 Otipemisiwak from across Canada. It is in these his doctoral work studying environmental educa- traditions of pan-Indigenous relationships that I am tion. I plan to use another Métis cultural symbol to inspired as a researcher. My work with humans and illustrate my collaborative doctoral research process: building relationships is of utmost importance to me our flower beadwork, which has influences from our and fits with my Métis worldview, which I have been First Nation and European Ancestors (Racette, 2011). privileged through my recent course work to begin to At the same time, I think symbolism without action gain a greater understanding. is meaningless, so I do need to think about practical ways to bring Métissage to life in my research, which I Final Reflections can model from parts of Métis people’s history. One of the defining features of being Indige- The teachings from Advanced Métis Studies will in- nous is our relationships with others. This teaching form my life as a clinician, as a researcher, and as a has been highlighted for me from various sources, Métis individual. At the same time, my learning and such as my mother, Corey Favell, in the way she ap- understanding about my culture and heritage will proached parenting and friendships, Shawn Wilson in continue throughout my lifetime. As an Indigenous his 2008 book Research is Ceremony, and learnings person raised in and working in predominantly West- from this Advanced Métis Studies class. On our very ern colonial structures, the process of decolonizing first day, Earl taught the class about the phrase “all my my own thinking and practices requires ongoing re- relations”, which many Indigenous People say at the flection. Taking Advanced Métis Studies has enabled end of their prayers. What Earl shared with my class is me to engage in extensive reflective questioning, and that the phrase means we are connected to everything, it has been an honour to be guided by Earl’s wisdom and by saying it, we are trying to make the connection during this process. I hope readers will consider how explicit. I view this perspective on connectedness and to incorporate their own cultures into everything they relationships as central to my current research proj- do, and how the expertise of our Elders is essential to ect. I am a Métis student working with Indigenous do so. and non-Indigenous people to understand some of the impacts of wildfires on people’s respiratory health. The goal of this research is to improve wildfire emergency response policies in the future, particularly with

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References Retrieved April 13, 2020, from https://prrl.rehab. med.ubc.ca/our-people/ Barkwell, L. J. (2018). La michinn: Traditional Mé- Prince George Métis Community Association. (n. d.). tis medicine and healing. Louis Riel Institute. About us. http://www.pgmca.ca/attorneys.html Bailey, N. (Director). (1991). Women in the shadows Provincial Health Services Authority. (2019). BC [Film]. National Film Board of Canada. community health profile: Prince George. from Burke, S., & Robinson, R. (2019). Reflections on http://communityhealth.phsa.ca/HealthProfiles/ Métissage as an indigenous research praxis. PdfGenerator/Prince%20George AlterNative: An International Journal of In- Racette, S. F. (2011). Historical overview: Stitching digenous Peoples, 15(2), 150-157. https://doi. beauty: Métis beadwork. In G. Scofield & A. Bri- org/10.1177/1177180119837755 ley (Eds.), Wâpikwaniy: A beginner’s guide to Dahl, G. (2013). A Half-breed’s perspective on being Métis floral beadwork (pp. 3-8). Gabriel Dumont Métis. In C. Adams, G. Dahl, & I. Peach (Eds.), Institute. Métis in Canada: History, identity, law & politics Schaffer, S. (Producer). (1997). The Métis scrip sys- (pp. 93-142). University of Alberta Press. tem: A story about the dissolution and dispersal Haggarty, L. J. (2013). Métis economics: Sharing of the Western Métis [Film]. Metcom Produc- and exchange in Northwest Saskatchewan. In C. tions. Adams, G. Dahl, & I. Peach (Eds.), Métis in Can- Schaffer, S., & Cottrell, B. (Producers). (1996).Road ada: History, identity, law & politics (pp. 205- allowance people: A story about community per- 248). Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. sistence and survival [Film]. Metcom Produc- Henderson, E. (2008). Listening to the spirit voic- tions. es: Honouring our ancient traditional ways of Taubensee, J. (Host). (2019, March 26). S1E2 Jus- healing [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Univer- tin [Audio podcast episode]. In The Jeneralist. sity of Northern British Columbia. https://doi. PodBean. Retrieved from https://thejeneralist. org/10.24124/2008/bpgub547 podbean.com/ Hogue, M. (2015). Métis and the Medicine Line: Townsend, E., & Polatajko, H. J. (2013). Introduc- Creating a border and dividing a people. Uni- tion. In E. Townsend & H. J. Polatajko (Eds.), versity of Regina Press. Enabling occupation II: Advancing an occupa- King, T. (1990). All my relations. McClelland & tional therapy vision for health, well-being, & Stewart. justice through occupation. (2nd ed., pp. 1-8). Kirmayer, L., Simpson, C., & Cargo, M. (2003). CAOT Publications. Healing traditions: Culture, community and Turner, J., Netelenbos, N., Rosen, N., & Li, F. (2014). mental health promotion with Canadian Aborig- Stop consonant production by French-English inal peoples. Australasian Psychiatry, 11(sup1), bilingual children in Southern Alberta. Canadian S15-S23. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1038- Acoustics, 42(3). https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index. 5282.2003.02010.x php/jcaa/article/view/2709 Lopez, J. (2020). Rediscovering my sense of self: Vowel, C. (2020, February 22). Métis statement An occupational journey. Occupational Therapy of solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defend- Now, 21(1), 19-20. ers. Âpihtawikosisân https://apihtawikosisan. Lowan-Trudeau, G. (2012). Methodological Métis- com/2020/02/metis-statement-of-solidari- sage: An interpretive Indigenous approach to en- ty-with-wetsuweten-land-defenders/ vironmental education research. Canadian Jour- Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous nal of Environmental Education, 17, 113-130. research methods. Fernwood Publishing. https://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/article/view/1082/662 Ouellet, R., & Hanson, E. (2009). Métis. Indigenous Foundations. https://indigenousfoundations.arts. ubc.ca/metis Our people. (n.d.). University of British Columbia.

Volume 1, Issue 1 2018 Digital Illustration “When I created this kwe, I was dreaming of the space between this physical world and the spirit world, and the syn- chronous nature between life and death - in reference to quantum theories and spiritual/cultural belief systems. Her tattoos are links to the stories told by our Anishinaabe an- Life cestors; renderings of petroglyphs and rock paintings on her “ skin, which relate her body to the land and depict her skin N as a rock face. Her tattoos tell a story of balance: two circles representing life and death, night and day. And across her Death chest, a starry sky- a representation of the star people and ” the expanse of knowledge that extends far beyond our human comprehension. On her sternum, an orb or spirit, radiat- Chief Lady Bird ing energy lines that signify a deep spiritual connectedness. And extending from the starry sky, flowing water. Her tattoos, like many of our tattoos (mine included), tell a story of who she is, where she comes from, and what she believes.” Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health [email protected] 155 College Street Toronto, ON, M5T 1P8 Canada