måmawi-kiskinohamakosiwin: Coming to Understand Together

Abstract

Colonial definitions of scholar and scholarship are narrow, elitist, and hierarchical. The Mawachihitotaak Symposium organizers intentionally invited presenters and attendees from both within and outside of academia as equals and kin. Highlighting this inclusive approach, the author invites Métis people to think expansively about who a scholar is and what constitutes scholarship, reminding us of our cultural values and perspectives on knowledge and learning and leading us from exclusionary colonial definitions toward holism and community appreciation. Discussing several presentations and incorporating nehiyawewin (the Cree language), drawing, and poetics, this article offers lessons from the brilliant Metis thinking at Mawachihitotaak 2024.