Pawaatamihk: Journal of Métis Thinkers

Searching for Métis Research Methodologies

Robline Davey — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Métis research methodologies have not always been valued. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) outlined 94 Calls to Action to privilege Indigenous perspectives, and likely provided the impetus for a shift in which scholarship seeking to reclaim, define, explore, validate, and amplify Indigenous Research Methodologies (IRM) exists. Articulating Métis specific methodologies is congruent with the common research process of aligning all aspects of the research process. Because limited research with Métis women is documented, it is an area for contribution. This paper aims to explore documented Métis methodologies and contribute a Métis arts-based methodology for an upcoming doctoral research project.

Queering Collective Dreaming: Weaving Métis Futures of Belonging

Lydia Toorenburgh , Holly Reid — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Using sash weaving as a metaphor, two queer Métis co-authors share their journeys of “coming in” to their identities over time. They articulate how absence of 2SLGBTQ+ Métis role models and representation earlier in life interfered with aligning their own felt and expressed identities and ability to envision a joyful, connected future. In their search for those with resonant experiences, they found strength in community and kin. As a result, 2SLGBTQ+ Métis people and allies are invited to join a collective dreaming process to revitalize our queer teachings, reclaim our place in community, and return to relationship with one another.

The Creative Film Practices of Amanda Strong and Rhayne Vermette

Jessie Short — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

In light of their current doctoral studies in the areas of film and Métis history, Jessie Ray Short proposes a theoretical framework for Métis Film Studies. Considering the work of Métis filmmakers Amanda Strong and Rhayne Vermette, as well as briefly exploring their own filmmaking practice, Short explores the ways in which Indigenous Storywork might be effectively be tailored and applied to the understanding of Métis film.

Love Note to the Land

Aron Skworchinski — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Still here, now

Danielle Lussier — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Reclamation

Terri Lyn Hatch — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

baakaani-inaadizi

Cole Alvis — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

A poem from the perspective of a Michif Two-Spirit person who is reclaiming an Anishinaabe gender term that aligns with their identity.

carried on the wind

Lacy-Lee Petersen — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Pawaatamihk

Artemis Fire — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Pay Keeway

Robyn Adams, Julien Tétrault — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

A photocollage by Julien Tétrault and a poem response by Robyn Adams.

Both Michif Designers and Architecture students with family roots from Métis community of Rat River, St. Pierre-Joly, Manitoba.

Researching Métis Spirituality

Chantal Fiola — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Dr. Chantal Fiola has been studying Métis spirituality, especially relationships with traditional ceremonies, for more than 15 years. In the pages to follow, she outlines her doctoral research and subsequent study, and her resulting books, including Returning to Ceremony: Spirituality in Manitoba Métis Communities. Through archival research, oral history, literature analysis, and interviews with Red River Métis people, she presents evidence that some Métis people participated in ceremonies, historically. She discusses key Métis-specific methodological considerations and highlights selected findings about Métis individuals and communities finding their way back to ceremonies. She concludes by introducing her new national SSHRC-funded research project.

Walking with the Grandmothers and Aunties Wisdom

Laura Forsythe — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Thirteen Grandmothers and Aunties of Metis scholarship share advice to help Metis thinkers strive and thrive in the academy. Through three themes of advice: 1) disregard colonial pressures, 2) create connections, and 3) be empowered by who you are; they share with us stories and examples that they want future scholars to know.

Steering through Métis Feminism

Lindsay DuPré, Lucy Fowler — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Indigenous feminisms are concerned with addressing power imbalances particularly at the intersections of sexism, racism and colonialism. These lived, felt and flesh-based theories allow for more contextualized analyses of women’s lives and help us to dream and realize more just ways of being in relation. The experiences of Métis women, trans, and Two-Spirit people are not disconnected from the experiences of people in other Indigenous nations; however, how sexism, racism and colonialism intersect in Métis communities is distinct in many ways. This article celebrates diverse sites of knowledge production, contributing new ideas to the constellation of Métis feminist texts we live (and dream) daily. The article discusses the need for a Métis-specific articulation and actioning of feminism that responds to the patriarchal oppression taking place within settler societies and within our own communities.

Métis Responsibilities and Academic Expectations

Jennifer Markides — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

As a Métis person working in the academy, I have responsibilities to my community and my employer. There are times when my Métis values are at odds with the system. This paper serves as an introduction to who I am as a scholar. I outline my priorities and share the philosophical underpinnings of my research. I name some of the challenges that come from navigating identity and expectation, and I celebrate the partnerships that sustain my spirit and ways of being in academia. As part of a strong Métis collective, I am able to focus my time on things that matter to our community. These initiatives nourish my energies and allow me to advance other university-specific requirements in the areas of research, teaching, and service. It is a careful road to navigate and unique to the experiences of Indigenous scholars who are expected to bring their indigeneity to the forefront of who they are in their work. While research faculty are expected devote their time 40% to research tasks, 40% to teaching, and 20% to service, Indigenous scholars might argue that our work is nearly 100% service if we are doing it right.

Artist Feature: Jennine Krauchi

Cathy Mattes — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Feature artist Jennine Krauchi

Hold Your Tongue

Rebecca Chambers — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

A book review of Matthew Tétreault's (2023) "Hold Your Tongue".

Restful Resistance

Dani Pierson — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Positioning rest as a response to biopower acknowledges the exhausting ways the settler state harms communities. I will consider how collaborative, arts-based rest is a method of refusing settler recognition to prioritize community well-being to dream of healthier Métis futures. I begin with an analysis of how biopower is settler colonialism while bringing in anti-colonial critiques of biopower. I will consider the call from these critiques to turn toward community to resist biopower. Finally, utilizing Métis sources alongside texts that theorize on rest, I shape how collaborative, arts-based practices of building community are a method of resisting biopower through rest.

Re-matriating Territorial Acknowledgement

Janice Cindy Gaudet — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Re-imagining territorial acknowledgements from community-centered Métis perspectives regenerates new thinking from trend to truth.

Michif Foodways

Kade Ferris — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 -0500

An oral interview with Sandra Houle, Turtle Mountain Chippewa/Red River Metis, regarding Michif foodways from the Turtle Mountain community in North Dakota. Interview conducted in 2009 at Belcourt, North Dakota.

Introduction

Circle of Editors — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0500

A brief introduction to the journal from the Circle of Editors.