Self- critical thinking:

Writing memoir takes a certain amount of bravery, for it requires of the author an element of authenticity that leaves them vulnerable having exposed an aspect of their true selves. The best memoir I ever read, and re-read was Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club. In this course, we read some of her writing about crafting a memoir which inspired me to be courageous and put forward a less shinny accounting of life events; that showing the rusty parts helped readers connect with the author by being relatable, transparent, and genuine.  

Integrated Learning: Memoir became a place where all disciplines could intersect and be expressed through a reflective melding of incoming and generated ideas. By integrating themes from the course learnings about transformative education, creativity in experiential learning, a post humanistic perspective towards relationships within ecosystems and a realization of the power of research to bring about change, complex ideas can be clearly expressed through metaphor, symbolism and analogy.
Communicating ideas about controversial topics can be better received and more openly accepted when expressed through story. I realized that whether stories are spoken, written, expressed in film, through voice, captured in photography, or felt with music and song, it can connect with people in a sacred space in their hearts that can hear the shared message of a collective experience of living. If I want to put an end to animal cruelty and I give many speeches, I will undoubtedly be met with conflict and criticism. If I instead tell personal stories about the special qualities of animals and showcase them as sentient beings, then I will be met with less resistance because no one will feel defensive as they might listening to a speech about the injustice of cruelty towards animals. Through this program, I was introduced to the writings of Indigenous author Thomas King, who wrote, “The truth about stories is that’s all we are (King, 2003:2).  To me this perspective matters because it highlights something we all have in common. Finding common ground among people in a divided society is how we can bring transformation to the social inequities and injustices in our communities.  I used to think that academic papers that were published in journals was the only way to be recognized and to have the ability to bring about change, but now I know change can happen with just one story told to just one person.

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Paradigm challenges: Reflecting on the challenges of being non-Indigenous in an indigenous studies class and the writing of papers about learning from Indigenous readings, approaches to education, history and ways of living was a task full of uncertainty. I set out to write about the importance of family structure in Metis culture but was immediately confronted with problematic starts followed by deleting and excessive self-critique. Very practical questions arose such as, Do I write Metis or Metis People? Do I write about the importance of family in the past tense or present tense? Do I write European fur trader, Settler fur trader, White fur trader or just Fur trader? There were obvious limits to my knowledge once I started to write from a personal perspective. I was haunted by specific information I did not know such as were all the people involved pleased with purposeful interfamily marriages? Maybe some Indigenous women did not want to marry settler fur traders; did they have a choice? Did everyone really enjoy sharing and cooperating? Were communities living in peace, or was there conflict? This place of not knowing, but engaging is the area of discourse where many cultures meet. Willie Ermine refers to this as the ethical space of engagement created by dialogue between cultures, “It is a way of observing, collectively, how hidden values and intentions can control our behaviour, and how unnoticed cultural differences can clash without our realizing what is occurring” (Ermine, 2003:202)

Social relevance: Building socially constructed relationships with the intention of being family was essential to the survival and wellbeing of the Metis people. The land inspires and creates culture as a result of where sharing happens; sharing of resources, languages, ways of life, stories, and a shared economy. This sharing was a necessity for survival. Chartrand wrote that, “Where the land is flat people meet easily and deal with one another and they develop a common way of communicating. In bumpy or mountainous areas, where it is not as easy for distinct peoples to meet one another, you will find many distinct languages.” (Chartrand, 2007:5). Although Chartrand was referring to actual land and languages, I feel this is a poignant metaphor for what is happening now between Indigenous and Western cultures. Where it is easy or ‘flat’ we are engaging in the ethical space and sharing, talking and growing. Where the topics are more challenging or ‘bumpy’ we are creating many ways to try to discuss, connect and find paths forward through the mountains. Through writing memoir and using narrative as a research method, we discover that it is easy going where the landscape is flat and well travelled, but the mountainous areas where cultures have a harder time meeting, those are much harder to navigate in writing.

Memoir and poetry is a way of connecting stories as approaches to education, relational learning, allowing for creative perspectives and art as solutions to navigate new ways of connecting through ancient methods of sharing knowledge.

 

Chartrand, P.L.A.H. (2007). Niw_hk_m_kanak (“all my relations”): Metis-First Nations relations. Research Paper for the National Centre for First Nations Governance.

Ermine, W. (2007). The Ethical Space of Engagement. Indigenous Law Journal. Vol 6 Issue 1. Pg 193-203.

Karr, M. (1995). The Liar’s Club. New York: Viking Publishing.

King, T. (2003). The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Massey Lecture Series. Toronto: House of Anansi Press.