The Big Michif Dream: Enacting Love & Healing Through Kîyokêwin

Abstract

This presentation focused on my master’s thesis research, “We Are Links in a Daisy Chain: The Important Role of Relationships in the Cultural Identity of Métis Women.” For my thesis research, I visited with my maternal Métis grandmother and mother to collect family stories to create a more fulsome account of life as a Métis woman on the prairies. The data I collected was stitched together with archival research to “locate the ways in which familial and colonial histories intersect” (Hunt, 2016). I facilitated informal gatherings, or ‘visits’, with my mother and grandmother to discuss our understanding of Michif culture, tell stories, strengthen our bonds through kîyokêwin (visiting) and contribute to the repairing of cultural knowledge transmission pathways to create a better life for future generations. I took cues from my family on the best ways in which to facilitate the kîyokêwin and Indigenous life history research. My work is for them, for the future generations and for other people like me who are finding their way back to themselves and their identity. By employing Indigenous feminist methodologies of kîyokêwin and storytelling in my research, I privileged ways in which Métis women had been sharing and producing knowledges for generations.