Wisdom as Experience: The Embodiment and Spirit of Métis Wisdom

Abstract

The storied life experiences of three Métis Elders- Cort, Joseph, and Monica- are explored through this narrative inquiry and illuminate educative possibilities with respect to an integrated and lived notion of wisdom. Their diverse experiences reveal common threads with respect to identity, humility, perspective, and embodiment, which support understandings of how wisdom is relationally experienced and realized in a Métis cultural context. My research wonder primarily attended to the following questions: How is wisdom understood from the perspective of three Métis Elders and what practices or experiences support its embodiment and growth? What are the roles of aesthetic experience and community in supporting Métis wisdom experiences? All narrative accounts were collected through individual semi-structured and conversational style interviews ranging in length from 60-120 minutes. Understandings of the participants’ experiences were supported by a collaborative and relational inquiry process that ventured into the temporal, social, and place dimensions of the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space (Connelly & Clandinin, 2006). The stories of the participants fostered rich insights to how experiences might be integrated across time in order to facilitate a grounded and deeply connected self. The findings suggest that wisdom is an embodied experience shared with others, wherein relationship is deepened and the self transcended.