From the Roots Up: (Re)Making Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit Peoples’ Relationships with Land
Date
2023-04-17
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0009-0005-1192-1280
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Doctoral
Abstract
Despite the interference caused by waves of colonialism, Indigenous peoples are actively pursuing and preserving relationships with Land and more-than-human-beings. As Indigenous land-based education is relatively new as an academic field of study, it is important to continue to assert clear understandings of the relationships and principles that inform it, and of those that distinguish it from other forms of land-based, environmental or place- based education. It is of primary importance within the field of Indigenous land-based education to fully investigate and analyze the ways in which notions of gender operate within the movement. This dissertation centers the experiences of Indigenous women and Two-Spirit Indigenous land-based educators and practitioners in relation to the research questions: How does the gendering of land-based practices and land-based knowledges impact Indigenous peoples’ relationships with Land? and How can gender inclusive land-based education restore and strengthen these relationships?
Eight interviews with Indigenous women and Two-Spirit land-based educators and practitioners, were conducted and analyzed using the voice centered relational method. In addition to the interviews, a selection of publicly circulated posters and the creative writing work of the author, were analyzed and discussed to demonstrate how the themes presented in the research operate within communities. The analysis revealed that participant experiences engaging in Indigenous land-based practices have been impacted by colonialism resulting in the disconnection of Indigenous land-based knowledges from practices, and thereby negatively impacting Indigenous women and Two-Spirit relatives’ relationships with Land and their ability to engage in land-based practices. Furthermore, in spite of gender based violences and inequities caused by colonial disruptions, Indigenous women and Two-Spirit land-based educators and practitioners resist and refuse colonialism and its manifestations as both a reaction to external forces but an important response in alignment with the ethics of relationality, relational accountability, and relational care.
Description
Keywords
Indigenous land-based education, Indigenous women, Two-Spirit, gender, voice centered relational method, listening guide, relationality
Citation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
Educational Foundations
Program
Educational Foundations