Stitching Our Stories Together

Stitching Our Stories Together: Journeys into Indigenous Social Work
Edited by Jeannine Carrière and Catherine Richardson
Published by University of Regina Press
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$34.95 ISBN 9781779400574

The stimulating essays in Stitching Our Stories Together: Journeys into Indigenous Social Work—edited by Métis scholars and thesis supervisors Jeannine Carrière and Catherine Richardson—reveal how nine Métis social work graduate students from across Canada are incorporating individual Indigeneity, histories and experiences, plus “Indigenous ways of knowing and being,” into their research in innovative ways, from using dance as a method to learn Michif to beading. The essays are disparate, imaginative, frank, and encouraging.

The anthology includes an introduction and conclusion from the editors. They’ve chosen the culturally resonant metaphor of “stitches” in their title, as “Métis have stitched together blankets, quilts, fishing nets, and clothing[,] as well as mended relationships and kept families on track.” They hope the book will inspire “Indigenous undergrads who are contemplating entering a post-graduate program,” and that future students will find a few of “the possibilities offered by Indigenous research” in this handsome collection. The editors point to the importance of “meaning making … the process of how we take the gifts of participant interviews or other information to a level that adds to existing knowledge,” and in their roles as supervisors/mentors, they express a desire to support students in ways that are “meaningful” to the scholars.

The thesis topics are varied, from Robert Mahikwa’s aspiration to support “Indigenous Youth Aging Out of Ministry Care”—whilst simultaneously “working towards a genuine re-connection with, and re-understanding of” his own “cultural knowledges, traditions, and ancestral peoples”—to Juliet Mackie’s research project, “Reconstituting Indigenous Identities through Portraiture and Storytelling: Reclaiming Representation for Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit People.”

Even as a non-academic, it was compelling to read about the various scholars’ Indigenous research methodologies. Mahikwa used “Storywork” as his methodology and incorporated “oral traditions and storytelling practices as [his] methods.” Shelley LaFrance, in BC, utilized “storytelling and autoethnography” in her project, “A Métis Grandmother’s Knowledge,” with research guided by “decolonizing theory” and “the Cree Medicine Wheel.” Tanille Johnston, from the We Wai Kai Nation, examined “Indigenous Fathers and Their Paths into Fatherhood.” Her essay “encourages social workers to strive for Father inclusion,” and she also used a storytelling methodology. mel lefebvre deliberately renounced capitals to honour the traditional, noncapitalized michif and nêhiyawêwin languages, and used podcasting to highlight the “decolonization, collective care, and self-care” of “urban indigiqueers, trans, two-spirit folks and indigenous women.” Juliet Mackie applied portraiture and storytelling in her research, and I applaud her “Métis Kitchen Table Methodology,” which includes visiting, food, and music.

My favourite piece is Shawna Bowler’s. Bowler employed “a beading methodology” to “explore the experiences of five urban Indigenous women in Winnipeg,” and gifted each participant with a beaded medicine bag she’d made. The act of beading with others was “decolonizing and healing,” and the writer did an excellent job of relating beading and social work. “Bead by bead, we retell our stories.”

As Carrière and Richardson maintain, “In the midst of ongoing colonizing practices in Canada, we look for signs of light.” This book is one of those bright signs.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM SASKBOOKS WWW.SKBOOKS.COM