(Be)Coming Together: Making Kin through Stories of Language and Literacy

Abstract

Inspired by our attendance at the 16th Annual Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada (LLRC) Pre-Conference and their call to undertake ways in which race, decolonization, and unsettling research can shift the lens of traditional language and literacy approaches, we have come together to experiment with métissage (Hasebe-Ludt et. al, 2009) as a writing and research praxis. Using this “writing as inquiry” (Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005) methodological and theoretical approach, we embark upon our métissage of making kin. With research interests in the fields of Indigenous Language Revitalization (Benson), Ecojustice Education (Lemon), and Decolonial/Equitable Teacher Education and Schooling (Thomas), we weave together our micro-stories, provoked by the temporal questions: Where do we come from? Where are we right now? Where do we hope things will go?

Breathing life back into the stories: Creating the circle of Indigenous languages website

“…We are three Cree 2 women who share a commitment to strengthening, building, and learning our nēhiyawēwin (Plains Y-dialect), nēhinawēwin (Swampy N-dialect) and nīhithawīwin, (Woodland TH-dialect), Cree language, representing three different dialects. The team approach we embraced is similar to other scholars such as McGregor et al (2016);McIvor et al (2017); Rosborough and Rorick (2017); and Thomas et al (2020). Our lives, as with the scholars mentioned, have intertwined and connected through post-secondary education as we believe that education is key to the revitalization of our Indigenous languages.…”

Inclusive Classrooms: A Confessional Tale on a Métissage

“…For example, Lowan-Trudeau (2017) wove one strand (his Métis identity, living on reserve) with another (his European ancestry, living in the city) to examine his relations with place. Benson et al (2020) included three voices woven together around three central questions, such as "Where do we come from?" The "knot" of their braid involved reflection on the métissage process.…”

“…Amanda selected métissage because they were attracted to how it offered a space for multiple voices to share their lived experiences with inclusivity. Métissage is useful in this regard because it begins with a simple prompt and later gives space for participants to interact with each other, weave their insights together by building off each other's stories, and making kin (Benson et al, 2020). The power of métissage, which flourished through this study, is summed up by Bishop et al (2019):…”