Drumming Our Way Home: Intergenerational Learning, Teaching, and Indigenous Ways of Knowing by Georgina Martin

This book is by a Secwepemc scholar who interviews a Secwepemc elder and a Secwepemc youth. But the youth is also Tsilhqot'in and speaks to some of his experiences in Nemiah. When I was a child, I remember that after the librarian taught us how to read the index of a book, I went to the Native American books and looked for "Chilcotin" and it was not there. And so, as an adult, when I see a Tsilhqot'in in a book, I am like yay! 

Anyhow, this book is based on Georgina Martin's doctoral work. Jo-ann Archibald was her supervisor. The references contain a lot of names which were already well-known to me, such as Kathleen Absolon, Marie Battiste, Lee Brown, Sandy Grande, Verna Kirkness, Graham Hingangaroa Smith, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, and Shawn Wilson. But it also included BC Indigenous people who's work I am less familiar with, such as Eugene Richard Atleo, Janice R. Billy, and Ron Ignace. I like the way that she includes people's full names in the references. And also the way that she maintains place names in the citations. I think the new version of APA which does not include place names perpetuates placelessness and creates a sense of being ungrounded.

Some books contain grand narratives and try to make broad generalizations about Indigenous people, and I think to some degree academia really rewards the stance of speaking from a position of universal authority. I don't think that this book perpetuates that way of being. I really like the way that Georgina Martin's work is not trying to make universal claims about Indigenous people, but rather it is focused on being a Secwepemc person, and telling her story in a Secwepemc way. In my eyes, her epistemological cultural humility elevates her credibility. It is an autoethnography. She starts by explaining that one of her main traumas is that she was separated from her mother at birth, because her mother was at Coqualeetza Indian Hospital because she had TB. The author tries to make sense of being raised by her grandparents and going to residential school, and through her research, tries to heal her own intergenerational trauma (p.18). One of the aims of the book is to help others work through their own narratives, and also to "assist educators, policy-makers, and the general public to understand the effects of our embodied lived experiences as Indigenous people, especially residential school trauma and intergenerational legacies. By understanding our lives, educators can more effectively intervene in cycles of marginalization and cultural alienation and policy-makers may come to a better understanding of how policy impacts Indigenous lives." (p.8). 

In terms of this work as a piece of scholarship, I can see the application of Kathleen Absolon's work in Georgina Martin's conceptual framework. 

Even though this work aspires to help the author in her journey to overcome her trauma, the central focus of the work is not on the trauma itself. The heading of her concluding section is titled "Don't ask me to bleed" in which she asserts that it is important to learn about stories such as hers, even if they are not newsworthy. And she lets the reader know that sharing this story was draining and required a lot of courage and strength. Her final words relate to truth telling and reparations. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book. If I were not studying at the time that I read this book, I probably would have skipped the methodology section altogether and gone straight to the section which tells her life story. 

Another notable feature of this book is the foreword by Jo-Ann Archibald, in which she directly addresses first storytellers and Indigenous guests, then she directly addresses settlers, allies, educators, policy makers, and the general public, and then finally she directly addresses everyone. Going back to the previous post, I appreciate it when I am the target audience, if only for a few paragraphs. I think the opening is an interesting model for how we as Indigenous people talk to each other, even in published works meant for broad distribution. 

Lha Yudit'ih: We Always Find A Way - Bringing the Tsilhqot'in Title Case Home

 While I am on a methodology blogging spree, I want to talk about Lha Yudit'ih for a minute. I might do another post about it later. But for this post, I just want to talk about the methodology. 

The book is a collaboration between Chief Roger William and UBC researcher Lorraine Weir. I actually met Lorraine when she was early in this work. It was a long time ago, and I don't have notes, but I recall her telling me that she wanted to interview Roger about the title case to write the book, and he told her that in order to tell the story of the title case, she needed to talk to everyone, not just him. And I thought to myself "she's going to be here for a long time." 

In terms of Indigenous methodology, this is illustrative of the way that the researcher may have an idea that they want to pursue and an preliminary idea of how to pursue it. But a responsive researcher will be open to shifting their methodology according to the priorities set forth by Indigenous people. 

In order to collect interviews, she would go to events and make herself available for people to approach her, and then she would let them talk about whatever they thought was relevant in order to tell the story of the title case. Much of the presentation contains lengthy direct quotes, and then the assembling of interviews and connecting and contextual information is the interpretation. 

The book contains in the front matter an explicit statement making it clear that the book is not a representation of the Tsilhqot'in Nation or any of the five communities. I like the disclaimer. I think sometimes scholars try to assert that their projects are representative of Indigenous people. But in a way, that creates a system where Indigenous people are further marginalized because the researcher short circuits the ability of the community to represent itself. To me, the credibility of the work is enhanced by this disclaimer and the disclaimer affirms sovereignty. 

In the introduction, there is an explanation of how the project early on was presented at multiple events, including general assemblies of Xeni Gwet'in and Tsilhqot'in National Government gatherings, and how TNG staff was also kept appraised of the work as it progressed. Roger was the chief for most of the project, but when he was not chief, Xeni Gwet'in was still involved. I think this is an excellent example of Indigenous Research Methodology because the community had a great deal of control over the both the process and the outcome throughout the project. There is a high degree of rigor in terms of community based verification of the goal of the research, the process, and the outcome. And by the community, I mean the nation as a whole, including elected representatives, people who attended the governance meetings and gathering, and people who chose to contribute their thoughts to the project. When researchers claim that their methodology reflects respect for sovereignty - this is the gold standard in my opinion. There are a lot of definitions of Indigenous research methodologies. To me, the number one characteristic is the involvement of Indigenous people in shaping the aim, process, and product. 

I loved this book. I'll probably re-read it again and again. And I'm so grateful to Roger and Lorraine for their good work.