Honouring the scholarship of Métis matriarchsWhen surveying the field of Indigenous studies, Laura Forsythe and Jennifer Markides recognized a critical need for not only a Métis-focused volume, but one focused on the contributions of Métis women. To address this need, they brought together work by new and established scholars, artists, storytellers, and community leaders that reflects the diversity of research created by Métis women as it is lived, considered, conceptualized, and re-imagined.
With writing by Maria Campbell, Emma LaRocque, and other pioneers of Métis studies, Around the Kitchen Table looks beyond the patriarchy to document and celebrate the scholarship of Métis women. Focusing on experiences in post-secondary environments, Around the Kitchen Table necessarily traverses a range of methodologies. Spanning disciplines of social work, education, history, health care, urban studies, sociology, archaeology, and governence, contributors bring their own stories to explorations of spirituality, material culture, colonialism, land-based education, sexuality, language, and representation. The result is an expansive, heartfelt, and accessible “community of Métis thought” as articulated by Markides in her introduction to the volume.
Reverent and revelatory, this collection centres the strong aunties and grandmothers who have shaped Métis communities, culture, and identities with teachings shared in classrooms, auditoriums, and around the kitchen table.
Table of Contents:
- Contributors
- Foreword by Maria Campbell
- The Work of Métis Women: An Introduction – Jennifer Markides
- Part One: Identity
- 1. Brown Names – Marilyn Dumont
- 2. We Know Ourselves – Lisa Shepherd
- 3. Kaa-waakohtoochik: The Ones Who Are Related to Each Other – Vicki Bouvier
- 4. The Roots Always Remain: Reconnecting to Our Communities in the Twenty-First Century – Angie Tucker
- 5. For the Love of Place―Not Just Any Place: Selected Metis Writings – Emma Larocque
- 6. Coming Home through Métis Research – Allyson Stevenson
- 7. Valuing Métis Identity in the Prairies through a “5 R” Lens: Our Digital Storytelling Journey – Chelsea Gabel and Amanda LaVallee
- 8. Prenatal/Postpartum Ceremonies and Parenting as Michif Self-Determination – Chantal Fiola
- 9. Medicine Women – Jennifer Adese
- 10. Lii Michif – Lisa Shepherd
- Part Two: Women in the Academy
- 11. Metis Women as Contributors to the Academy Despite Colonial Patriarchy – Laura Forsythe
- 12. Connecting to Our Ancestors Through Archaeology: Stories of Three Métis Women Academics – Kisha Supernant, Dawn Wambold, and Emily Haines
- 13. Métis Women Educating in the Academy – Yvonne Poitras Pratt and Jennifer Markides
- 14. Structural and Lateral Violence Toward Metis Women in the Academy – Lynn Lavallee
- 15. Following our Aunties, Walking with our Sisters, and Foraging for our Nieces: Metis Mentorship-Building and Space-Making – Kiera Kowalski, Alexandra Nychuk, and Ashley Hayward
- Part Three: Research Methodology
- 16. Métis Research and Relationality: Auntie Governance, the Visiting Way, and Kitchen Table Reflections – Kirsten Lindquist, Shalene Jobin, Avery Letendre
- 17. Lii Taab di Faam Michif/Metis Women’s Kitchen Table: Practicing Our Sovereignty – Cindy Gaudet, Angela Rancourt, and Graham Andrews
- 18. Wahkotowin: An Approach to Indigenous (Land-Based) Education – Nicki Ferland
- 19. Kaa-natoonamaan taanshi chi-ishi-natoonikeeyaan: My Search for how to Research Things (in a Queer Métis paradigm) – Lucy Fowler
- 20. Differentiating Métis Feminism – Robline Davey
- 21. Celebrating the Wisdom of Our Métis Matriarchs: Sewing Our Wellness All Together--Kood Toot Aansamb – Leah Dorion, Janice Cindy Gaudet, Hannah Bouvier
- 22. if the land could speak – Rita Bouvier
- Bibliography
- Art – Christi Belcourt
About the Author :
Laura Forsythe, PhD, is a Michif Assistant Professor at the University of Winnipeg in the Faculty of Education. Forsythe's research focus is Métis-specific contributions to the academy, Métis inclusion efforts, Métis research methodologies, and educational sovereignty. She is also the elected Bison Local Chairperson of the Manitoba Metis Federation.
Jennifer Markides, PhD, is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Assistant Professor in both the Werklund School of Education and the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary, and SSHRC Tier II Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Youth Well-Being and Education. Her research centers community-based partnerships that prioritize the goals, dreams, needs, and interests of Indigenous youth.
