(Re)Stor(y)ing “Canadian” Histories: Reproductive (In)Justice and Indigenous Women

Abstract

This dissertation documents a doctoral study that employed Cree Knowledge, arts-based methodology, and poetic pedagogy in the form of poetic inquiry. This research engaged a Cree Nisgaa methodological framework that is framed by protocol, Mamatowisin, or engaging inner mindfulness, and reciprocity. The research question asks: What do Indigenous women’s stories reveal about public and customary practices, and policies and practices of forced sterilization? This question was explored with twelve Indigenous women, from different First Nation communities and treaty areas across Ontario and Quebec, where sterilization was carried out in the absence of legislation. The women participated in semi-structured interviews, and in a sharing circle. Questions ranged from requesting participants to position themselves, to inviting them to share personal and ancestral stories. The shared stories included subjects such as reproductive racism, reproductive violence, and racisms experienced from health care professionals and institutions. My research indicates that intergenerational impacts and trauma from the legacy of Indian Residential Schools (IRS) continue to resonate harmfully in First Nation Communities. The women understood and agreed that their narratives and transcripts would be (re)stor(y)ed into provocative and impacting poetry using poetic inquiry. The researcher has included (re)stor(y)ed narratives and poems that chronicle her own experiences as both a daughter of Indian Residential School Survivors and a marginalized woman. From a Cree researcher’s worldview, this research provided space for the dehumanizing narratives recounting reproductive violences to emerge and be heard. Key contributions of this research are practical and methodological. Practical applications include opportunities to transfer historical accuracies into school curricula. This offers both students and teachers opportunity to heal and engage in relationships that are based on ethical relationality. My pedagogical hope is that this research contributes to the ongoing collective conversation, forging a collective space where the methodology is grounded in respect, relevance, relationality and reciprocity.