In my personal projects, I struggle with ethics of working from oral stories, wanting to be truthful, representative and respectful, however, also allowing myself the creative license to go where my imagination takes me. How do I become a decolonized writer and challenge myself with every word to break out of the mold of colonialism? There are a few of bold and brilliant writers out there that have found a way.
I've just started to read Helen Kara’s blog. I find it difficult to adequately communicate decolonized thought process and here Helen has succeeded in providing a pathway to cross the threshold in an accessible manner. Having read many of Indigenous research methodology books in university I am now appreciating that they have many other applications outside of academic research. I'm researching a historical phenomenon at the moment but as I ask questions I need to make sure that my research methods are appropriate, ethical and do not follow the classic colonialist practice of swipe and dash. I'll be ordering her book for a more in depth look at the applicability of her suggestions and decolonized practices to my personal writing projects. Another amazing blogger (and friend), Melissa Herman, writes with raw passion and fervour. Everything I read of hers teaches me about her Dene worldview. I really appreciated these cards (pictured below) that she sent out through her fellowship work with Alberta Social Innovation encouraging language retention of both Cree and Dene in the Wood Buffalo region. With all of her (nonexistent) spare time she runs a regional language think-tank for Cree, Dene and Michif on facebook called Denésųłiné, Cree & Michif Language Exploration/Evolution-Treaty 8 and the No More Stolen Sisters - Treaty 8/Wood Buffalo facebook page. As a English speaker, I find that the language itself is limiting in its ability to write in a decolonized space. I'm so entrenched in a particular style and habits that as I write I need to think whether what I'm writing should be written as such, choosing words extremely carefully and thoughtfully. Melissa explains that: "many English words can only be translated into an Indigenous language through creative descriptions. Our opportunity together is to explore "new" descriptions/definitions of English words to find similarities to "new" Indigenous definitions." How profound would Indigenous writing be if we challenged all of writing to fully integrate Indigenous-defined descriptions/definitions. My colonized brain thinks of English as being highly descriptive with the largest vocabulary of 1,025,109 of stand alone words. English has very few suffixes or prefixes so there are certainly competitors with more complex grammar systems such as German. I'd be very interested to know what the vocabulary counts would be for Cree (all dialects), Dene and Mitchif in comparison to the colonial language systems and if this could be a real possibility. Molding English to fit Indigenous ways of describing as Melissa suggests. As we, as a country, move reconciliation forward, I truly believe that we need to identify every action, word and thought to assess how colonialism is influencing these foundational decisions and then make an informed decision.
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About me
I grew up in Athabasca, AB and have spent the majority of my life in Northern Alberta or Montreal, PQ. My husband has been in Fort McMurray since the 70s and continues to love this town and all that it has to offer. We are avid outdoor enthusiasts, spending our summer weekends quadding and camping. As Opimian members we thoroughly enjoy wine pairings and tastings and are working on our wine collection. Ralph is a carpenter by trade and has framed more houses in Fort McMurray than I could count and knows the city inside and out. I work all throughout the region from the NWT to Janvier for the tribal council. My passion is doodling and photography which is featured throughout the website (various mediums), writing, Indigenous studies, and learning in general. Categories |