Protocols for Honouring Indigenous Literatures
Indigenous stories have carried dreams and visions of survival across generations. Some of these visions are documented in recent literatures, specifically YA literatures, including Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves; Waubgeshig Rice’s Moon of the Crusted Snow; Alicia Elliot’s And Then She Fell and Lee Maracle’s Ravensong.
Members of the Indigenous Literatures Lab understand the importance of storywork and know that stories have a liberatory potential that lay the foundation for Indigenous resurgence while offering visions for anti-colonial futures. Throughout our work we offer several theoretical frames for ethical engagements with Indigenous literatures that highlight community narratives of strength and centre intergenerational resilience and Indigenous brilliance. Moreover, our intentionally curated reading lists offer guides for teachers wondering what novels should be included in their classroom libraries. Our readings lists are intended to support teachers in selecting texts that offer authentic representations that align with community narratives of strength, desire-based visions, wonderworks, and stories of Indigenous survivance.
Over the last several years, secondary schools have been introducing Indigenous literatures across English Language Arts including the development of a new course entitled Understanding Contemporary First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Voices (First Voices). As increasing numbers of school boards institute mandatory Indigenous courses across English Language Arts, it is vital to ensure they are carefully designed. Indigenous literatures must be delivered in ways that highlight Indigenous narratives of community strength while also attending to anti-racist teaching practices by acknowledging varied experiences of racism in a settler colonial society. We encourage ethical encounters with Indigenous literatures that foster liberatory thinking, reflection and action as well as cultural safety.
Indigenous cultural safety can be described as environments where individuals feel respected, safe and free to express their cultural identities without shame and discrimination.
With this context in mind, Indigenous literatures have the power to disrupt settler colonial narratives and promote cultural safety within classroom environments. Teaching through an anti-colonial lens that counters colonialism and supports ethical dialogue requires Indigenous cultural safety and ethical commitments to be at the heart of new Indigenous literatures courses.
By extending theoretical frames as pedagogical insights for engaging with Indigenous literatures, we embed these ethical protocols throughout our reading guides. We also offer ᑌᐹᒋᒧᐎᓐ To Dialogue with Truth: a dedicated space for sharing our writing, conversations and reflections on Indigenous Literatures. For more information, please check out our resources and recent publications as exemplars of the power and possibility of engaging Indigenous literatures in classrooms in ways that honour Indigenous cultural integrity and inspire ethical relationality.
Our curated book lists will also offer:
1. Our protocols and frameworks for how we engage with Indigenous literatures
2. Our protocols for how we encourage others to engage with the work we produce as a lab and publish on the website, as well as Indigenous literatures more broadly
As you engage with the Indigenous Literatures Lab, we ask you to consider what it means to read and engage Indigenous literatures with intentionality and a Good Mind. We encourage you to embrace vulnerability and humility as you open your hearts and minds to the power of stories. It is our hope that you will focus what Daniel Heath Justice referred to as good medicine stories while acknowledging the need to embrace the more challenging stories as a catalyst for social change:
Further reading:
Why Indigenous Literatures Matter Daniel Heath Justice
Literatures, Communities, and Learning Conversations with Indigenous Writers Aubrey Jean Hanson
Writing as Witness: Essay and Talk Beth Brant
Indigenous owned bookstores in Canada:
