Hopes & Gifts
It all begins with an idea.
My hope for this experience is to solidify my research practices and figure out what works best for me to connect with material culture. I hope to gain a better understanding of researching with Indigenous methods and sources at the forefront of my approach, rather than simply incorporating them into the perspective and narrative I am trying to rediscover and rewrite.
A gift I bring is my understanding that I'm not just researching history but walking through memories of those who have been silenced in telling their narratives. Understanding those who forged paths for Indigenous knowledge of culture and lifeways is all about the connection we have to specific places that we belong to. This gift of bringing ancestral ways of knowing with me is what strengthens my research approaches.
To best utilize my time with StoryMakers, I need to sit with the readings and thoroughly analyze the narrative they are amplifying, in order to inform how I can find productive ways to continue their work. I also need time to connect with community members to understand their worldview in relation to how they see their past, present, and future for their communities. In doing so, it would allow me to develop a plan for incorporating their voices into my research, one that stems from an inherent understanding of place and belonging, as well as ancestral knowledge and connection to the land. I want to learn from StoryMakers how to create intentional spaces of connection to help recover and reclaim Indigenous presence in the collective consciousness of the general public.