MSHKIKENH IKWE NIIN (I am Tutle Woman)

Description

This dissertation offers the dibaajimowin (personal story) of my beading project, which I undertook to understand the enactment of Anishinaabe women’s knowledge in graduate research. Framed through the concept of a collective self, which is embedded within the Anishinaabe traditions of storytelling and beading, and drawing further from the aesthetics, processes, and teachings of these traditions so that I proceed in a good way, I am able to tell a story that is wholly Anishinaabe. Through the symbolic literacy present within the pieces of beadwork entitled:”Turtle Woman,” “Turtle Woman Meets Grandmother Moon,” “Turtle Woman Marries a Beaver,” and “Turtle Woman Slays the Big Fish,” which I present in the second half of this story, I explore the relationship among Anishinaabe women’s knowledges, self, identity, power relations, allyship, sovereignty and good governance in graduate research. I conclude that if graduate research is framed as an extension of an Anishinaabe space, an ethics of responsibility emerges, setting the stage for graduate research that is rooted in responsibility, contributing to efforts of Anishinaabe sovereignty and community wellness. Overall through my conclusion, as well as the process that I employ, I make contributions in the areas of Indigenous thought, Indigenous methodologies, Indigenous governance, feminism, critical theory, pedagogy, and ally theory.
Author Keywords: Anishinaabe, beadwork, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous methodology, Indigenous women, sovereignty