Braiding Knowledge through breath, language, and movement: culturally rooted, trauma-informed Yoga for First Nations Women

• Main Author: Barudin, Jessica W.G.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: First Nations
• Online Access: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/992805/; https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/992805/1/BARUDIN_PhD_F2023.pdf

This doctoral research weaves in several distinct cultural and philosophical knowledge systems, including Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, Indigenous knowledge of India through the practice of Yoga, and Western science of trauma theory and mindfulness. The primary research aim is to describe the process and impact of the First Nations Yoga Initiative (FNWYI), a trauma-informed, community program that combined virtual and land-based learning in an 80-hour curriculum piloted to a Cohort of twenty Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw and other First Nations women who participated in the program. A range of qualitative methods were used to gain in-depth insights into the experiences of wellness, healing, and language learning experiences of participants through an Indigenous Research Paradigm, bridging intercultural wisdom and spirit-based inquiry that centers Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw ways of knowing alongside the Yogic tradition, and Trauma-Informed Yoga (TIY) principles. The yoga program was co-created, implemented, and evaluated alongside a First Nations advisory circle of learners, fluent Kwak̓wala speakers and knowledge keepers. A culturally-responsive framework offers ways of sharing parallel Indigenous knowledge systems and advances awareness into how First Nations women prioritize standing in their own roots and values of respect and reciprocity when honoring the roots of Yoga. The research project builds upon existing findings from the fields of culturally rooted and TIY training and education, as well as offering an Indigenized approach to community wellness, trauma healing and language revitalization. The FNWYI introduced embodied language-learning through the exploration of Kwak̓wala values, worldviews, ancestral practices, chants and songs to promote an intentional learning community. The research project emphasizes the identity-building process and decolonizing practices through the embodiment of ancestral language, ceremonial practices, and trauma-informed yoga. This study addresses a gap in TIY research and practice by centering the priorities ...