“Bizindan aabajitoon Shkiizhiigoon gaye gitowagan” Listen using Eyes and Ears

• Main Author: Shawayahamish, Amanda
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: anishina*
• Online Access: https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/993239/; https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/993239/1/Shawayahamish_M.A._S2024.pdf

Boozhoo, Amanda Shawayahamish ni-di-shin-i-hkaaz, Animbiigoo Zaagi'igan Anishinaabek ni-n-doo-jii. Hi, my name is Amanda Shawayahamish. I come from Lake Nipigon Reserve. I am an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) woman, wife, stepmother, Auntie, bead artist and graduate student at Concordia University exploring reconnection and reclamation to my Anishinaabe identity and traditions through beadwork, storytelling and strengthening relationships with my family and community. I blend autoethnographic and Indigenous Research Methodology to tell the story of my family and myself on this journey. Auto-ethnography in an Anishinaabe context will be a guide to tell my “story” in a narrative research-creation project. I share my experience and journal entries from my and my family’s visit to Ombabika and Auden, Ontario where my ancestors originated. My research collaborators are my family and cherished members of my community, so it is very personal. Sometimes, it feels as if the expectations of the university are counterchallenging what I know, and our ways of being as Anishinaabe. My process is not linear; it’s a circular path. I hope that my experiences will guide other Indigenous Peoples on their pathway. The objective of my MA research-creation project is to challenge academic conventions and demonstrate the importance of Indigenous Research Methodologies and approaches. Keywords: Indigenous, Anishinaabe women, Anishinaabe, Indigenous autoethnography, Indigenous storytelling, Anishinaabe storytelling, Reclaiming Anishinaabe identity, reclamation, Anishinaabe and/or Indigenous beadwork