“Sewing Is Part of Our Tradition”: A Case Study of Sewing as a Strategy for Arts-Based Inquiry in Health Research With Inuit Women

• Published in: Qualitative Health Research
• Main Authors: Brubacher, Laura Jane, Dewey, Cate E., Tatty, Naomi, Healey Akearok, Gwen K., Cunsolo, Ashlee, Humphries, Sally, Harper, Sherilee L.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2021
• Subjects: Research Articles; Nunavut; inuit; Iqaluit
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8649823/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34605697; https://doi.org/10.1177/10497323211042869

In this article, we present a case study of sewing as a strategy for arts-based inquiry in health research, situated within a broader project that highlighted Nunavut Inuit women’s childbirth experiences. Five focus groups were hosted as sewing sessions with pregnant women (N = 19) in Iqaluit, Nunavut (2017–2018). Women’s reflections on the sessions, and the significance of sewing to Inuit, were integrated with researchers’ critical reflections to examine the value of sewing as a strategy for arts-based inquiry within a focus group method: results related to the flexibility of the sessions; how collective sewing created space for voicing, sharing, and relating; sewing as a tactile and place-specific practice tied to Inuit knowledge and tradition; and lessons learned. Our results underscore the possibilities of arts-based approaches, such as sewing, to enhance data gathering within a focus group method and to contribute to more locally appropriate, place-based methods for Indigenous health research.