| Summary: | I am from Onion Lake Cree Nation. I am a nêhiyaw-iskwêw (Cree woman). My first language is nêhiyawêwin/Cree. I lived with my great-grandparents until I started residential school in 1956. My PhD research is based on my belief in healing, reconciling, and reclaiming Indigenous education to benefit students, families, and communities. There is a critical need to explore the role of Elders in schools. How are they used and positioned, by whom, and why? How can the education system move away from inviting Elders to check box-type activities and progress to having Elders acknowledged as having integral and continuous roles in schools where their knowledge is central to shaping and informing the unfolding curriculum being lived out with children and families? These are the questions that you will find explored and discussed in the videos that comprise the core of this dissertation, focused on discussions of the commodification and changing role of Elders; cultural trauma; artivism and reparation; and healing, reconciling, and reclaiming Indigenous education for the benefit of students, families, and communities. As a methodological approach, I followed the teachings shared by my mother, who is central to this work. What I did, and how and when I did it, was led by following protocol, prayer/prayer songs, and the offering of tobacco; it guided every aspect of my journey. My daily work began with smudging and prayers, the tobacco led me to invite thought leaders for the four conversations, it inspired my bookwork, and it guided my thought processes and decision making throughout my doctoral journey. Each conversation began with smudging, prayer/prayer song, and the offering of protocol to the thought leaders so that our conversation would unfold in a good way, with open eyes, ears, minds, and hearts. From January through December 2022, I spent one year in the field as an Elder/kêhtê- aya. I kept a journal of my Elder/Knowledge/Keeper requests and recorded my research to prepare for the commitment and my experience. This ...
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