Linda Goulet

Layering Theatre's Potential for Change: Drama, Education, and Community in Aboriginal Health Research

WARREN LINDS, HEATHER RITENBURG, LINDA GOULET, JO-ANN EPISKENEW, KAREN SCHMIDT , NUNO RIBEIRO, and ALLISON WHITEMAN show how drama is helping Aboriginal youth overcome historical and ongoing colonization to reclaim their place and explore new pathways forward.

Embodying decolonization: Methodologies and indigenization

This article explores the role of the body in decolonizing and Indigenous methodologies through the experiences and perspectives of four researchers and research teams living and working in different contexts in Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand. A methodological overview of these approaches is provided and stories are shared of working with theatre with Indigenous youth; of a pedagogy which affirms the centrality of the body in Indigenous teaching and learning; and an autoethnographic reflection on decolonization in relation to Māori birthing practice or traditions. The threads that are common to all these narratives are the commitment to centring the body in the process of decolonization and indigenization, and an affirmation of bodily wisdom and experience as a critical component of Indigenous methodologies.

Acting Outside the Box

This chapter will critically examine issues emerging from the incorporation of Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) in an antiracism program in schools. We will explore an adaptation of Theatre of the Oppressed that not only de-normalizes acts of discrimination but also provides a space to develop an “as if” world, where antiracism is practiced and transformation is possible.

Weechi metuwe mitotan: playing games of presence with Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, Canada

ABSTRACT This article explores the role of play and how the integration of play in the arts contributes to supporting holistic well-being in Indigenous youth. We specifically focus on ‘Games of Presence’ (Gee, personal communication, August 25, 2015) which are theatre games often categorized as warm-ups, energizers and exercises in applied theatre programmes. We draw on interviews with youth participants in our workshops and adult facilitators who have told us that these games are not just fun – they have a greater significance, in that they build trust, enabling the development of voice, positive relationships and the sharing of power. Play also connects youth to elders and cultural practices; they told us that these connections were also ways to learn about themselves. Our hope is that this article will point to the need for further research on play and youth in different cultural contexts.

Like Braiding Sweetgrass: Nurturing Relationships and Alliances in Indigenous Community-based Research

The shifting environment of Indigenous community-based research demands reflexivity because the negotiation and maintenance of relationships are central (Findlay, Ray, & Basualdo, 2014). This paper expands on the importance of social relationships in the Nehinuw (Cree) worldview by reflecting on an ongoing research partnership among a team of Indigenous and Settler researchers from three universities and one Indigenous community agency. The Nehinuw relationships of weechihitowin (supporting and helping each other), weechiyauguneetowin (partnership, collaborative or shared action), otootemitowin (respectful openness and acceptance of others), and weechiseechigemitowin (alliances for common action) (L. Goulet & K. Goulet, 2014) form the theoretical framework for analyzing the challenges and successes that have sustained this collaboration for almost 10 years. This article will enhance understanding of Indigenous community-based research to promote an epistemological shift toward Indigenous modes of inquiry.

Click, Clack, Move: Facilitation of the Arts as Transformative Pedagogy.

This article explores the arts’ potential to transform the relationships between students and teachers, so that education becomes an “as if” world, where education is an act of social justice. Interweaving themes from the children’s book Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type with theories of transformative pedagogy and their own teaching practices in Canada and Scotland, the authors look at the metonymic way in which the children’s story, as a form of performative writing, explores democracy, leadership, and group dynamics. Drawing from a concept of social justice as being a multi- or interdisciplinary experience that enables individuals to make sense of the social system around them, we explore how we have embraced transformative pedagogy in working with groups. In the process of the workshop, a shared space is opened up, where the exploration of stories can lead all participants to engage in transformative dialogue through visual images, movement, sound and physicality.