![]() As researchers, working with Indigenous youth and young adults, our task is facilitating the process of stories, and how individuals shape new narratives in their own way, based on their sense of culture. The young woman, quoted above, tells her story, in her own terms, as a point of reclaiming her pride in being an Indigenous woman. Colonisers have historically told and shaped the stories of Indigenous peoples. Storytelling is a process of reclaiming the story, to own the story, rather than be defined or storied by others. I also describe Indigenous methodologies and how working with stories brought important personal insights and fostered my own development as a researcher working within a community. In this chapter, I describe a project working with Indigenous youth and young adults, whereby storytelling was an element of regaining a sense of belonging and identity, connection to the land, and a sustained a process for healing. Storytelling was, and is, foundational to a way of life and has occurred over many generations as a way of sharing. The young woman, quoted above, shared her thoughts on culture and living off the land – which was common to the narratives that we heard in our research with communities. In Canada, Indigenous peoples have valued storytelling for centuries, as a way of conveying history and knowledge through their families and communities. ![]() … I learned at a very young age what it took to live off the land …. I had to learn to hunt and fish and grow food for my family. ![]() So, I was a woman who lived off the land. And I grew up with that because my parents were descendants of Residential Schools, so I struggled with that. You know, when I was growing up, I was not very proud, because I thought being First Nations, you had no culture and no language. The particular focus of this work is with Indigenous youth, young adults, and their ability to remain healthy and hopeful, rather than despairing, and at a loss regarding identity and belonging. The research is the story and it makes a difference to how Indigenous youth and adults learn experience their lives. Through research on the resilience of Indigenous youth and their relationship to culture, identity, and land, there are stories created and recreated. Storytelling has been valued in traditional ways of knowing in Indigenous cultures and is seen as a primary means to pass on knowledge over generations. Storytelling can be a way of reclaiming identity and reclaiming one’s own stories, rather than being defined and storied by hegemonic forces. ![]() The chapter describes important personal insights for the researcher, and the development of a better understanding of relationships with youth and young adults within the context of the storytelling process. This chapter examines the role of Indigenous storytelling as a method and an epistemology, with an explicit connection to land-based work, community, and a sustained a process for healing with Indigenous peoples. ![]()
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