Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T00:05:39.163Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Fostering Reconciliation through Collaborative Research in Unama’ki: Engaging Communities through Indigenous Methodologies and Research-Creation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2020

Abstract

This article documents relationships, strategies, and activities involved in developing and carrying out collaborative community-engaged research for reconciliation, based on Indigenous methodologies and research-creation. It documents an example of Indigenous/non-Indigenous collaboration in Unama’ki (also known as Cape Breton, Canada), providing data towards the refinement of models of research designed to foster reconciliation, and contributing to a literature on Indigenous/non-Indigenous collaborations in ethnomusicology and related fields. While revealing some challenges in the process with respect to addressing local needs, it also describes transformations that can be achieved through effective collaboration, including ways in which universities can be involved.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© International Council for Traditional Music 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Araujo, Samuel. 2008. “From Neutrality to Praxis: The Shifting Politics of Ethnomusicology in the Contemporary World.” Musicological Annual 44(1):1330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barney, Katelyn. 2014. Collaborative Ethnomusicology: New Approaches to Music Research between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Melbourne: Lyrebird Press.Google Scholar
Battiste, Marie Ann. 2016. Visioning a Mi’kmaw Humanities: Indigenizing the Academy. Sydney, Nova Scotia: Cape Breton University Press.Google Scholar
Bull, Julie R. 2011. “Research with Aboriginal Peoples: Authentic Relationships as a Precursor to Ethical Research.” Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 5:1322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cape Breton Post. 2018. “Feasting and Friendship in Membertou on National Indigenous Peoples Day.” Cape Breton Post. http://www.capebretonpost.com/news/local/feasting-and-friendship-in-membertou-on-national-indigenous-peoples-day-220606/ (accessed 20 July 2018).Google Scholar
Chilisa, Bagele. 2012. Indigenous Research Methodologies. Thousand Oaks, California, London: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Christian, Dorothy and Victoria, Freeman. 2010. “The History of a Friendship, or Some Thoughts on Becoming Allies.” In Alliances: Re/envisioning Indigenous-non-Indigenous Relationships, ed. Lynne, Davis, 376390. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Darnel, Regna. 2018. “Reconciliation, Refurgence and Revitalization: Collaborative Research Protocols with Contemporary First Nations Communities.” In Resurgence and Reconciliation: Indigenous Settler Relations and Earth Teachings, ed. Michael, Asch, John, Borrows, and James, Tully, 229244. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Davis, Lynne. 2010. Alliances: Re/envisioning Indigenous-non-Indigenous Relationships. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Diamond, Beverley. 2008. Native American Music in Eastern North America. Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Diamond, Beverley and Witmer, Robert, eds. 1994. Canadian Music: Issues of Hegemony and Identity. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.Google Scholar
Henderson, James [S’ake’j] Youngblood. 2016. “L’nu Humanities.” In Visioning a Mikmaw Humanities: Indigenizing the Academy, ed. Battiste, Marie, 2954. Sydney, Nova Scotia: Cape Breton University Press.Google Scholar
Higgins, Lee. 2012. Community Music: In Theory and In Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopper, Elizabeth K., Bassuk, Ellen L., and Olivet, Jeffrey. 2009. “Shelter from the Storm: Trauma-Informed Care in Homelessness Services Settings.” The Open Health Services and Policy Journal (2):131151.Google Scholar
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). 2015. “Peace and Friendship Treaties.” http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100028589/1100100028591 (accessed 20 July 2018).Google Scholar
Inglis, S. 2004. “400 Years of Linguistic Contact Between the Mi’kmaw and the English and the Interchange of Two World Views.” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies XXXIV(2):389402.Google Scholar
Kirkness, V. J. and Barnhardt, R.. 1991. “First Nations and Higher Education: The Four R’s—Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, Responsibility.” In Knowledge Across Cultures: A Contribution to Dialogue Among Civilizations, ed. Hayoe, R. and Pan, J.. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Kovach, Margaret. 2009. Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations and Contexts. Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Lassiter, Luke Eric. 2019. “Collaborative Ethnography.” In SAGE Research Methods Foundations, ed. Atkinson, Paul, Delamont, Sara, Cernat, Alexandru, Sakshaug, Joseph W., and Williams, Richard A.. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526421036766518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leavy, Patricia. 2015. Method Meets Art: Arts-based Research Practice. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Library and Archives Canada [LAC]. 1916. RG-10, Vol. 7762, File 27061-2, part 2. Cape Breton Agency, Exchequer Court Proceedings #390845 under Section 49A Indian Act for the Sydney Reserve (plans). 1915–1916.Google Scholar
Membertou Communications. 2016. “Kings Road Reserve 100 Years Later, The Journey On…: The Story of Membertou’s Reconciliation.” http://www.membertou.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/kings-road-reserve.pdf.Google Scholar
Miller, Bruce Granville. 2011. Oral History on Trial: Recognizing Aboriginal Narratives in the Courts. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Morin, Peter. 2016. “This is What happens when we Perform the Memory of the Land.” In Arts of Engagement: Taking Aesthetic Action In and Beyond the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada , ed. Robinson, Dylan and Martin, Keavy, 6792. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.Google Scholar
Ninomiya, Melody E. and Pollock, Nathaniel J.. 2017. “Reconciling Community-based Indigenous Research and Academic Practices: Knowing Principles Is Not Always Enough.” Social Science & Medicine 172:2836.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostashewski, Marcia. 2020. “Sound Communities.” Special issue: Keywords in Music and Peacebuilding. Music and Arts in Action 7(3):6384.Google Scholar
Ostashewski, Marcia (Producer), Marshall, Graham (Associate Producer), Cheetham, Kim (Director and Editor), MacDonald, Norm (Director of Photography), in addition to several Membertou-based co-researchers. 2019. The Kun’tewiktuk Project (documentary film, 15:07 min.). Sydney, NS: The Centre for Sound Communities, Cape Breton University. http://soundcommunities.org/the-kuntewiktuk-project/.Google Scholar
Ostashewski, Marcia, Frey, Heather Fitzsimmons, and Johnson, Shaylene. 2018. “Youth-Engaged Art-based Research in Cape Breton: Transcending Nations, Boundaries, and Identities.” Jeunesse 10(2):100125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostashewski, Marcia and Johnson, Shaylene. 2020. “Relocation, Research and Reconciliation in Unama’ki.” In My Body Was Left on the Street: Music Education and Displacement, ed. De Quadros, A. and Vu, K., 267280. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.Google Scholar
Robinson, Dylan and Martin, Keavy, eds. 2016. Arts of Engagement: Taking Aesthetic Action In and Beyond the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 1999. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London & New York: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Snow, Kathy. 2018. “What Does Being a Settler Ally in Research Mean? A Graduate Student’s Experience Learning from and Working Within Indigenous Research Paradigms.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 17(1):111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). 2016. “Definitions of Terms.” http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/programs-programmes/definitions-eng.aspx#a22 (accessed 11 February 2018).Google Scholar
Somerville, Margaret. 2014. “Creative Collaborations in the Contact Zone.” In Collaborative Ethnomusicology: New Approaches to Music Research between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians, ed. Katelyn, Barney, 924. Melbourne: Lyrebird Press.Google Scholar
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015a. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. Winnipeg: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.Google Scholar
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015b. What We Have Learned: Principles of Truth and Reconciliation. Winnipeg: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.Google Scholar
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015c. Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Winnipeg: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.Google Scholar
Walls, Martha. 2016. “The Disposition of the Ladies: Mi’kmaw Women and the Removal of the King’s Road Reserve, Sydney, Nova Scotia.” Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d’études canadiennes 50(3):538565.Google Scholar
Whitlow, Kawennakon Bonnie, Vanessa Oliver, Kim Anderson, Kari Brozowski, Stephanie Tschirhart, Danielle Charles, and Kaienkwinehtha Ransom. 2019. “Taonsayontenhroseri:ye’ne: The Power of Art in Indigenous Research with Youth.” AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 15(2):180189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, Shawn. 2003. “Progressing Toward an Indigenous Research Paradigm in Canada and Australia.” Canadian Journal of Native Education 27(2):161178.Google Scholar
Wilson, Shawn. 2007. Guest Editorial: “What is an Indigenist Research Paradigm?” Canadian Journal of Native Education 30(2):193195, 322.Google Scholar
Wilson, Shawn. 2008. Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Halifax, NS: Fernwood Publishing.Google Scholar
Younging, Gregory. 2018. Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing by and about Indigenous Peoples. Edmonton, Alberta: Brush Education.Google Scholar