Gathering Voices: Through Creative Response to Indigenous Literatures Youth Find Their Way Home

• In Event: Indigenizing K–12 Educational Environments: Relational Curriculum, Intergenerational Literacies, and Decolonizing Teacher Professional Development

Abstract

This qualitative study focuses on the experiences of youth reading Indigenous literatures in the context of an extra-curricular literary arts group. The âcimowin storytelling circle project takes place in an urban secondary school in Saskatchewan, Canada. A culturally and linguistically diverse group of youth, including both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, participated in the project throughout the 2018-2019 school year. Indigenous authors visited the âcimowin storytelling circle to facilitate creative writing workshops focusing on themes of kinship, home, and place. Drawing on Indigenous theories of home and storytelling (Episkenew, 2009; Hubbard, 2016; Lundy, 2002; McLeod, 2007), we share the experiences and perspectives of the youth participants on their journey to finding a sense of belonging and home through the Indigenous literature circle.

Authors

• Heather Ann Phipps, University of Regina

• Anna-Leah King, University of Regina