A Duoethnography About Allyship in an Era of Reconciliation

• In Event: It's Not a Game: Challenging Dominant Narratives Through Counterhegemonic Epistemologies

Abstract

As settler women, former teachers in an Indigenous community, and scholars working in Indigenous education, we are responsible for engaging in the complexities of reconciliation through an allyship framework. In this article we use duoethnography and demonstrate a critical dialogue to explore issues of representation, participation, and transformation related to understandings of allyship. We problematize the performative, and binary approach to allyship as we wade through the tensions that our teaching and research work have unearthed. The invisibility and deeply personal nature of allyship is illuminated, enabling a new consciousness around these concepts to emerge.

Authors

• Sarah Burm, Dalhousie University

• Dawn Burleigh, University of Lethbridge