Stitching Together My Anishinaabe Research Paradigm: An Approach to Storytelling With Algonquin Ikwewag (Women) and Gender-Diverse People in Mattawa and North Bay, Ontario

Abstract

This article reviews an Anishinaabe research paradigm that structures a storytelling project with Algonquin Anishinaabekwewag and gender-diverse people from the Mattawa and North Bay area in Ontario, Canada. This Anishinaabe research paradigm contains an ontology, epistemology, methodology, and axiology that are informed by Anishinaabe worldviews and values, participants’ stories, as well as the knowledges and experiences the first author brings to the project as a mixed-ancestry Algonquin Anishinaabekwe. With a ribbon skirt framework of data analysis, analytical approaches from multiple knowledge systems are stitched together to form complex and cohesive stories. The methodology is guided by principles of ownership, control, access, and possession, the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans (Chapter 9), as well as Anishinaabe relational accountability which honours relationships with all of Creation. Axiology is further informed by Mino-Bimaadiziwin and Anishinaabe Original Instructions, and is expressed through Anishinaabe jiimaan (canoe) teachings and values of respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility, and reverence. Making space for Anishinaabe research paradigms that prioritize Anishinaabe ways of knowing and living is a powerful way to decolonize the research process and affirm the continuity of Anishinaabe lifeways.