Changing the narrative from the inside: A look at how strength and narrative based service delivery can function as a space of resistance for Indigenous women

Abstract

This research focuses on the narrative surrounding Indigenous women by examining different knowledge sources – news stories and life stories, as they transpire within different knowledge spaces – non-Indigenous newspapers, the London Free Press and the Globe and Mail, and an Indigenous service delivery organization called Positive Voice. Drawing on an Indigenous aligned feminist mixed-methodological approach, this research had three main objectives: 1) to document and critically analyze the current mainstream narrative surrounding Indigenous women; 2) to understand the narratives Indigenous women share themselves in order to bring meaning to their experiences, from their own voices; and 3) to understand how service delivery might act as a thread between these diverging sources of representation. Methods included a critical thematic narrative analysis of 289 newspaper articles, 15 in-depth interviews with Positive Voice participants and other persons involved with the program, and a brief examination of program material. Several overarching findings were identified. First, the narratives surrounding Indigenous women and the mainstream news spaces that produce them continue to reflect non-Indigenous and Western cultural memories of Indigeneity. Second, although the narratives that interview participants shared in some ways reflected these Western cultural memories, they were shared within a context of change and strength. In particular, the Positive Voice women’s life stories reflected self-reflection and insight, with Positive Voice representing a transition in how the women understood and approached themselves and their narratives. Finally, it became clear that Positive Voice functioned as a space of resistance and disruption to mainstream narratives and dominant knowledge processes. In conclusion, Positive Voice became a space for challenging mainstream narratives and for exploring personal identity through sharing, listening, and teaching within a comfortable and safe space