Regions: Gwich'in Settlement Area, Dehcho Region, North Slave Region, South Slave Region
Tags: knowledge transfer, traditional knowledge, ethnography, beadwork
| Principal Investigator: | Edge, Lois E. (4) |
| Licence Number: | 14500 |
| Organization: | University of Alberta |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2009
2008
2007
|
| Issued: | Apr 08, 2009 |
| Project Team: | University of Alberta (University of Alberta) |
Objective(s): The objective of this research is to conduct interviews with elderly Aboriginal women in Alberta and the Northwest Territories about their experiences with beadwork
Project Description: Objectives of this research include (a) share experience as Visiting Researcher to the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, to study a pair of moccasins made by the researcher’s grandmother, Mrs. Joanne Edge, at her home in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories in 1942 (completed); (b) facilitate a beading circle with urban Aboriginal women in Edmonton, Alberta to document the contribution of beadwork to Aboriginal women's health status (completed); and (c) conduct interviews with elderly Aboriginal women in Alberta and the Northwest Territories about their experiences with beadwork. Project methods include Indigenous knowledge and research methodologies, ethnographic and critical inquiry, visual arts and representation, and qualitative, participatory and community-based research methods. A series of 2-4 interviews, 2-3 hours in length, will be conducted with 4-8 women in each community. Consent for use of content and images will be obtained from each participant. Participants will be provided with the opportunity to review the interview transcript. Fieldwork research will be documented using photography, audio and video recordings. Social, cultural and educational benefits include enhanced awareness in the North that participation by Indigenous women in traditional cultural activities such as bead work contributes to health and well-being. Economic benefits potentially include hiring of a translator, payment of honoraria to project participants and payment of accommodation at private residences. Research results will be communicated through a series of digital stories (audio, video, images and narrative), video, poster, photographs and/or community report. Project outcomes may include publications, presentations and/or curriculum resources in digital, video, on-line or hard copy publications. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from April 07 to December 31, 2009, in Inuvik, Fort McPherson, Fort Providence, Fort Smith, and Yellowknife.
