Indigenous Storytelling and Connections to the Land: More-Than-Human Worlds

This book builds on the perspective that, for Indigenous peoples, relations to the land are familial, intimate, intergenerational, spiritual, instructive, and life nourishing, and it is these relations that Western societies sought to destroy as part of their colonial projects of territorial conquest and exploitation of resources. Positioning storytelling as a research methodology and a model of decolonial practice, this edited collection seeks to explore the following key questions: how does Indigenous storytelling contribute to understanding Indigenous identity and the crucial role of the land in Indigenous ways of life? How can Indigenous storytelling subvert colonial narratives of the land? How can Indigenous storytelling contribute to addressing colonial exploitations of the land and its resources? Can Indigenous storytelling become a rich mode for the investigation of current climate crises? And, finally, how does storytelling assist Indigenous peoples in restoring their intimate relations to the land and its natural gifts? Through critical analysis of a unique range of Indigenous storytelling practices, including fiction, performative art, new media platforms, archaeological findings and personal live-experienced stories, this collection aims to examine the interplay between colonialism and current environmental challenges, and to expose the impacts – past, present, and future – of Western worldviews on Indigenous connections to the land, whilst simultaneously bringing to the fore Indigenous ethos of care and land custodianship. Acknowledgements Contents Notes on Contributors Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: “Don’t bother the earth spirit [...] she is working on a story”: Indigenous Perspectives on Human-Land Relations The Land Has Many Stories To Tell Critical Approaches to Ecocriticism and Human-Land Relationships Overview Locating the Critic in Indigenous Studies Selected Bibliography Part I: (Auto)Ethnographic and Archaeological Stories Chapter 2: “The Big Tree where everything happens”: Can the Shattered Be Mended? Introduction On Narratives, Auto-ethnography and (Inventive) Methodology Øvernes: Empirical Storytelling via Hersøya, Veidnes/Sáltesávju, and Repparfjord Hersøya Veidnes/ Sáltesávju Repparfjorden Abrahams: Theoretical Reflection Selected Bibliography Chapter 3: An Appraisal of the Aari People’s Indigenous Connections to and Conceptions of their Land (Fäč’ekə) through their Indigenous Religious Beliefs, Myths and Rituals Introduction Methodology Results and Discussion Indigenous Administration and Management of Land/Fäč'ekə Land/Fäč'ekə in Aari Religious Beliefs and Rituals Land/ Fäč'ekə Keworə Trees and Green Leaves Wild Animals Origin Myths and Connections to the Fäčìekə Conclusion Selected Bibliography Chapter 4: The Landscapes of my Ancestors: Using Archaeology to Tell the Story of Métis Connections to the Landscape Introduction Situating Myself and My Story Within the Landscape and the Métis Community The Story of the Métis and their Disconnection from the Landscape Using Archaeology to Tell the Story of Métis Connections to Landscapes Case Study: Introducing Three Métis Sites and their Stories Archaeology as a Tool: Identifying the Landscape Connections Archaeology as a Tool: Moving Through the Landscape Archaeology as a Tool: Selecting a Site Archaeology as a Tool: Engaging with Community and Elders Concluding Remarks Selected Bibliography Part II: Literary Explorations Chapter 5: Meahcci: The Place We Live Introduction Who are the Sámi People? Basic Terms in North Sámi A Relational Connection to Cloudberry Picking The Place We Live What Do We Have to do to Maintain a Good Relationship with the Land? Storytelling and Connections to the Land Conclusion Selected Bibliography Chapter 6: Water, Air, Stone: Storying Elemental Kinship Introduction Kinship Bumps into Literary Studies Water and Air: Kinship Lessons A Stone Chooses a Girl: Human Time A Stone’s Life: Deep Time Repair: The Emergent Future Conversations: The Elongated Now Selected Bibliography Chapter 7: “ARE THEY GETTING IT?”: Texting with Water in Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s “Big Water” Introduction: Instastories and Storytelling To Wit and to Water Digital Resistance and the Bandwidth Witness Online and In Line with Indigenous Women’s Protest A Cyberscape of Coded Interactions Conclusion: “We Almost Always Survive” Selected Bibliography Chapter 8: Aloha ‘Āina: Island-Wahine Relationality in Hawaiian Mo‘olelo Introduction Island-Wahine Relationality and Mo‘olelo Island-Wahine Relationality and Land Restoration in “Woman-of-the-Fire and Woman-of-the-Water” Island-Wahine Relationality as Generative Force in “‘Ie‘ie and Lehua” Conclusion: Island-Wahine Relationality, Mana Wahine and Colonial Resistance Selected Bibliography Part III: Performance and Media Chapter 9: Dealing with Climate Change from the Margins: Creative Expressions of Indigenous Values and Practices from the Sundarban and the Pacific Introduction The Centrality of the Land in the Practice of Traditional Knowledge Creative Responses to Ecological Crises in the Sundarban Pacific Creative Responses to Climate Crises Conclusion Selected Bibliography Chapter 10: Márkomeannu-2018/2118 at the Convergence of Fiction and Reality: Art, Performance, and Storytelling Between Pasts and Futures in a Land of Relations Introduction The Márku Gállogieddi: A Festival Location Like No Others Festivals Celebrating Trans/Local Sámi Identities Márkomeannu-2018/2118 Experiencing Dystopic and Counter Futures: Participatory Theater and Storytelling Conclusion Selected Bibliography Chapter 11: Lands of Solidarity: Understanding Contemporary North American and Palestinian Indigenous Realities through Interactive Documentary Introduction Decolonization Indigenous Inter/nationalism? Solidarity between Nations Interactive Documentaries as a Means of Decolonization Spaces of Exception, Settler Colonialism, and Indigenous/Refugee Solidarity Conclusion Selected Bibliography Chapter 12: Podcasting Indigenous Land Connections in Stories from the Land Introduction Stories from the Land Method and Sample Results Animals and Ancestral Creatures Hunting Terrain and Weather Discussion Additional Materials Conclusion Selected Bibliography Chapter 13: Afterword: Wisdom Still Sits in Places: Relationality, Ecology, Story Selected Bibliography Index