Life Stages and Native Women : Memory, Teachings, and Story Medicine

A rare and inspiring guide to the health and well-being of Aboriginal women and their communities. The process of “digging up medicines” - of rediscovering the stories of the past - serves as a powerful healing force in the decolonization and recovery of Aboriginal communities. In Life Stages and Native Women, Kim Anderson shares the teachings of fourteen elders from the Canadian prairies and Ontario to illustrate how different life stages were experienced by Metis, Cree, and Anishinaabe girls and women during the mid-twentieth century. These elders relate stories about their own lives, the experiences of girls and women of their childhood communities, and customs related to pregnancy, birth, post-natal care, infant and child care, puberty rites, gender and age-specific work roles, the distinct roles of post-menopausal women, and women's roles in managing death. Through these teachings, we learn how evolving responsibilities from infancy to adulthood shaped women's identities and place within Indigenous society, and were integral to the health and well-being of their communities. By understanding how healthy communities were created in the past, Anderson explains how this traditional knowledge can be applied toward rebuilding healthy Indigenous communities today. Cover Contents Acknowledgements Foreword by Maria Campbell Introduction- Digging Up the Medicines “How It Was”: Looking for Native Women’s History Life Cycle Teachings of the Anishinaabek Overview of the Book Chapter 1 - Weaving the Stories Purpose: Listening for Stories that “Work like Arrows” Building on Relationships Responsibilities Working with the Historian Participants Chapter 2 - People and Places Michif, Nēhiyawak, Anishinaabek: Locating the Oral Historians The Times Introducing the Oral Historian Participants Chapter 3 - The Life Cycle Begins: From Conception to Walking Maintaining the Life Line Family Planning Pregnancy: A Sacred Time Birth and the Celebration of New Life Postnatal Care Naming the Baby Caring for Infants Care for the Spirit Physical Care “Walking Out”: The Toddler Years Conclusion Chapter 4 - The “Good Life” and the“Fast Life”: Childhood and Youth The “Good Life”: Nurturing, Discipline, Self-Reliance,and Interdependence Teaching Discipline and Self-Discipline Childrearing: “It Takes a Community” Reciprocity Uncles and Aunts Discipline and Self-Discipline Work School The “Fast Life”: Moving into Adolescence Fasting Conclusion Chapter 5 - Adult Years: The Women’s Circle Entering the Women’s Circle Managing the Resources: Work Within the Women’s Circle Food Management and Security Clothing Working for Pay Keepers of Relationships: Collectivism and Kinship Sexuality, Courting, and Marriage Conclusion Chapter 6 - Grandmothers and Elders General Roles and Responsibilities for the Elder Years Beginning with the Physical: Aging Leadership and Governance Teaching Managing the Health of the Community Doorkeepers to the Spirit World Catching New Life Closing Life Conclusion Conclusion - Bundling the Layers: Building on the Strengths of the Pastto Take Us into the Future Layer One: The Power of Women and Girls Layer Two: Connecting the Stories to Life Stage Theory Layer Three: Contributions to the Health and Well-Being ofNative Communities Layer Four: Applying Story Medicine, Today, and into the Future Notes Introduction Chapter 1: Weaving the Stories Chapter 2: People and Places Chapter 3: The Life Cycle Begins Chapter 4: The “Good Life” and the “Fast Life” Chapter 5: Adult Years Chapter 6: Grandmothers and Elders Conclusion: Bundling the Layers Bibliography Index Rediscovering the stories of the past serves as a healing force in the decolonization and recovery of Aboriginal communities. Anderson shares the teachings of elders from the Canadian prairies and Ontario to illustrate how different life stages were experienced by Meþtis, Cree, and Anishinaabe girls and women during the mid-twentieth century. Anderson explains how this traditional knowledge can be applied toward rebuilding healthy Indigenous communities today Rediscovering the stories of the past serves as a healing force in the decolonization and recovery of Aboriginal communities. Anderson shares the teachings of elders from the Canadian prairies and Ontario to illustrate how different life stages were experienced by Métis, Cree, and Anishinaabe girls and women during the mid-twentieth century. Anderson explains how this traditional knowledge can be applied toward rebuilding healthy Indigenous communities today