Indigenous Students’ Storywork: Local-to-Global Transformative Learning and Growth

Abstract

Storywork by four Indigenous post-secondary student mentees from Canada highlights their transformative co-learning experiences with community through a local-to-global field school. This program was funded by the Alberta Indigenous Mentorship in Health Innovation (AIM-HI) Network as a foundation for students to succeed in Indigenous health and community-based research. Mentees are undergraduate students from different post-secondary institutions/programs and various Indigenous communities including Cree, Dene and Métis. Mentors included 2 Elders (Blackfoot and Hawaiian) and professors (1 nursing and 2 medicine) from Métis, Blackfoot and hanai Hawaiian families. With respect for Indigenous oral tradition, mentees share their transformative experiences through digital storytelling. With the metaphor of plants, mentees describe their individual and collective growth from seed, to blooming and taking root with their identity. Opening hearts and minds to Indigenous ways of knowing inspired a strong cultural connection for engaging in academic studies and relational co-learning with Indigenous communities. Mentees learned relevant skills to support selfawareness/knowledge development, caregiving/self-care, compassion/selfcompassion, and cultural growth through common humanity; these skills support their roles as resilient strong helpers, who are well-positioned to respectfully advance Indigenous ways of knowing in research to promote health with Indigenous Peoples. With an evolving impact beyond the duration of the field school, mentees share their learning journey and calls to action as emerging Indigenous Health Researchers.