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.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-206) and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 305.48/8973071
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 23
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn---
- ISBN
- 9780887557262 9780887554056
- LCCN
- E99.A35
- LCCN Item number
- A53 2011eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xix, 210 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)slc00228857 (OCoLC)714268756 (CaOOCEL)443725
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Cover 1
- Contents 6
- Acknowledgements 10
- Foreword by Maria Campbell 16
- Introduction- Digging Up the Medicines 24
- “How It Was”: Looking for Native Women’s History 27
- Life Cycle Teachings of the Anishinaabek 28
- Overview of the Book 32
- Chapter 1 - Weaving the Stories 36
- Purpose: Listening for Stories that “Work like Arrows” 39
- Building on Relationships 41
- Responsibilities 44
- Working with the Historian Participants 45
- Chapter 2 - People and Places 48
- Michif, Nēhiyawak, Anishinaabek: Locating the Oral Historians 48
- The Times 49
- Introducing the Oral Historian Participants 53
- Chapter 3 - The Life Cycle Begins: From Conception to Walking 59
- Maintaining the Life Line 60
- Family Planning 61
- Pregnancy: A Sacred Time 63
- Birth and the Celebration of New Life 67
- Postnatal Care 70
- Naming the Baby 73
- Caring for Infants 77
- Care for the Spirit 78
- Physical Care 79
- “Walking Out”: The Toddler Years 83
- Conclusion 84
- Chapter 4 - The “Good Life” and the“Fast Life”: Childhood and Youth 86
- The “Good Life”: Nurturing, Discipline, Self-Reliance,and Interdependence 87
- Teaching Discipline and Self-Discipline 88
- Childrearing: “It Takes a Community” 91
- Reciprocity 94
- Uncles and Aunts 95
- Discipline and Self-Discipline 97
- Work 101
- School 103
- The “Fast Life”: Moving into Adolescence 104
- Fasting 106
- Conclusion 116
- Chapter 5 - Adult Years: The Women’s Circle 118
- Entering the Women’s Circle 119
- Managing the Resources: Work Within the Women’s Circle 125
- Food Management and Security 125
- Clothing 129
- Working for Pay 131
- Keepers of Relationships: Collectivism and Kinship 133
- Sexuality, Courting, and Marriage 139
- Conclusion 146
- Chapter 6 - Grandmothers and Elders 147
- General Roles and Responsibilities for the Elder Years 148
- Beginning with the Physical: Aging 152
- Leadership and Governance 155
- Teaching 164
- Managing the Health of the Community 168
- Doorkeepers to the Spirit World 175
- Catching New Life 175
- Closing Life 177
- Conclusion 180
- Conclusion - Bundling the Layers: Building on the Strengths of the Pastto Take Us into the Future 182
- Layer One: The Power of Women and Girls 183
- Layer Two: Connecting the Stories to Life Stage Theory 186
- Layer Three: Contributions to the Health and Well-Being ofNative Communities 188
- Layer Four: Applying Story Medicine, Today, and into the Future 190
- Notes 201
- Introduction 201
- Chapter 1: Weaving the Stories 203
- Chapter 2: People and Places 207
- Chapter 3: The Life Cycle Begins 208
- Chapter 4: The “Good Life” and the “Fast Life” 211
- Chapter 5: Adult Years 214
- Chapter 6: Grandmothers and Elders 217
- Conclusion: Bundling the Layers 219
- Bibliography 220
- Index 228
