My People Will Sleep for One Hundred Years: Story of a Métis Self |
My People Will Sleep for One Hundred Years: Story of a Métis Self
University of Victoria
2004
106 pages
Sylvia Rae Cottell, B.F.A.
Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies at the University of Victoria.
“My people will sleep for one hundred years when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.”
Louis Riel
As a result of the current political debate that surrounds the definition of Métis, the issue of Métis identity on both community and individual levels is often challenged in a public forum. Metis people outside of the areas considered the main hubs of Metis culture are likely to be faced with a myriad of different factors that impact their identity, including lack of community connections and limited contact with Métis cultural influences. There is a need to openly voice the diverse experiences of being Métis in order to affirm the experiences of many Métis people. This autoethnographic study aims to provide an account of an experience of being Métis and to salvage a sense of identity after many generations of assimilation. Autoethnography provides the freedom necessary for the representation of cultural values that are beyond the traditional assumptions of academic discourse (Spry, 2001) and aims to engage the reader on an emotional level. A purpose of this study is to validate the experience of many Métis readers and to enhance the level of culturally relevant practice provided to Métis individuals and communities by counsellors.
Read the entire thesis here.
Tags: Sylvia Cottell, Sylvia Rae Cottell, University of Victoria