Fall 2021
The project
The map presented here is the result of a research project initiated in 2019 with youth from the Montreal/Tiohtiá:ke Indigenous community regarding their relationships with and in the city. This collaborative research project used participatory mapping to share their stories, experiences and knowledge of the city and in the city, while provoking collective analysis and co-creation of new knowledge and perspectives. The project seeks to make Indigenous presences and experiences visible in order to respond to the coloniality of urban space and the violence that results from it. It is supported by research networks such as Tryspaces and the Indigenous component of the Chaire-réseau de recherche sur la jeunesse du Québec.
A total of 18 youth, aged 18 to 35, participated in the project through mapping workshops and semi-structured interviews. Two Elders accompanied them during the workshops. The youth were from the Innu, Atikamekw, Kanien'kehá:ka, Anishnabe, Dene, Waban-Aki, Wendat, Inuit and Métis Nations, and spoke either French or English as a second or first language, which explains why the audio excerpts presented in the map are sometimes in French, sometimes in English.
The committee
A creative committee of seven youth who participated in the research was formed in the fall of 2021. The committee contributes to the analysis of the collected stories. The committee met in the spring of 2022 to analyze, select, and organize the compiled narratives in order to "bead" a common collective narrative. They also decided on the objectives and format of the knowledge mobilization tool through which to disseminate the results of this analysis. The members all agreed to create a tool that would first be built and accessible to other youth in the Montreal Aboriginal community, whether they are long-time residents or recently arrived in the city. The committee also aspires to make it a tool to raise awareness of their presence and identity through their visibility.
Our partners
This project was made possible thanks to the financial support of:
