Knowledge Resources & Publications

Webinar: Re-thinking family violence: Centering Indigenous knowledges

March 2016

Overview

A NCCAH webinar, "Re-thinking Family Violence: Centering Indigenous Knowledges", was held on March 10, 2016 with presenters Drs. Sarah Hunt, Cindy Holmes, and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Drs. Hunt and Holmes began the webinar with a discussion of their research on how family violence and solutions to this violence in Indigenous communities have been framed in Canada over the past 20 years. Dr. Simpson then presented teachings through digital storytelling based in Anishinabek knowledge about families, healthy relationships, holistic views of health and the relational nature of wellness to encourage a rethinking of family violence in the context of Indigenous worldviews. The webinar ended with a series of questions for the 203 participants to take away for further thought and discussion in their own cultural and community contexts.

Speaker Bios

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is “a gifted writer who brings passion and commitment to her storytelling and who has demonstrated an uncommon ability to manage an impressive range of genres from traditional storytelling to critical analysis, from poetry to the spoken word, from literary and social activism.” In 2014, Leanne was named the inaugural RBC Charles Taylor Emerging writer by Thomas King. She is the author of three books; Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back, The Gift Is in the Making and Islands of Decolonial Love, and the editor of Lighting the Eighth Fire, This Is An Honour Song (with Kiera Ladner) and The Winter We Danced: Voice from the Past, the Future and the Idle No More Movement (Kino-nda-niimi collective). Leanne holds a PhD from the University of Manitoba and has lectured at universities across Canada. She is currently faculty at the Dechinta Centre for Research & Learning in Denendeh/NWT. Leanne is of Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg ancestry and a member of Alderville First Nation.

Cindy Holmes’ research explores intersections between violence, gender, sexuality, colonialism and health and is grounded in over 20 years work in community-based health, anti-violence and social justice movements. She is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (NCCAH) at UNBC and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Health Sciences at SFU.

Sarah Hunt is a Kwagiulth researcher, educator and writer with 15 years experience working on issues of violence in Indigenous communities across BC. She is assistant professor of First Nations and Indigenous Studies and Geography at UBC, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (NCCAH).