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CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Dissertation
STORIES OF RESISTANCE: INDIGENOUS WOMEN STORY THROUGH STRENGTH
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
05/2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000007355
Abstract
Current research stories Indigenous women from settler colonial perspectives of wellbeing. These perspectives perpetuate narratives that Indigenous women exist in experiences of ill health. While it is important to understand, these narratives fail to address the structures that uphold these health outcomes for Indigenous women and perpetuate settler colonial attempts towards erasure. Indigenous women’s stories of health, success, and joy deserve to be told. These stories act as resistance towards the settler colonial systems of violence through generational healing. These stories are often nested deep within our communities. The purpose of this project is to explore the ways in which Indigenous women’s stories of strength disrupt the settler colonial notions of what it means to be well.
I engage Indigenous Research Methodologies to inform research design, analysis, and dissemination. Within this framework, I specifically employ Indigenous Storywork to inform this project. Over the course of four seasons, I hosted six story sessions with seven Indigenous women to share stories of wellness from their perspectives. I worked with these relatives to review their sessions to ensure their stories are represented accurately. We analyzed their interviews through perspectives of Indigenous Feminist thought, understanding the ways that their stories disrupt settler colonial structures of violence.
These seven relatives shared stories of strength, dreams, and joy to better understand wellness for them and their communities. These women shared their perspectives of strength through the experiences of their ancestors and family. Stories of survivance were evident, as the relatives storied through adaption and balance in ways that refused settler notions of victim-hood. Healing was a ‘core’ to the stories shared in this project and bridged strength to dreaming. They shared dreams of Indigenous futures that allowed for their communities to exist outside of shame. These futures are generated by joy. This project teaches us that Indigenous women’s stories can serve as resistance to settler colonial violence and claims that we only exist as victims. Further, we learn that these stories provide us guides to Indigenous futurities.
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Details
- Title
- STORIES OF RESISTANCE
- Creators
- Sequoia Dance-Leighton
- Contributors
- Stephany RunningHawk Johnson (Chair)Amir Gilmore (Committee Member)Francene Watson (Committee Member)Angel Sobotta (Committee Member)Roberta Paul (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Teaching and Learning
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 135
- Identifiers
- 99901220327501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation