Identity as an Audible Set of Practices in Urban Aboriginal Women's Oral Histories

When Aboriginal women act outside of the spheres in which they have been historically positioned--when, for example, they speak out about their experiences of "tradition" as oppressive or of traditionally valued women's work as non-gratifying, when they challenge the grounds upon which their authority is disqualified in policy-making locations--they broaden the scope of possible roles for Aboriginal women. This paper examines the performative aspects of identity. The focus is on the discursive production, performance and transformation of Indigeneity that occurs when Native women in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada remember and recount their life histories.

About Kathleen Buddle-Crowe

Kathleen Buddle-Crowe is an urban ethnographer with a focus on Aboriginal communications and many years of experience in Aboriginal community-based research and oral history. Currently she is working with a group of Aboriginal women’s organizations in several projects, including the oral history project that is the subject of her paper. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba.

» Special Session: Language, Authority and Silence: Storytelling and Oral History in Canada

Abstracts/Resumenes de las Ponencias