Hands Back, Hands Forward for Indigenous Storywork as Methodology

Abstract

This chapter highlights how Indigenous storywork is used with different communities. Hands Back , Hands Forward is an Indigenous teaching from the late First Nation Elder, Dr. Vincent Stogan, Tsimilano, from Musqueam, who was an exemplary mentor and teacher to many at the University of British Columbia and elsewhere. Kirkness and Barnhardt introduced the 4Rs in higher education: respect for the Indigenous student, relevance to the Indigenous student’s culture, responsibility for making the university more responsive to Indigenous students, and reciprocity where those involved with the university and the student share or benefit from each other’s knowledges. Through the reciprocal act of mentorship and learning we enact Elder Vincent Stogan’s Hands Back , Hands Forward teachings and Sidaxgigat’inimhl Gagoodim . The seven Indigenous storywork (ISW) principles include: respect, responsibility, reverence, reciprocity, holism, inter-relatedness, and synergy. All of the ISW principles exemplify relevance to Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous stories.

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