Indigenous Teaching Through Art

Indigenous Teaching Through Art (ITTA) is a half-day workshop co-designed by Indigenous (Lorrie Gallant, Amy Montour) and non-Indigenous members (Joyce Zazulak, Nicole Knibb) of the Department of Family Medicine and delivered to 195 participants between October 30, 2018 and January 13, 2020. This program uses cultural knowledge, art creation, and reflective practices (narrative writing, storytelling, sharing circles) to learn and personally reflect on the ongoing impact and harmful legacy of the residential school system in Canada. Forty staff and clinicians participated in interviews or focus groups and 110 participants completed a brief questionnaire. The team applied a reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns of meaning in the data and drew on ‘Two-Eyed Seeing’ as a framework to reconcile the use of Western research methods and theories with Indigenous knowledge. Honouring Indigenous ways of knowing, the team worked collaboratively every step of the way. Data analysis is nearing completion and the team has found that the ITTA program impacted participants’ foundational understanding of the historical and contemporary realities of Indigenous peoples in Canada. There is a deep interest among participants to continue to learning more about indigenous issues and participating in a collective response toward reconciliation.