On November 25th, Memorial University alumna Dr. Kristina Fagan Bidwell gave a lecture for the George Story Distinguished Lecture Series at the Signal Hill Campus.
Dr. Bidwell’s lecture, “How Indigenous-led literary collaborations can amplify Indigenous voices in Newfoundland and Labrador,” offered an insightful and timely look at the importance of recognizing and promoting Indigenous literature through collaboration, particularly concerning Indigenous storytelling practices in Newfoundland and Labrador.
You can watch the full lecture here:
Dr. Bidwell began her academic career in English at Memorial University, where she used to write for The Muse herself!
She is currently a Full Professor of English at the University of Saskatchewan and is Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Storytelling. She has returned to the province with her family as this year’s Visiting Researcher at MUNL.
Dr. Nancy Pedri, the Head of Memorial’s English Department, introduced the event, discussing the ongoing legacy of the George Story Distinguished Lecture Series.
The series was founded in honour of George Story and has been an ongoing event since 1997 designed to “stimulate thought and foster excitement for all that has to do with the Humanities and Social Sciences.” Dr. Story was a member of Memorial’s former Department of English Language and Literature who was particularly interested in exploring Newfoundland and Labrador’s rich cultural and literary landscape.
As Dr. Pedri said, Dr. Bidwell’s lecture honoured this legacy wonderfully. Dr. Pedri then gave the floor to Catharyn Andersen, Memorial’s Vice-President (Indigenous), to formally introduce Dr. Bidwell.
Bidwell is a member of NunatuKavut, an Inuit community in Southern and Central Labrador. Although she did not grow up speaking her Indigenous language, Inuktitut, she recently took a course in this language at Memorial. She opened her lecture with an introduction to Inuktitut.
Countering the “story of absence.”
Dr. Bidwell commented on George Story’s legacy and the cultural renaissance in Newfoundland and Labrador and explained that a similar movement is happening with Indigenous voices in the province. Her lecture strove to challenge the “story of Indigenous absence” in the province since Confederation. This “story” refers to the persistent narrative that Indigenous peoples in Newfoundland and Labrador are dying out.
This misleading narrative is by no means unique to this province. It can be found across Canada and, more broadly, the entire colonial world. Dr. Bidwell explained that this absence story serves to justify taking Indigenous land and softening the dark colonial legacy. However, this narrative must represent the truth about Indigenous presence in the country or the province.
As Dr. Bidwell summarized, Indigenous people “were supposed to have disappeared, but they are still here.” There are still many strong Indigenous communities throughout the province and the country that are hard at work to protect and promote their diverse cultures.
Nevertheless, because of the persistence of the narrative of Indigenous absence, these communities must continue to fight for political recognition and repair the fractures their attempted erasure caused within their communities.
This is particularly true for Indigenous communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, who are often left out of Indigenous discussions and whose literature has a different kind of readership and recognition granted to the rest of the country. But, as Dr. Bidwell attests, the Indigenous peoples of Newfoundland and Labrador are still here too.
The importance of collaboration
Dr. Bidwell’s lecture emphasized the importance of collaboration among Indigenous groups and individuals and between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. She discussed how these kinds of collaboration are necessary to correct the false representations of Indigenous presence that have dominated the province’s historical narrative for too long.
As she pointed out, collaboration allows people to tell a more powerful story about Indigenous presence than any one person can on their own. She quoted Métis writer Maria Campbell on this subject, who said, “We all have a piece of the puzzle” to share when it comes to representing the whole of Indigenous culture, literature, and history.
As an example of collaboration in her lecture, Dr. Bidwell drew from several books by Indigenous writers and artists to support her discussion. She frequently references local Indigenous literature like My Indian by Saqamaw Mi’sel Joe and Sheila O’Neil—both of whom were in attendance at the lecture—and Pam Hall and Jerry Evan’s Miawpukek—The Middle River, Nitinikiau Innusi’s I Keep the Land Alive. Shannon Webb-Campbell’s I Am a Body of Land.
The future of Indigenous literature
Bidwell says much has changed for the better at MUNL and throughout the province. She shared that although she has always been aware of her Indigenous heritage, she did not learn much about this culture growing up in St. John’s as it was not a topic focused on in her schools or even at the University. Dr. Bidwell had to leave the province to pursue her career in Indigenous studies.
However, there are more opportunities to learn about Indigenous culture and history in Newfoundland and Labrador. She listed examples of this kind of positive change within the MUNL community, such as the University’s Indigenous professors, its Indigenous Student Resource Centre, Juniper House, and even her lecture.
Yet, as she elaborated, there is still a lot of work left to do about supporting teachers to bring Indigenous stories and voices into the classroom. As one example, Dr. Bidwell addressed that MUNL has implemented new policies to prohibit unethical and harmful collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars. Bidwell says these policies are a good start, but they need to offer more guidance about conducting productive and meaningful collaboration with members of Indigenous communities. As a result, she and her colleagues are working on a project to fill this void by compiling and outlining some good collaborative practices.
Furthermore, as Dr. Bidwell’s lecture highlighted, the province still has a long way to go in ensuring that its Indigenous literature receives the recognition it deserves. Fortunately, discussions like Dr. Bidwell’s lecture drew attention to what she referred to as “a great opportunity to amplify Indigenous voices from Newfoundland and Labrador, to see them more written, more published, more read, more taught, and more studied.”
Dr. Bidwell also highlighted the importance of encouraging Indigenous writers to share their stories so that there is more literature—whether in print or other forms—to read, study, and enjoy. She concluded her lecture by quoting Chief Mi’sel Joe on this topic and how important it is “that more and more Indigenous people start to take up [the] pen” to share their history and stories from their perspectives.
