Kokums to the Iskwêsisisak

COVID-19 and Urban Métis Girls and Young Women

in Girlhood Studies
Author:
Carly Jones School of Social Work, University of Victoria, Canada carlyrjones@uvic.ca

Search for other papers by Carly Jones in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8445-7494
,
Renée Monchalin School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria, Canada rmonchalin@uvic.ca

Search for other papers by Renée Monchalin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3676-1405
,
Cheryllee Bourgeois Seventh Generation Midwives Toronto and Midwifery Education Program, Ryerson University, Canada cbourgeois@sgmt.ca

Search for other papers by Cheryllee Bourgeois in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
, and
Janet Smylie Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, and Well Living House, Canada janet.smylie@utoronto.ca

Search for other papers by Janet Smylie in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2020.130309
Keywords:
Call Auntie Hotline; colonization; cultural knowledge; health access; matrilineal kinship; public health; Well Living House
Restricted access
USD  $22.00
Click here to view the full Terms and Conditions

All currencies in US Dollar

PayPal Logo

Abstract

The national COVID-19 pandemic response presents a sharp contrast to the matrilineal social kinship and knowledge exchange systems that Métis women and girls rely on for safety, security, and wellbeing. In this article, we demonstrate that while Métis women and girls have been left out of the national pandemic response, they continue to carry intergenerational healing knowledges that have been passed down from the kokums (grandmas) to the iskwêsisisak (girls). We show how urban Métis girls and women are both managing and tackling COVID-19 through innovative and community-based initiatives like Well Living House and the Call Auntie Hotline.

Contributor Notes

Carly Jones (ORCID: 0000-0001-8445-7494) is Métis and Ukranian. She is a master's candidate in the School of Social of Work at the University of Victoria. Email: carlyrjones@uvic.ca

Renée Monchalin (ORCID: 0000-0002-3676-1405) is Scottish, Anishnaabe, Métis, and French. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria. Email: rmonchalin@uvic.ca

Cheryllee Bourgeois is Cree and Métis. She is a midwife and co-founder of Seventh Generation Midwives Toronto and a Faculty Member in the Midwifery Education Program at Ryerson University. Email: cbourgeois@sgmt.ca

Janet Smylie is Cree and Métis. She is a Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at University of Toronto and the Director of the Well Living House. Email: janet.smylie@utoronto.ca

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Girlhood Studies

An Interdisciplinary Journal

Cover Girlhood Studies
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
17
Keywords:
Call Auntie Hotline; colonization; cultural knowledge; health access; matrilineal kinship; public health; Well Living House
Print Publication Date:
01 Dec 2020
Online Publication Date:
01 Dec 2020
Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020

  • Anderson, Kim. 2008. “Notokwe Opikiheet-”Old-Lady Raised”: Aboriginal Women's Reflections on Ethics and Methodologies in Health Research.” Canadian Woman Studies 26 (3/4). https://www.academia.edu/39532663/Notokwe_Opikiheet_Old_Lady_Raised_Aboriginal_Women_s_Reflections_on_Ethics_and_Methodologies_in_Health_Research

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Anderson, Kim. 2011. Life Stages and Native Women: Memory, Teachings, and Story Medicine. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.

  • B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth. 2016. “Last Resort: One Family's Tragic Struggle to Find Help for Their Son.” https://rcybc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rcy-lastresort-oct2016_final.pdf.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth. 2017. “Broken Promises: Alex's Story.” https://rcybc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rcy-brokenpromises-alexsstory-feb2017-lo_web-2.pdf

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth. 2020. “Invisible Children: A Descriptive Analysis of Injury and Death Reports for Métis Children and Youth in British Columbia, 2015 to 2017.” https://rcybc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RCY_Métis-InvisibleChildren_July2020_FINAL.pdf

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bourassa, Carrie. 2011. Metis Health: The Invisible Problem. Vernon: JCharlton Publishing.

  • Burnett, Kristin. 2010. Taking Medicine: Women's Healing Work and Colonial Contact in Southern Alberta, 1880–1930. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Campbell, Maria. 1972. Halfbreed Woman: Unpublished. McClelland and Stewart Ltd. Fonds., William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University Library, Series X, Manuscript Inventory.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Campbell, Maria. 1973. Halfbreed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

  • Chartrand, Larry. 2011. “Maskikiwenow: The Métis Right to Health under the Constitution of Canada and under Selected International Human Rights Obligations.” Ottawa: National Aboriginal Health Organization.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Daschuk, James W. 2019. Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life. Regina: University of Regina Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Deer, Jessica. 2020. “Métis Doctor Tapped to Help Analyze Data Gaps in Counting Indigenous COVID-19 Cases.” CBC News, 14 May.

  • Desmarais, D. 2017. “Spare a Thought for Metis Women Elders: Illness and Poverty in Elderhood.” In Making Space for Indigenous Feminism (2nd ed.), ed. Joyce Green, 192–210. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Driedger, S. Michelle, Ryan Maier, Chris Furgal, and Cindy Jardine. “Factors Influencing H1N1 Vaccine Behavior among Manitoba Metis in Canada: A Qualitative Study.” BMC Public Health 15 (1) 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1482-2.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dyck, Miranda. n.d. “Social Determinants of Métis Health.” Ottawa: National Aboriginal Health Organization.

  • Dyck, Miranda. 2019. “Healthy Messages & Métis: Does One Size Fit All? A Look at Specificity, Identity, and Cultural Safety for Métis Women in British Columbia.” Ottawa: National Aboriginal Health Organization.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Evans, Mike, Chris Andersen, Devin Dietrich, Carrie Bourassa, Tricia Logan, Lawrence Berg, and Elizabeth Devolder. 2012. “Funding and Ethics in Métis Community Based Research: The Complications of a Contemporary Context.” International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies 5 (1): 54–66.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fast, Elizabeth. 2017. “Hello … We're Metis!!: Promoting Metis Visibility in the Quebec Child Welfare System.” In Calling Our Families Home: Metis Peoples’ Experiences with Child Welfare, ed. Jeannine Carriere and Cathy Richardson, 135–150. Vernon: JCharlton Publishing.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fiola, Chantal. 2015. Rekindling the Sacred Fire: Metis Ancestry and Anishnaabe Spirituality. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.

  • Flaminio, Anna Corrigal, Janice Cindy Gaudet, and Leah Marie Dorion. 2020. “Métis Women Gathering: Visiting Together and Voicing Wellness for Ourselves.” AlterNative 16 (1): 55–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180120903499

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gaudet, Janice Cindy. 2019. “Keeoukaywin: The Visiting Way—Fostering an Indigenous Research Methodology.” Aboriginal Policy Studies 7 (2): 47–64.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Goodyear, Sheena. (2018). Maria Campbell's Account of being Raped by a Mountie was Scrubbed from her Memoir Halfbreed. CBC News, 1 June.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • David Hains, and Jessica Smith Cross. 2020. “Community Spread of COVID-19 Has Stopped among Much of Privileged Toronto, Analysis Shows—QP Briefing” QP Briefing, 18 June. https://www.qpbriefing.com/2020/06/18/community-spread-of-covid-19-has-stopped-among-much-of-privileged-toronto-analysis-shows/

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kermoal, Nathalie. 2016. “Metis Women's Environmental Knowledge and the Recognition of Metis Rights.” In Living on the Land: Indigenous Women's Understanding of Place, ed.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Nathalie Kermoal and Isabel Altamirano-Jimenez, 107–138. Edmonton: AU Press, Athabasca University.

  • Kumar, Mohan B, Sonia Wesche, and Conor Mcguire. 2012. “Trends in Métis-Related Health Research (1980–2009): Identification of Research Gaps.” Canadian Journal of Public Health 103 (1): 23–28.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • LaRocque, Emma. 2007. “Metis and Feminist: Ethical Reflections on Feminism, Human Rights and Decolonization.” In Making Space for Indigenous Feminism, ed. Joyce Green, 53–71. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak – Women of the Métis Nation. 2017. Women of the Métis Nation Perspectives. https://en2.metiswomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Women-of-the-Metis-Nation-Perspectives-2017-copy.pdf

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak – Women of the Métis Nation. 2020. Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak Calls for Gendered Lens in COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/les-femmes-michif-otipemisiwak-calls-for-gendered-lens-in-covid-19-economic-response-plan-801423454.html

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Macdougall, Brenda. 2017. Land, Family and Identity: Contextualizing Metis Health and Well-Being. Prince George: National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Maud, Velvet. 2013. “Perceptions of the Metis and Tuberculosis: An Examination of Historical Works.” Canadian Journal of Native Studies 33 (2): 55–70.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Minosh, Kai. 2017. “My Grandmother Is Metis History.” Red Rising Magazine, 2 January.

  • Monchalin, Renee. 2019. “Digging up the Medicines: Urban Metis Women's Identity and Experiences with Health and Social Services in Toronto, Ontario (PhD. Diss., University of Toronto.)

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Monchalin, Renee, Janet Smylie, and Lindsay Dupre. 2020. “‘I Just Have This Feeling of Unsafeness in a Health Care Setting’: Patriarchy and the Impact on Urban Métis Women's Access to Health and Social Services in Toronto, Ontario.” In Speaking the Wisdom of Our Time, ed. Cathy Richardson and Jeannine Carrière, 147–163. Vernon: JCharlton Publishing.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Monchalin, Renée, Janet Smylie, and Earl Nowgesic. 2020. “‘I Guess I Shouldn't Come Back Here’: Racism and Discrimination as a Barrier to Accessing Health and Social Services for Urban Métis Women in Toronto, Canada.” Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 7 (2): 251–261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-019-00653-1

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 2019. Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Ottawa: Government of Canada. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ning, Ashley, and Kathi Wilson. 2012. “A Research Review: Exploring the Health of Canada's Aboriginal Youth.” International Journal of Circumpolar Health 71 (1). https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v71i0.18497.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Richardson, Cathy. 2012. “Witnessing Life Transitions with Ritual and Ceremony in Family Therapy: Three Examples from a Métis Therapist.” Journal of Systemic Therapies 31 (3): 68–78.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Russell, Susan. 2020. “Community Inquires and MCFD Answers— COVID19 Supports.” https://www.fosteringchange.ca/community_inquires_and_mcfd_answers.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sharp, Alastair. 2020. “A Spike in Domestic Violence Happening in Toronto due to COVID-19 Experts Say.” Canada's National Observer, 28 April.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sistovaris, Marina, Barbara Fallon, Steven Miller, Catherine Birken, Avram Denburg, Jennifer Jenkins … and Suzanne Stewart. 2020. “Child Welfare and Pandemics Information Sheet.” Toronto: University of Toronto, Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development. https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/Child%20Welfare%20and%20Pandemics%20Information%20Sheet_ENGLISH.pdf

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Skye, Courtney. 2020. “Colonialism of the Curve: Indigenous Communities & Bad Covid Data” Toronto: Yellowhead Institute.

  • Smith, Annie, Colleen Poon, Samantha Martin-Ferris, Kate Beggs, and McCreary Centre Society. 2019. “Ta Saantii Deu/Neso: A Profile of Métis Youth Health in BC.” Vancouver: McCreary Centre Society. www.mcs.bc.ca.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Smylie, Janet. 2008. “Resisting Exclusion: Using Culture to Share Health Information among Metis in Ottawa.” In Canadian Institutes of Health Research, (Ed), Knowledge to Action: A Knowledge Translation Casebook (pp.39–42). Ottawa: Canadian Institutes of Health Research. https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/documents/kt_casebook_e.pdf.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Smylie, Janet, Nili Kaplan-Myrth, and Kelly McShane. 2009. “Indigenous Knowledge Translation: Baseline Findings in a Qualitative Study of the Pathways of Health Knowledge in Three Indigenous Communities in Canada.” Health Promotion Practice 10 (3): 436–446. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839907307993

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Starblanket, Gina, and Dallas Hunt. 2020. “Whither the Medicine Chest? COVID-19 and the Histories and Contemporary Realities of Colonial Violence.” In Sick of the System: Why the COVID-19 Recovery Must Be Revolutionary, ed. BTL Editorial Committee, 61–78. Toronto: Between the Lines.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Starkes, Jill M, Lola T Baydala, Canadian Pediatrics Society, and Inuit and Métis Health Committee First Nations. 2014. “Health Research Involving First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children and Their Communities.” Ottawa: Canadian Pediatrics Society.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Statistics Canada. 2016. “Diverse Family Characteristics of Aboriginal Children Aged 0 to 4 Census in Brief.” www.statcan.gc.ca.

  • Statistics Canada. 2017. “Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: Key Results from the 2016 Census.” Statistics Canada. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/171025/dq171025a-eng.htm.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Tait, Caroline. 2009. “Is Canada failing Métis Children? An Examination of the Challenges and Barriers to Improved Health.” Canadian Supplement to The State of the World's Children 2009: Aboriginal Children's Health: Leaving no Child behind, 30–36. Ottawa: Unicef Canada.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Tait, Caroline, Robert Henry, and Rachel Loewen Walker. 2013. Child Welfare: A Social Determinant of Health for Canadian First Nations and Métis Children. Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health, 11 (1), 39–53. http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • United Nations. 2020. “Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Children.” United Nations Sustainable Development Group. https://unsdg.un.org/resources/policy-brief-impact-covid-19-children.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Well Living House. 2020. “COVID-19 Information.” Toronto: Well Living House. http://www.welllivinghouse.com/resources/covid-19-information/

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Women of the Metis Nation. 2007. “Policy Paper on Violence Against Metis Women.” https://en2.metiswomen.org/researchandtoolkits/

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 3672 1995 91
Full Text Views 1066 18 1
PDF Downloads 711 27 0