Working on a participatory arts project with former child soldiers and young survivors of conflict in Colombia’s indigenous Nasa community led to the development of an alternative to the qualitative interview, which we call ‘storylistening’. Storylistening is a methodology for peacebuilding that took shape within a narrative based culture and embraces the importance of acknowledging the everyday, as perceived and lived by young indigenous people. Within the context of conflict and reintegrating former child soldiers, storylistening emerged from a strong oral storytelling tradition to offer a dynamic and local approach to peacebuilding. This methodology shaped the production of an animated documentary, El árbol del amor (The Tree of Love), which explores the world of forced recruitment and child soldiering. The storylistening concept contains elements of auto/biography, in that it engages with memory and identity, where space and time are important. Based on Durkheimian notions of the socioemotional, storylistening shows how sharing emotions contributes to creating, maintaining and strengthening social bonds that can inspire change. It is an active process and has a shared impact on the ‘listener’ and the ‘teller’, whereas storytelling is an individual process that does not always carry the guarantee of being listened to. For the individual, storylistening offers the potential of catharsis, while for the community, it offers the opportunity for collective reflection. In the particular case of former child soldiers, storylistening engenders effective reintegration and more broadly fosters reconciliation, which underpins peacebuilding at the community level.
Colombia, child soldiers, storylistening, peacebuilding, community narrative
Robyn Williams (Noongar), Francine Eades (Noongar), Justine Whitby (Noongar Yamatji), Katiska Davis (Noongar), Christopher McKay (Wiradjuri), Lina Gubhaju, Sandra Eades (Noongar)
2024 | Australia
Indigenous research frameworks are key to enhancing cultural safety for participants, while facilitating capacity building for Indigenous researchers. Indigenous frameworks can address and balance out the potential harms of western research methods. This methodology article describes the experiences of an Indigenous research team in Western Australia (WA) and the developed…
Donna LM Kurtz, Julianne Barry, Peter Hutchinson, Karlyn Olsen, Diana Moar, Rosanna McGregor, Edna Terbasket, Carol Camille, Arlene Vrtar-Huot, Mary Cutts, Kelsey Darnay, Haley Cundy, Mariko Kage, Nikki McCrimmon, Cal Albright, Charlotte Jones
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Indigenous methodology is a living methodology of doing research in a good way that honours respectful relationships with Indigenous Peoples and communities in which knowledge is co-created and ownership is shared. Guided by Indigenous methodologies, the Urban Indigenous Collective Governance Circle was co-developed for urban Indigenous health research. The Collective…
Adrian Teare, Anne Mease, Claudia Madampage, Alexandra King, Malcolm King
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Historically, research partnerships between Indigenous communities and academic institutions were often harmful for communities; wise ways of achieving more balanced and just relationships are emerging. This project focuses on the research partnership between Grandmother’s Bay and the University of Saskatchewan with the objectives of providing knowledge on initiating Indigenous community-based…
Ranjan Datta, Teena Starlight (Tsuut’ina First Nation), Daniel Craig Mistaken (Kainai First Nation)
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In this article, we explore the importance of incorporating Indigenous Elders’ perspectives in developing solutions to climate change. Following relational land-based theoretical frameworks, we learn from Indigenous Elders how they foster a strong sense of community and collective responsibility. Indigenous Elders prioritize inclusivity, social cohesion, and the interconnectedness of humans…
Robyn Williams (Noongar), Francine Eades (Noongar), Justine Whitby (Noongar Yamatji), Katiska Davis (Noongar), Christopher McKay (Wiradjuri), Lina Gubhaju, Sandra Eades (Noongar)
2024 | Australia
Indigenous research frameworks are key to enhancing cultural safety for participants, while facilitating capacity building for Indigenous researchers. Indigenous frameworks can address and balance out the potential harms of western research methods. This methodology article describes the experiences of an Indigenous research team in Western Australia (WA) and the developed…
Donna LM Kurtz, Julianne Barry, Peter Hutchinson, Karlyn Olsen, Diana Moar, Rosanna McGregor, Edna Terbasket, Carol Camille, Arlene Vrtar-Huot, Mary Cutts, Kelsey Darnay, Haley Cundy, Mariko Kage, Nikki McCrimmon, Cal Albright, Charlotte Jones
2024 | Canada
Indigenous methodology is a living methodology of doing research in a good way that honours respectful relationships with Indigenous Peoples and communities in which knowledge is co-created and ownership is shared. Guided by Indigenous methodologies, the Urban Indigenous Collective Governance Circle was co-developed for urban Indigenous health research. The Collective…
Adrian Teare, Anne Mease, Claudia Madampage, Alexandra King, Malcolm King
2024 | Canada
Historically, research partnerships between Indigenous communities and academic institutions were often harmful for communities; wise ways of achieving more balanced and just relationships are emerging. This project focuses on the research partnership between Grandmother’s Bay and the University of Saskatchewan with the objectives of providing knowledge on initiating Indigenous community-based…
Ranjan Datta, Teena Starlight (Tsuut’ina First Nation), Daniel Craig Mistaken (Kainai First Nation)
2024 | Canada
In this article, we explore the importance of incorporating Indigenous Elders’ perspectives in developing solutions to climate change. Following relational land-based theoretical frameworks, we learn from Indigenous Elders how they foster a strong sense of community and collective responsibility. Indigenous Elders prioritize inclusivity, social cohesion, and the interconnectedness of humans…
