b'BERRY MOONdeveloped into something that then makes a difference at theINDIGENOUS INSIGHTS AND MEASURING community level. That was my aha moment. For the first time,WHAT MATTERSRowe saw stories being taken seriously as evidence, not anecdotes.In 2020, Rowe completed her PhD. On paper, her trajectory Community voices were shaping program design, evaluation andinto a professorship looked almost guaranteed. But when she definitions of success. looked honestly at the toll university had taken on her health Following the advice of a mentor, Rowe then applied to theand spirit, she made a different decision, shifting to full-time University of Manitobas Master of Social Work program and wasconsulting work and launching her podcast, Indigenous Insights, accepted. Graduate school is not easy. I was often the only Firstin 2022. The podcast grew out of a longing to be back in a space Nations person in the classroom, Rowe says. At the same time, sheof storyand a desire to fill a gap, Rowe says. When she was a was raising three children and working full-time. Every degree shestudent, there were no courses on Indigenous evaluation, no earned took the maximum allowable time, but that time allowedaccessible stories about what it looks like in practice. I noticed something else to take root: Indigenous research methodologies.a gap and thought, what can I create so people coming after me Rowe began to lean into Indigenous ways of knowing, being andhave examples? she says.doing as the foundation of her work.Most of Rowes guests are Indigenous women, evaluators, BOXES DONT DEFINE YOU community leaders and scholars. They talk about how they came When it came time to pursue a PhD, Rowe chose Interdisciplinaryinto evaluation, what they have learned and what they want Studies. I like to say I chose interdisciplinary because boxes cantto leave for others. At the end of each season, Rowe records a hold me in, she shares. She started out interested in Indigenousreflection episode. I ask myself, how am I different because I womens leadership. At the same time, she was drawn to arts-basedheard these stories? she says. You cant say you didnt know methods, especially film, as a way of moving the story from theanymore. Once youve heard, you have to then do differently.page into peoples bodies and heartsa passion she inheritedAgain and again, Rowe returns to a simple truth: the stories we from her father, Michael Lawrenchuk, a vibrant storyteller, actor,tell matter. So often whats counted as evidence is stories that director and filmmaker. With colleagues, she co-created Stories ofdont include Indigenous peoples or communities or priorities, Decolonization, a film series about settlers relationships to decol- she says. Its time to tell new stories.onization in Canada, designed for social work classrooms.Over time, Rowes doctoral focus shifted towards Indigenous birthA MESSAGE FOR INDIGENOUS WOMENwork and back to child health. She reconnected with IndigenousRowe is clear about the challenges she has faced: imposter doulas she had worked with in Winnipeg, exploring how preg- syndrome, systemic racism, burnout and the pressure to be the nancy, birth and early childhood are sites of Indigenous resur- Indigenous voice in institutions not built for her. For young gence and community wellness. When the COVID-19 pandemicIndigenous women entering academia or systems-change work, made her methodology impossible, she had to change course quickly, without abandoning relationships or the core purpose ofshe offers a different story. I suffered for a very long time with the work. imposter syndrome, she says. I did not feel like I had anything to contribute, that my voice mattered. That is far from reality.Rowe turned instead to Indigenist poetic inquiry, a methodology that uses poetry to show how the researcher is changed by theRowes advice is simple yet radical: I enter my work from a place stories they hear. She takes inspiration from Cree scholar Shawnof love, she says. There is a balance between loving community Wilsons book Research Is Ceremony, in which he writes, If researchand loving yourselfespecially in helping professions, where doesnt change you, youre doing it wrong.giving can become endless and unpaid.For me, research is about listening to stories, Rowe says. BeingLoving ourselves so that we can give that love to community, in a deep listening and relational space that allows stories to shineshe adds. Thats the balance.through. Her dissertation became a series of poems that trace how birth workers stories transform her understanding of resurgence,For Rowe, that balance is held in kiskihitin: a reminder to show care and community. Rowe is now writing a book with Fernwoodup every day with love, in action, for the worlds she is helping Publishing that brings those stories of birth workers forward. to build. d Aboriginal Womens ndlanu Newfo twNe orkThe Newfoundland Aboriginal Womens NetworkSupporting & Empowering Indigenous Women& their Families since 2005.90 Main St, Stephenville, NL A2N 1J3Phone: 709-643-4563 | Email: nawn@nf.aibn.com Ontario Native Womens Association31'