This presentation provides an overview of the Collaborative Story Mapping with Urban Residential School Survivors SSHRC-funded project to map narrative in a way that can meaningfully involve authors in mapping their own stories. This project revolves around a chapter published in Did You See Us? Reunion, Remembrance, and Reclamation at an Urban Indian Residential School, and extends in a new direction from previous research, including work under the Residential Schools Land Memory Mapping Project (2015-2020). More recent work under a SSHRC PEG-JI (Residential Schools) grant in partnership with the Assiniboia Residential School Legacy Group (the Group) resulted in the development of a prototype map-based website to present and archive a story told by the Late Theodore Fontaine (co-founder of the Group) in chapter 2 of the book. Whereas Theodore’s story was quite explicitly tied to the land and a journey over it, with events occurring in chronological order in a relatively short time frame, other chapters in the book reflect longer time frames and broader geographies. A good example is chapter six by Elder Mabel Horton (co-president of the Group), which also includes reflections not explicitly linked to geographical locations. The project includes working with Elder Mabel on mapping her story, and providing her with an opportunity to reflect further and to embellish where and how she wishes, while also learning about the mapping platform. This project is relevant to the Group’s educational, healing, commemoration, and reconciliation objectives, which include sharing knowledge of the Assiniboia Residential School Legacy with students and the broader public through innovative map-based approaches to documenting, archiving and presenting the knowledge of its members.
1125 Colonel By Dr
Ottawa ON K1S 5B6
Canada