Amplifying Urban Indigenous Stories in Saskatoon and St. John's through Indigenous-led Partnerships

Our goal as a research network is to use storytelling methodologies to recover and reclaim urban Indigenous histories. Through research grounded in Indigenous voices, knowledges, and stories, the project explores what reconciliation means for Métis living in Saskatoon and for the urban Indigenous community in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Directly responding to community and scholarly calls, the network endeavours to show how a practice centred on Indigenous storytelling can decentre settler narratives of belonging, ownership, and reconciliation, while testing their methodology in two distinct communities - the cities of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

This broad Indigenous-led network includes: 3 Indigenous Community Organizations; 1 Indigenous-led arts organization; 2 universities; and a team of over 30 scholars, storytellers, and students. This team seeks to develop a methodology that will significantly fuel and enable reconciliation in other cities as well.

Goals & Outcomes

  • Connect the two cities by building robust Indigenous-led networks of mentorship, support, and collaboration
  • Research stories of continued Indigenous presence in these two cities building a public narrative of these places as always having been and continuing to be Indigenous
  • Create new stories of urban Indigenous histories and futures by collaborating with and supporting contemporary urban Indigenous storytellers and artists
  • Amplify both new and researched stories through various forms of public dissemination to promote an expansive form of reconciliation that is grounded in Indigenous voices, knowledges, and stories

Who's Involved

Kristina Fagan Bidwell

Principal Investigator & Project Director

Adar Charlton

Project Coordinator - wish.coordinator@usask.ca

Community Partners

First Light, St. John's Friendship Centre

https://firstlightnl.ca

Chad Bedard, Justin Campbell

Gabriel Dumont Local #11

https://www.facebook.com/gdlocal11

Wilfred Burton, Nora Cummings

Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research

https://gdins.org

Karon Shmon, David Morin, Darren Prefontaine

Saskatchewan Ânskohk Writers' Circle Inc. (SAWCI)

https://sawci.ca

Rita Bouvier

University Partners & Researchers

University of Saskatchewan

https://www.usask.ca

Jade McDougall, Jennifer Hunnef, Allyson Stevenson, Cheryl Troupe

Students & Postdoctoral Fellows

Olivia Abram, Arin Bear, Chelsea Belcourt, Rhianne Billard, Taryn Goff, Jessica Jack, Isabelle Loranger, Joshua Smith

Memorial University of Newfoundland

https://www.mun.ca

Rochelle Côté, Michaela Doucette, Matthew Milner, Michelle Porter, Andrea Procter

Students & Postdoctoral Fellows

Jared Hogan, Keona Russell, Julia Stryker, Emilia Terra

Other Universities

Shannon Webb-Campbell, Lakehead University

WISH Team Meeting, Saskatchewan 2025

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