Peyton Juhnke
- BPhil (University of New Brunswick, 2021)
Topic
Grounding Métis Resurgence in wâhkôhtowin: A Relational Approach to Reimagining Governance
School of Indigenous Governance
Date & location
- Tuesday, April 22, 2025
- 10:00 A.M.
- Clearihue Building, Room B021
Examining Committee
Supervisory Committee
- Dr. Gina Starblanket, School of Indigenous Governance, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
- Dr. Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, School of Indigenous Governance, UVic (Member)
External Examiner
- Dr. Rob Hancock, Department of Anthropology, UVic
Chair of Oral Examination
- Dr. Leanne Kelly, School of Nursing, UVic
Abstract
Research about Metis governance has predominantly focused on how it was shaped by Métis men, and our relationship with the settler state. As it stands currently, Métis political systems operate in a way that reflects those of colonial governments, often at the expense of our relational accountability to our First Nations kin, the land, and all her inhabitants. Through Métis approaches to visiting (Davey, 2023; Ferland, 2022; Gaudet, 2019; Flaminio, Gaudet & Dorion, 2020) and conversational methods of gathering knowledge (Absolon, 2022; Kovach, 2021; Windchief & San Pedro, 2019), this research aims to answer how Métis understandings of wâhkôhtowin can be applied to the (re)structuring of our self-governance using a Métis feminist lens, highlighting the significant and often overlooked social and political contributions of Métis women in the past and present. The themes drawn out from these visits highlight how we can reimagine our governance structure through matriarchal governance practices, a recentering of our responsibilities to all our relations grounded in our historic and ongoing relationship with the bison, and through operationalizing what wâhkôhtowin can look like in practice beyond colonial conceptualizations of time and physical space.