Who am I?

 

 

If we choose to try to understand and sensibly appreciate Aboriginal culture, way of life, and spirituality, we must be willing, first, to accept that there is...a very special way of ‘seeing the world’. Secondly...we must make an attempt to ‘participate’ in this way of seeing. The implications are very serious. Quite simply, if we are not willing to consider another way of ‘seeing the world’ and take it seriously, we limit ourselves critically, or eliminate entirely our chances of ever really appreciated North American Aboriginal mythology and legend.
                     

James Dumont (1976)

 

My name is Rebecca - a settler (non-Aboriginal) and midwifery student of the University of British Columbia. I found the quote above during the early stages of my research for this work. It was a very humbling reminder for me that I, as a settler, would need to be completely open to this learning process and what knowledge I might find. And so, my aim for this work was to help both myself and others gain insight into the way of ‘seeing the world’ that belongs to Aboriginal peoples. I understand that it may seem rather controversial that, as a settler, I would attempt to provide on an opinion on a culture that is not my own. Please know that this information is by no way exhaustive; the relationships and traditions are much more complicated than represented through this work. I provide this information with humility and respect,  in order to help each of us to better understand the nature of traditional Aboriginal maternity care within Canada, and the foundation from which it first flourished. 

 

 

 

Dumont, J. (1976). Journey Through the Daylight-land: Through Ojibwa Eyes. Laurentian University Review, 8(2), 31-43.