I collaborate on parts of this research with Co-Mentors
Here is some background on what co-mentorship is:
Co-Mentorship is a term that describes what happens when two people decide to learn from each other. This term is a bit different that "mentorship" which usually means one person is teaching another person. In co-mentorship the relationship goes two ways. Usually mentorship is different than other forms of learning because it can take place outside of formal places and structures of learning, and because it is dependent on the relationships between the learners.
"Our version of two-way mentoring relationship resides in the recognition that First Nations perspectives do not see the personal as separate from the professional. In the Indigenous relational worldview people are seen as a whole because, as Kath says, when the humanness is taken out of the equation that's when wrong decisions are made."
"co-mentoring implies that Indigenous people do not necessarily desire to adopt the positions that traditional non-indigenous academic mentorship may open for them, and that Indigenous participants in co-mentorship bring just as much, if not more, expertise to the relationship."
Here is information about the project Co-Mentors
The individuals listed below are currently choosing to collaborate with me to explore museums archives and historic spaces. They are paid for their work through a grant that they applied for and which is administered by Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth. Their pay is separate from the research, and they can continue to do this work and be paid for it regardless of if they decide to continue collaborating with and mentoring me (Amanda). They are all members of the Stoney Nakoda Nation at Mînîthnî (Morley) Alberta. Each storyteller has an area of interest listed as their point of entry to this project, but their interests and explorations may change and grow throughout their research.
