When Deidre Lavallee-Tootoosis signed up for Coady Institute’s Indigenous Women in Community Leadership (IWCL) course, she thought it would be about “hard skills” like project management and facilitation. When she arrived, however, she was surprised about what the course ended up teaching her.
“I had no idea it was like a whole worldview change; I think so differently now; my spirit was awakened from the experience,” Deidre says.
It was like a whole worldview change. I think so differently now. My spirit was awakened from the experience. I feel like I can be a different person.
IWCL is a part of the Circle of Abundance and a participatory learning experience for Indigenous women nationwide to learn at Coady through the method of two-eyed seeing. The method is centred on Indigenous teachings, storytelling, and self-reflection and uses other outside tools and strategies that align with Indigenous practices.
Deidre began fully embracing her Indigenous identity in her early twenties but later fell out of touch with the community. For her IWCL project, she chose to take a personal journey of reconnection. She will learn about cultural teachings with the goal of sharing the knowledge through social media.
The holistic nature of IWCL and deep thinking allowed Deidre to explore her Indigenous identity further and decide how she wanted to move forward in life.
When she returned to the community following IWCL, Deidre went into ceremony, reflected on her time at IWCL, and decided that she wanted to reconnect with the community from a decade prior and share her Indigenous knowledge with her children and others.
“It has been an incredible experience re-aligning myself with Elders and Knowledge Keepers, immersing myself in the culture,” Deidre says. “I went to a sweat a couple of weeks ago, first time in 11 years, and it was just like I never left.”
Deidre has also participated in women’s drumming for the first time, attended a powwow, and started attending the weekly Wednesday smudge at her office.
(L to R) Liana Canzian, Heidi Abramyk, Deidre Lavallee-Tootoosis, Shawna H. Linklater
Since returning, Deidre has created a private YouTube channel to share reflections on experiences, hoping to inspire others on a similar journey. She also hopes that sharing the knowledge she is learning will make others feel prouder of their authentic selves.
“It’s been an amazing summer; I feel like I can be a different person.”
This month, the IWCL participants will meet in Alberta to share the progress they have made with their projects and to complete their certificates.