On June 4th, Anne Donaldson of the Storytellers’ Foundation facilitated a “Story Shifters Lab” at the University of Victoria. Leaders and funders in watershed governance came together to explore how their personal stories (and the public narratives we hear) work to recreate colonial attitudes, laws, and policy in Canada. The lab provided a space to analyze and question difficult, emotionally-charged, real-life issues. Participants unpacked their roles in current colonial practices as they seek to work respectfully and effectively as non-Indigenous agents of power and change in a context that is still heavily laden with colonial legacy. The lab was organized by Ivan Thompson of Tides Canada with support from POLIS, and POLIS’ Rosie Simms, Kelly Bannister, and Oliver M. Brandes all participated.
Oliver M. Brandes locates his personal ancestry in a collective mapping exercise as part of the Story Shifters Lab.
