Can I tell you something: Sewing, storytelling, and relational research with Indigenous women
The plan for my research explores how Inuit women in Nunatsiavut, Labrador experience connection, meaning, and wellbeing through sewing and land-based gatherings. Grounded in Indigenous research methodologies and relational accountability, the work centers sewing circles as culturally safe spaces of storytelling, knowledge and value sharing, and valuable peer support.
The research will take place through facilitated sewing circles held both in community and on Nunatsiavut Inuit homelands, in partnership with an Inuk Elder and knowledge holder, and Nunatsiavut Government. Sewing comes from generational knowledge that is passed down through women that leads to strengthened relationships, and overall collective wellness. Through shared conversation, storytelling, and sewing, the project documents how culturally grounded relational practices contribute to mental wellbeing and community connection.
Rather than focusing on deficits or crisis, this work highlights strengths already existing within Inuit communities. The findings will contribute to broader discussions surrounding Indigenous mental health, land-based approaches to wellness, peer support, and decolonizing research practices in northern and remote communities.
This project is co-funded in partnership with Mitacs and Indigenous Women’s Fund of Canada.
-
Jill Williams is an Inuk social worker, educator, and PhD student in Social Work at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She has worked in rural and northern Labrador communities for over 20 years in child welfare, mental health, and social work education. Her research focuses on Indigenous methodologies, relational accountability, land-based practices, and sewing as culturally grounded peer support and knowledge transmission. Through her work, Jill explores how Indigenous ways of knowing can strengthen community wellbeing and contribute to decolonizing social work research and practice.