MORE THAN WORDS &
PATHWAYS2EQUITY YOUTH-LED, INDIGENOUS-FOCUSSED, ARTS-BASED ACTIVISM TO END VIOLENCE
Claudia Mitchell, Project Director claudia.mitchell@mcgill.ca Leann Brown, Project Coordinator leann.brown@mcgill.ca
January 2023 Greetings!
We hope 2023 is off to a great start for you and your organization. We are writing to share resources from More Than Words (MTW), a research project that uses art and intergenerational mentoring in the empowerment of Indigenous girls, young women, and LGBTQ2+ youth to address violence in their lives and communities. MORE THAN WORDS PROJECT & PROMISING PRACTICES More Than Words’ youth groups are using their training in arts-based methods, leadership and facilitation skills to build awareness of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and provide survivor support within their communities. Youth and adult allies involved in the project are building a Trail of Promising Practices to support community members and groups looking to implement similar work. The Trail is being developed into a comprehensive resource of tools which will be launched in the Fall of 2023. Today we are sharing just one part of the More Than Words Trail focused on Indigenous Authorship & Youth Storytelling. This is an important component that recognizes that youth voice, lived experience and reciprocity are at the heart of this work. INDIGENOUS AUTHORSHIP & YOUTH STORYTELLING PROMISING PRACTICE Attached you will find the first publication from Young Indigenous Women’s Utopia (YIWU), a MTW youth group based on Treaty 6 territory, the Traditional Homeland of the Métis in Saskatoon. YIWU was established in 2017 and now consists of 2 distinct generations of youth. Generation-1 are the founding members and produced their self-titled publication in 2019, sharing their lived experience and teachings of self-love and support survivors. Generation 1 have now become mentors and aunties to Generation-2 youth, who were invited into the circle in 2019. Together, both generations of YIWU produced the group's 2nd publication in 2022 ‘KÎYÂNAW OCÊPIHK’ sharing stories through words and pictures, chronicling the journey of the youth group. This second book is available in print only.