Living Indigenous Leadership: Native Narratives on Building Strong Communities

in the daily lives of Native peoples, research that will improve their

communities in meaningful and sustained ways. They also recognize that

long-lasting change depends on effective leadership.

Living Indigenous Leadership showcases innovative research

and leadership practices from diverse nations and tribes in Canada, the

United States, and New Zealand. The contributors use vibrant stories

and personal narratives to offer insights into the unique nature of

Indigenous leadership. These dynamic case studies reveal that Native

leaders, whether formal or informal, ground their work in embodied

concepts such as land, story, ancestors, and elders, concepts rarely

mentioned in mainstream studies of leadership. Indigenous leadership,

they show, finds its most powerful expression in collaboration, in the

teaching and example of Elders, and in community projects to promote

higher education, language revitalization, health care, and the

preservation of Indigenous arts.

This collection not only adds Indigenous methods to studies on

leadership, it also gives a voice to the wives, mothers, and

grandmothers who are using their knowledge to mend hearts and minds and

to build strong communities. Their personal stories and collective

knowledge will inspire further research and future generations.Carolyn Kenny is a professor of human development and

Indigenous studies at Antioch University.Tina Ngaroimata

Fraser, a Maori scholar, is an assistant professor in the

School of Education at the University of Northern British Columbia,

where she also teaches in the School of Nursing and in the First

Nations Studies program.

- Sheila Carr-Stewart, Professor, College of Education, University of Saskatchewan

communities in meaningful ways. They also recognize that long-lasting

change depends on effective leadership. This collection showcases

innovative research and leadership practices from diverse nations and

tribes in Canada, the United States, and New Zealand. The contributors

use storytelling to highlight the distinctive nature of Indigenous

leadership, which finds its most powerful expression in embodied

concepts such as land, story, ancestors, and elders. These vibrant

narratives give a voice to the wives, mothers, and grandmothers who are

using their knowledge to mend hearts and minds and to build strong

communities.

Verna J. Kirkness

Preface

Carolyn Kenny and Tina Ngaroimata Fraser

1 Liberating Leadership

Theory

Carolyn

Kenny

Part 1: Leadership, Native Style

2 Learning to Lead Kokum

Style: An Intergenerational Study of Eight First Nation Women

Yvonne G.

McLeod

3 Elders' Teachings

on Leadership: Leadership as Gift

Alannah Young Leon

4 Parental Involvement in

First Nations Communities: Towards a Paradigm Shift

Evelyn

Steinhauer

5 Skilay: Portrait of a

Haida Artist and Leader

Carolyn

Kenny (Nangx'aadasa'iid)

Part 2: Collaboration Is the Key

6 Indigenous Grandmas and

the Social Justice Movement

Raquel D.

Gutiérrez

7 Legacy of Leadership:

From Grandmother's Stories to Kapa Haka

Tina Ngaroimata

Fraser

8 The Four R's of

Leadership in Indigenous Language Revitalization

Stelómethet

Ethel B. Gardner

9 Transformation and

Indigenous Interconnections: Indigeneity, Leadership, and Higher

Education

Michelle

Pidgeon

10 Translating and Living Native

Values in Current Business, Global, and Indigenous Contexts

Gail

Cheney

11 Approaching Leadership through

Culture, Story, and Relationships

Michelle

Archuleta

Part 3: Healing and Perseverance

12 "We Want a Lifelong

Commitment, Not Just Sweet Words": Native Visions for Educational

Healing

Michelle M.

Jacob

13 And So I Turn to Rita:

Mi'kmaq Women, Community Action, Leadership, and Resilience

Patricia

Doyle-Bedwell

14 The Graceful War Dance: Engendering

American Indian Traditional Knowledge and Practice in Leadership

Annette

Squetimkin-Anquoe

15 Leaders Walking Backwards:

Aboriginal Male Ex-Gang Members' Perspectives and Experiences

Alanaise

Goodwill

Contributors

Index