Urban indigenous cultural productions in Quebec: Vital connections to cultural reconstruction

• Published in: AlterNative : an international journal of indigenous peoples Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 89 - 97
• Main Authors: Guimont Marceau, Stéphane, Gaudet, Janice Cindy, Audet, Véronique, Parent, Marie-Josée, Lumsden, Mélanie, Abitbol, Jonathan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.06.2017
• Subjects: Art and popular culture; Government relations; Indigenous peoples; Methodology; Urban policy; Quebec; Quebec urban Indigenous; Quebec–Indigenous relations; cultural reconstruction; Indigenous research methodology; Indigenous cultural productions
• ISSN: 1177-1801; 1174-1740
• DOI: 10.1177/1177180117701026

This article aims to address a gap in research regarding the dynamics that underpin Indigenous cultural productions in urban areas in Quebec (Canada), to gain an understanding of conditions, practices and relationships surrounding urban Indigenous cultural productions, and to examine their role in cultural reconstruction. The research findings point to how urban Indigenous cultural productions are vital to the survival and reconstruction of Indigenous cultures and identities. Interviews and sharing circles with cultural producers stressed that cultural productions are much more than products. They are a way of life and a way of thinking and being. The research was conducted from August 2015 to April 2016 by an urban Indigenous organization, DestiNATIONS: Carrefour International of Indigenous Arts and Cultures. It involved an intercultural and interdisciplinary research team guided by an Indigenous research methodology. We drew inspiration from the wisdom of close to a 100 cultural producers concerning their cultural productions.