New Métis Journal To Be Released
Dr. Lucy Fowler, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education, is one of the founders of Pawaatamihk and part of the journal’s Circle of Editors. Pawaatamihk presents as an “opportunity to connect to our shared pasts as Métis peoples, including honouring our ancestors and living relatives whose hard work and dreams have paved the way for our thinking today,” the Circle of Editors explain on the journal website.
A collaboration between Métis scholars in Winnipeg and across the prairies, Pawaatamihk is an open-access journal that showcases Métis thought inside the academy and in community, with sections dedicated to Community Stories, Poetry, and Visual Culture, as well as Book Reviews and Scholarly Papers. This is the first nation-specific journal in Canada, made up of Métis authors, reviewers, editors, graphic designers, and copy editors.
For Dr. Fowler, the journal is a labour of love. “We came together as Métis women and Two-Spirit people to create something that honoured our ways of being,” said Dr. Fowler. “In the fiercely competitive world of academia, we wanted to show that we can uplift our people’s voices and showcase Métis brilliance, while maintaining strong academic rigour and standards that are expected in scholarly publications.”
The name Pawaatamihk was gifted by Métis Elder Verna DeMontigny and translates loosely from Michif and Ininimowin to “a group of people dreaming.” Created out of the collective dreams of a Circle of Editors made up entirely of Métis women, Pawaatamihk looks to carve out academic space dedicated to lifting up Métis voices, stories, and research. The Circle of Editors welcomes submissions for the next issue, with a submission deadline of November 3, 2023 for consideration in the next issue.