NOTE: Brock University announced the creation of its Indigenous Research Grant in 2021. This is one in a series of articles profiling the research of the 2024 recipients of this yearly internal award. Read more on the series on The Brock News.

Every Ribbon Skirt tells a story, capturing the life, community and experiences of the woman who wears it.

“The Ribbon Skirt has emerged as a symbol of identity and a way for us to reclaim our identity,” says Assistant Professor of Educational Studies Jeannie Martin, who is from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, Mohawk Nation, Wolf clan. “It is very much about empowerment.”

Martin is one of three Indigenous Educational Studies programs faculty members examining the teachings of the Ribbon Skirt. The group is partnering with the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre on their research.

Leading the “Standing Strong with our Sisters” project is Assistant Professor Sherri Vansickle, who is from the Onondaga Nation, Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Professor Sheila Cote-Meek, who comes from the Teme-Augama Anishnabai and is a member of the Temagami First Nation, is also on the team.

Central to the project are workshops Vansickle and Martin will lead with 20 women at the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre.

Initially, the workshops will explore participants’ existing knowledge of the Ribbon Skirt and share teachings about the skirt’s meanings.

Included in those gatherings will be a guest speaker discussing the Calls for Justice section of the Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The workshops will then enable participants to make their own Ribbon Skirt.

“The project came about after consulting with community members, who told us they would like to make Ribbon Skirts that they can wear to public events, powwows and to ceremony,” says Vansickle.

A tailor from Six Nations will work with participants as they select their choice of floral and print materials and ribbons.

After the Skirts are made, the research team will discuss with participants what they learned about the Ribbon Skirts, their Indigenous identity and the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls report.

During the workshops, participants will also be supplied with cameras to take photos of their experiences making their Ribbon Skirt.

The photos will be assembled into a “how to” manual, kept at the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, that enables this knowledge to be passed down “person to person, generation to generation, community to community,” says Martin.

Cote-Meek says the team’s research process is based on following the principles of OCAP, which stands for ownership, control, access and possession.

“One of the things that’s critical with Indigenous research is that there has to be a relationship built with the community over a long period of time so that they feel like they can trust you with their stories, with their sharing, and that you as a researcher are not going to just extract knowledge and leave the community,” she says.

Cote-Meek notes academic institutions are becoming more aware, and accepting, of Indigenous research methodologies that seek to explore Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding the world.

“One of the ways we engage community is through the use of our culture, in this case making the Ribbon Skirts,” she says. “There’s often lots of storytelling that goes on, and storytelling is a recognized way of doing research.”