Identity and Solidarity in Hybrid Spaces: Narratives of Indigenous Women Political Leaders in Saskatchewan and Guatemala

The lives of ten Indigenous women political leaders are bound together with narratives of violence and healing, identity and citizenship, power and solidarity. Although they live in separate countries - the province of Saskatchewan in Canada, and the country of Guatemala in Central America – they share a similar collective history of colonial violence, assimilation and oppression. They are also connected through their work to assert themselves into political spaces that re-humanize and reclaim Indigenous land, rights and dignity. This thesis explores the lives and ideas of these ten Indigenous women political leaders through their stories told in long interviews. Their ethnic identity is their political identity. They are grounded by their Indigenous worldview into which they re-insert notions of equality and women’s rights, reinvesting power and voice into the modern identity of an Indigenous woman. They lead by example, role-modeling to their families and communities a balance of “private” healing of self with the “public” challenges for self-determination to the state and dominant culture. They work in multiple and hybrid spaces, connecting local issues with international rights frameworks. The women’s stories also include non-Indigenous peoples, challenging us to understand the role we play in both the historical meta- narratives as well as the emerging narratives of solidarity