Kehte-yatis onakatamakewina [What the Elder leaves behind]: Maskeko epistemologies, ontology and history

The aim of this project is to investigate the transmission of knowledge, and cultural values on the margins of the colonial agenda. The oral traditional accounts, and lived experience of Kehte-yatis Charles F. Queskekapow, in the community of Kinosewi Sipihk [Fish River], are examined through the lens of a postcolonial Indigenous research paradigm. As a synthesis of an Indigenous perspective, and Euro-Western research methodologies, consisting of an open-ended interview approach, and the local Indigenous knowledge, the goals and objectives of this project are: 1) to determine the role of the Kehte-yatis(ak) [Elders], 2) establish the local interpretation of Kehte-yatis onakatamakewina 3) to determine the impacts of colonialism had on the transmission of traditional knowledge, and culture 4) to analyze the impacts of colonization on the broader concept of community. This research locates the detrimental impacts of colonialism, the loss of identity in the historical context, and endeavors to contribute to affirmation of our cultural practices, and values in the present.