As an Indigenous person, I know introductions are important. Introductions place you. They provide others with an understanding of where you come from and what values or perspectives you might have because of this placement. Introductions provide your legitimacy, your credibility, and your “authenticity” as an Indigenous person. The introduction of myself has changed throughout my life because of this placement of self. It has shifted as I have shifted from place to place, from space to space, and have gained and lost “knowledge” and family. Therefore, this Article will start with an introduction of myself to you.
After I’ve introduced myself, I will then describe how I developed this Article. I will then discuss what methods I use in this Article and why I do so. After getting through the why and how of this Article, I will then take you along my story of the first few years of teaching law. The main focus will be on teaching a mandatory first-year course at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law, but it will also bring in experiences from along the way with my students, colleagues, myself, and others encountered. I am both an “Early Career Academic” (“ECA”) and a beginner storyteller. Thank you for being here while I hone my skills as a storyteller and ECA.
The goal of this Article is to share the ups and the downs, the wide-eyed naivety, the crush of disappointments. Hopefully along the way, you will learn a lesson or two, even if it is how not to do something. I think I have always been a good role model for others’ learning of what not to do. I just wish for your sake, Listener, that I was a better storyteller. I wish I was funnier, wittier, and had the ability to describe a story in ways that could make you smell, not just see and feel. However, I value honesty, truth-telling, authenticity, and genuineness. Therefore, although I honestly believe I am one of the funniest, wittiest, and best storytellers around, I also know that I am not. Yes, I am already introducing you to the cognitive dissonance of holding two simultaneous, yet conflicting, beliefs at the same time.
One skill I do have is my ability to laugh (very loudly) at my own jokes, and my stories usually have others joining in. Although it may be them laughing at me. However, since I’m laughing at the same time, I prefer the narrative that they are laughing with me since I am also laughing at the same time as them, and, ultimately, with them too. This is why I must also state that the truth and honesty that I provide in this story will be my own. It is mine based on what I will be providing you, based on what I know now, and how I know it. In future years, I may have a different narrative to tell. But speaking from experience with accuracy and precision, as I know it now, is my understanding of a Cree principle: Tâpwêwin. Therefore, what I write is my truth.