Meet 2022 ISSP Scholar Megan Lindell
Megan Lindell is a sundancer and returning Indigenous Summer Scholar from Turtle Clan. She is spending her summer helping Dr. Mark Ruml document interviews with Indigenous healers and spiritual leaders as part of Dr. Ruml’s SSHRC funded project, Indigenous Spiritual Biography.
“The research came to be because of Mark’s interest to understand how some people have experienced such hardships in life like racism, residential school, intergenerational trauma, and more, yet they still are able to open their hearts to share, love, healing, and kind relations,” Megan said.
Megan is excited to experience the program outside a virtual setting after the last two years were run online. At the 2022 ISSP opening ceremony Megan gave a tobacco offering to the fire and helped with the food offering. “I am a ceremony woman so this was very nice for me,” Megan said. “I miss our ceremonies and times of gathering. It truly felt like a new beginning.”
Megan is committed to bringing new life into spaces through knowledge sharing, art, and advocacy. “My inspiration is to help others in the ways that I can while aligning with Indigenous worldviews. I will bring the worldview I walk with to the research I contribute to,” Megan said.
Megan begins her graduate research this fall in the joint MA program in Peace and Conflict Studies. “My research will focus on access to clean drinking water in Indigenous communities where I will create a documentary to help create change in a good way,” Megan said. Her time spent with Dr. Ruml’s team is preparing her for that work.
“I am learning to make a documentary, I am spending time on the land, I am learning what questions to ask when interviewing, and I will be spending time with knowledge keepers and folks who spend time on and learn from the life of the land,” Megan said. “The ISSP is helping me to follow my purpose in many ways.”
Dr. Ruml’s project also allows Megan to connect with Dan Thomas, her knowledge keeper and Sundance Chief. Dan Thomas taught Megan the Seven Teachings of the Anishinaabe, one of which she wants to share with other students considering ISSP: “Even if your voice shakes, be brave, speak up, and ask questions.”
“This program is a life-changing opportunity with amazing supports coming from all directions,” Megan said. “We are not meant to stay comfortable all the time. We are not meant to know our entire path. Trust yourself, your interest, and the path it took for you to get here. This program is a safe place for you. Miigwech.”
Megan (left) is pictured in the photo with her research mentor, Dr. Mark Ruml.