Storyweaving, Indigenous knowledge, and process in Material Witness

When I was asked to write about my work, I immediately wanted to collaborate with Muriel Miguel, my long-time mentor, colleague, and friend, and reflect on the technique of storyweaving developed by the company she and her sisters founded, Spiderwoman Theater. ¹ There is much to be learned from writing on Indigenous process, particularly when dialogue emerges from practitioners within. For so long, understanding has come from outside our communities and efforts to listen, from inside, move us beyond histories of colonialism in important ways. In this light, I center my story and reflect on my relationship to Spiderwoman’s methodology through conversations with Muriel Miguel about our co-production, Material Witness, and various aspects of our twenty-year working relationship. ²