ABSTRACT
At the heart of every theory lies a story. Stories guide a relationship to theory which inversely helps make sense of personal narratives as well as their connections with and/or contradictions to broader histories of violence and resistance. Drawing from Jo-Ann Archibald's work which contextualizes non-linear and spiral-based storytelling as an Indigenized approach to building theory, this chapter shares stories that have helped theorize Indigeneity, racialization, and colonialism from multiple standpoints. The chapter shares two stories in vignette format. The first story “The broken clay pot: Gathering fragments and building a Mosaic Path” grapples with the ceremonial co-creation of knowledge that pushed the author to Indigenize his curricula and develop the theory of the Mosaic Path. The second story “Exploring the haunted archives: Exorcising the ghosts of missionaries past” documents the application of the Mosaic Path through the author's ongoing journey of reclaiming and re(new)ing the Tegüïma Ópata language of central Sonora. Centering theory around story allows for a more Indigenized pedagogical emphasis on collective knowledge creation as opposed to individualized knowledge absorption. When we remember that our stories are the heart of theory our knowledge has no ledges.
