This is Who I Am: Aboriginal Women's Healing from Criminalization and Problematic Drug Use.

Illicit drug use amongst criminalized Aboriginal women is a serious health concern in Canada. Little is understood about how women 's healing is impacted by their views of themselves as, and the stigma associated with being, a drug user, involved in crime and an Aboriginal woman in Canadian society. In this article we address two ways in which women's often silenced voices have uniquely guided a national research project: (1) experiential knowledge as methodology, and (2) experiential knowledge in knowledge translation. To engage with such a methodology we must begin by re-centring the voices and experiences of Aboriginal women. To do this we draw on the life history narrative provided by team member and former prisoner Valerie Desjarlais, who shares her story of healing from criminalization and problematic drug use throughout this article. Story sharing was identified as an important part of the women's healing journeys and understanding of who they are. For example, Desjarlais writes: