Indigenous Researchers

The meaning of land is tied to the notion of indigenous use but also to the presence of Aboriginal poetics that anchors people to the land at the deepest level of human meaning, identity and culture. Elsey, 2013 :117

 

Elsey’s quote about the many roles land encompasses, perfectly articulates my many experiences, connections, values and goals instrumental to developing the person I am and want to be in the future. My academic goals reflect the multidimensionality land has in my life. The research I pursue will expand the limited purview land has in western methodologies to reflect true Indigenous ways of knowing and being informed by the land.

Inspiration and Teachings

The strongest person in my life who inspires me to be better is my Utsoo (grandmother), she is the matriarch of the family, our knowledge holder, and Keyohwhudohchun meaning the leader of our traditional governance organization. All the teachings and experiences I have in the bush connect back to my granny, she is the freest on the land. Conceptualizing the world with knowledge since time immemorial. Hunting, berry picking, medicinal collection and general gatherings had given a space to recognize that land is the only variable in my lives that remains a constant in a society where uncertainty and individualism are rampant and contrast the values I have grown up with in the bush. My Utsoo always say’s “we must take care of the land, so it can look after you”, her teachings echo the responsibility instilled the vital role land is to me. Land is our memories; it is a living memory that encapsulates our sense of where we came from through the stories of our ancestors etched onto the landscape. These etchings are then instilled through our customs and practices that we continue to act in our everyday lives on our land. Thus, instilling and reinstating our sense of security and belonging. This is not just about a general claim to land; this is about the protection and preservation of our way of knowing and being within this world. The culmination of experiences I have been blessed with on my Keyoh (homeland) are because of my Utsoo role in my life. The land is an extension of her spirit and mine as well, the enfoldment with the land as an extension of self. Is a culmination of experiences on the land is difficult to center to one memory but, one special memory I hold close is my Utsoo speaking Dakelh and conceptualizing the world through the language. I hear the echoes my Utsoo speaking Dakelh with my Utsian (grandfather) and the sound of rain while I look at the lake in front of our cabin, and knowing in absolute that this place and space is where I am meant to be in this world.

Inspirational Readings

Indigenous Research Methodologies: 

  • Battiste, M. (2011). Reclaiming Indigenous voice and vision. UBC Press.
  • Cardinal, L. (2001). What is an Indigenous perspective? Canadian Journal of Native Education, 25(2), 180-182.
  • Chilisa, B. (2011). Indigenous research methodologies. Sage Publications.
  • Chilisa, B., & Ntseane, G. (2010). Resisting dominant discourses: implications of Indigenous, African feminist theory and methods for gender and education research. Gender and Education, 22(6), 617-632.
  • Denzin, N. K., Lincoln, Y. S and Smith, L. (2008). Handbook of critical and Indigenous methodologies. Sage.
  • Fleras, A. (2004). “Researching together differently”: Bridging the research paradigm gap.Native Studies Review, 15(2), 117-129.
  • Foley, D. (2003). Indigenous epistemology and Indigenous standpoint theory.Social Alternatives, 22(1), 44-52.
  • Hart, M. A. (2010).Indigenous worldviews, knowledge, and research: The development of an Indigenous research paradigm.
  • Kovach, M. (2005). Emerging from the margins: Indigenous methodologies. In L. Brown & S. Strega (Eds.),Research as resistance. Toronto, Canada: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
  • Kovach, M. E. (2010). Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations, and contexts. University of Toronto Press.
  • Louis, R. P. (2007). Can you hear us now? Voices from the margin: Using Indigenous methodologies in geographic research. Geographical research,45(2), 130-139.
  • Mataira, P., Matsuoka, J. K., & Morelli, P. T. (2005). Issues and processes in Indigenous research. In S. M. Kana.iaupuni (Ed.), Hulili: Multidisciplinary research on Hawaiian well-being (Vol. 2, pp. 35-45). Honolulu, HI: Pauahi Publications.
  • Prescott, S. J. (2008). Using talanoa in Pacific business research in New Zealand: experiences with Tongan entrepreneurs.AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 4(1), 127-148.
  • Smith, L. T. (2012).Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). London, England: Zed Books. (Original work published 1999)
  • Tuck, E. (2013). Decolonizing methodologies 15 years later. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 9(4).
  • Tuck, E., & McKenzie, M. (2014). Place in research: Theory, methodology, and methods. Routledge.
  • Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2014). R-words: Refusing research. Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry for youth and communities, 223-247.
  • Wilson, S. (2001). What is an Indigenous research methodology?. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 25(2), 175-179.
  • Wilson, S. (2003). Progressing toward an Indigenous research paradigm in Canada and Australia.Canadian Journal of Native Education, 27(2), 161-178.
  • Wilson, S. (2008).Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Pub..