scholarly journals Research as Cultural Renewal: Applying Two-Eyed Seeing in a Research Project about Cultural Interventions in First Nations Addictions Treatment

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Hall ◽  
Colleen A Dell ◽  
Barb Fornssler ◽  
Carol Hopkins ◽  
Christopher Mushquash ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
First Year ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Cultural Renewal ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Cultural Interventions

This article explores the application of two-eyed seeing in the first year of a three-year study about the effectiveness of cultural interventions in First Nations alcohol and drug treatment in Canada. Two-eyed seeing is recognized by Canada’s major health research funder as a starting point for bringing together the strengths of Indigenous and Western ways of knowing. With the aim of developing a culture-based measurement tool, our team carried out an Indigenous-centred research process with our interpretation of two-eyed seeing as a guiding principle. This enabled us to engage in a decolonizing project that prioritized Indigenous methodologies and ways of knowing and knowledge alongside those of Western science. By concentrating on Indigenous governance in the research process, our project supported efforts at Indigenous cultural renewal. Two illustrations are offered, our team’s reconceptualization of Western derived understandings of data collection through Indigenous storytelling and our research grant timeframe with Indigenous knowledge gardening. This article contributes to the Indigenous research and policy literature which is lacking documentation about how Indigenous communities and research teams are benefitting from two-eyed seeing.

scholarly journals Moving Towards an Indigenous Research Process: A Reflexive Approach to Empirical Work With First Nations Communities in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Toombs ◽  
Alexandra S Drawson ◽  
Lori Chambers ◽  
Tina L. R. Bobinski ◽  
John Dixon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Community Values ◽  
Qualitative Research Study

Moving towards reconciliation within Indigenous research requires the careful examination of existing practices at all stages of the research process. Engagement in and dissemination of reflexive processes may increase the relevance of research results for Indigenous communities and partners. This article describes and contextualizes the results obtained from this qualitative research study examining parenting needs and child reunification in these communities. The initial results were deemed relevant by the partnering community but research stakeholders reported that they did not reflect all community values. Based on the advice of the Research Advisory Group, the research team decided to further analyze the results to address these shortcomings. The reanalysis process focused on improving the perceived meaningfulness and relevance to communities. Exploration of how these results were re-situated in an Indigenous framework of wellbeing is discussed. Researcher reflections about the project processes and considerations for future research are explored.

scholarly journals Thunderbird Women

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Fayant
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Indigenous Women ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Medicine Wheel ◽  
Indigenous Feminism ◽  
Indian Act ◽  
Governmental Institutions

Indigenous gender roles have been distorted by colonialism, both through imposed systems of patriarchy and redefining gender roles within Indigenous communities. In Canada, the Indian Act of 1857 initiated a system of patriarchy which resulted in the loss of matrilineal family lines and Indigenous women’s rights to represent their community in leadership roles. This system still exists today, and despite numerous attempts to modify the law, the Indian Act still exerts patrilineal bias on Indigenous communities. In spite of this, there exists a large volume of research and literature by Indigenous women which investigates Indigenous feminism and the agency of Indigenous women in their communities. Examples include the writings of Sherry Farrell-Racette (Farrell-Racette 2010), Lee Maracle (Maracle 1996), Beverly Singer (Singer 2001) and Carol Rose Daniels (Daniels 2018) as well as online campaigns such as Rematriate (Rematriate 2018). Moreover, many Indigenous women in Canada are now stepping forward to address patriarchal systems in Indigenous institutions, such as the Assembly of First Nations, and outdated laws favouring male representation over female in meeting with governmental institutions. My research considers decolonization methods in relation to Indigenous feminist perspectives in research practice. Through an Indigenous research paradigm based on the teachings of the Indigenous Cree medicine wheel, this paper aims to decolonize homogenous forms of research by promoting Indigenous women’s knowledge. The medicine wheel in Indigenous teachings is a philosophy and a practical method of interpreting the physical, mental and transcendental domains. For research purposes, the medicine wheel offers a unique representation of Indigenous epistemology, ontology, axiology and methodology for use in research. Furthermore, following decolonial theory and Indigenous methodologies this research investigates the intersections of Indigenous feminism in decolonizing knowledge production and dismantling paternalistic affects in educational institutions. Including Indigenous approaches to listening, participation and storytelling as opposed to standardized interviews, as well as observation and document analysis, this thesis opens space for generating community-based definitions of Indigenous feminism. Focusing on the Canadian context, Indigenous women in Saskatchewan possess a vast amount of traditional knowledge and ways of knowing which have been devalued since the enforcement of the Indian Act. One vital way of Indigenizing cultural revitalization is by reclaiming Indigenous women’s epistemologies as a means of decolonizing gender roles and negating the impacts of the Indian Act.

scholarly journals First Nations Children Count: Enveloping Quantitative Research in an Indigenous Envelope

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy Blackstock
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Practice Change ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Rich Diversity

Indigenous peoples repeatedly call for disaggregated data describing their experience to inform socio-economic and political policy and practice change (United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 2003; UNICEF, 2003; Rae & the Sub Group on Indigenous Children and Youth, 2006). Although there has been significant discourse on the destructive historical role of western research with Indigenous communities (RCAP, 1996; Smith, 1999; Schnarch, 2004) and more recently on cultural adaptation of qualitative research methods (Smith, 1999; Bennet, 2004; Kovach, 2007), there has been very little discussion on how to envelope western quantitative social science research within Indigenous ways of knowing and being. This paper begins by outlining the broad goals of Indigenous research before focusing on how quantitative research is used, and represented, in the translation of Indigenous realities in child health and child welfare. Given the rich diversity of Indigenous peoples and their knowledges, this paper is only capable of what respected Indigenous academic Margo Greenwood (2007) would term “touching the mountaintops’ of complex and sacred ideas.

scholarly journals Reflexive Reflection Co-created with Kehte-ayak (Old Ones) as an Indigenous Qualitative Methodological Data Contemplation Tool

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie LaVallie ◽  
JoLee Sasakamoose
Keyword(s):  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Aftercare Services ◽  
Cultural Renewal ◽  
Research Relationship ◽  
Indigenous Methodologies ◽  
Indigenous Worldview ◽  
Relational Accountability ◽  
Indigenous Methods

The aim of this paper is to propose a new way of understanding data contemplation for Indigenous methodologies. There is a need for Indigenous methods that allow us to explore and organize findings that are steeped in the contextualized story and grounded in the research relationship. A study that asked Cree Kehte-ayak (Old Ones) about the relevance in harmonizing Indigenous and Western ways of knowing in healing from addiction shows that Reflexive Reflection (RR) offers a respectful way for discovery. RR offers epistemological underpinnings for data consideration when engaging Indigenous methodologies. Culturally rooted addictions research can contribute to Indigenous wellness and cultural renewal by bringing awareness to the link between colonialism and addiction and by actively re-centring an Indigenous worldview and governance in the research process (Hall et al., 2015). While challenging colonialism is vital, the strength of Indigenous culture must be central to the overall project, with relational accountability that implies all parts of the research process are related, and that the researcher is responsible for nurturing and maintaining this relationship with the research process and with “all relations.” Indigenous research inquiry involves moments of contemplation that explore dreams, intuition, teachings, and connection to land. It also involves spending intimate hours listening to stories of the “old ones” that are rooted in a sense of kinshipresponsibility that relay culture, identity, and a sense of belonging that are essential to the life of the researcher. Reframing the language around aftercare services for Indigenous Peoples can take place through reflexive investigation and knowledge creation.

scholarly journals We Are Still the Aniishnaabe Nation: Embracing Culture and Identity in Batchewana First Nation

2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayle Broad ◽  
Stephanie Boyer ◽  
Cynthia Chataway
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Collective Trauma ◽  
Cultural Activities ◽  
Cultural Renewal ◽  
Participation Communautaire

Abstract: This case study was conducted by researchers engaged in “Understanding the Strengths of Indigenous Communities,” a research project involving five participating First Nations (see http://www.usic.ca). This particular study describes the centrality of cultural activities and beliefs in strengthening the community of the Batchewana First Nation. Deploying an innovative form of methodology, which stresses community participation in the development of the research process for the purposes of decolonization, the article explores how this community approaches culture from a holistic worldview. The findings suggest that cultural renewal is self-reinforcing and cumulative, and plays a key role in overcoming collective trauma, but that these benefits can be jeopardized through a lack of resources. Résumé : Cette étude, intitulée “Understanding the Strengths of Indigenous Communities,” a été menée par des recherchistes associés à un projet regroupant cinq nations autochtones. Elle décrit le rôle primordial des activités culturelles et des croyances dans le mécanisme de consolidation de la communauté Batchewana First Nation. Utilisant une méthodologie innovatrice qui attire l’attention sur la participation communautaire dans l’élaboration d’un processus de recherche ayant comme but la décolonisation, ce communiqué explore les points de vue holistiques utilisés par cette communauté. Les résultats suggèrent que le renouveau culturel est autodéterminant et cumulatif et qu’il joue un rôle clé dans la confrontation du traumatisme collectif, mais que ces bienfaits peuvent êtres mis en danger par un manque de ressources.

Indigenous Studies in the United States and Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aubrey Jean Hanson ◽  
Sam McKegney
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native American ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Indigenous Voices

Indigenous literary studies, as a field, is as diverse as Indigenous Peoples. Comprising study of texts by Indigenous authors, as well as literary study using Indigenous interpretive methods, Indigenous literary studies is centered on the significance of stories within Indigenous communities. Embodying continuity with traditional oral stories, expanding rapidly with growth in publishing, and traversing a wild range of generic innovation, Indigenous voices ring out powerfully across the literary landscape. Having always had a central place within Indigenous communities, where they are interwoven with the significance of people’s lives, Indigenous stories also gained more attention among non-Indigenous readers in the United States and Canada as the 20th century rolled into the 21st. As relationships between Indigenous Peoples (Native American, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) and non-Indigenous people continue to be a social, political, and cultural focus in these two nation-states, and as Indigenous Peoples continue to work for self-determination amid colonial systems and structures, literary art plays an important role in representing Indigenous realities and inspiring continuity and change. An educational dimension also exists for Indigenous literatures, in that they offer opportunities for non-Indigenous readerships—and, indeed, for readers from within Indigenous nations—to learn about Indigenous people and perspectives. Texts are crucially tied to contexts; therefore, engaging with Indigenous literatures requires readers to pursue and step into that beauty and complexity. Indigenous literatures are also impressive in their artistry; in conveying the brilliance of Indigenous Peoples; in expressing Indigenous voices and stories; in connecting pasts, presents, and futures; and in imagining better ways to enact relationality with other people and with other-than-human relatives. Indigenous literatures span diverse nations across vast territories and materialize in every genre. While critics new to the field may find it an adjustment to step into the responsibility—for instance, to land, community, and Peoplehood—that these literatures call for, the returns are great, as engaging with Indigenous literatures opens up space for relationship, self-reflexivity, and appreciation for exceptional literary artistry. Indigenous literatures invite readers and critics to center in Indigeneity, to build good relations, to engage beyond the text, and to attend to Indigenous storyways—ways of knowing, being, and doing through story.

scholarly journals Using Indigenous Research Frameworks in the Multiple Contexts of Research, Teaching, Mentoring, and Leading

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darryl Reano
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Multiple Contexts ◽  
Indigenous Perspectives ◽  
Research Frameworks

Indigenous research frameworks can be used to effectively engage Indigenous communities and students in Western modern science through transparent and respectful communication. Currently, much of the academic research taking place within Indigenous communities marginalizes Indigenous Knowledge, does not promote long-term accountability to Indigenous communities and their relations, and withholds respect for the spiritual values that many Indigenous communities embrace. Indigenous research frameworks address these concerns within the academic research process by promoting values such as: relationality, multilogicality, and the centralization of Indigenous perspectives. Indigenous research frameworks provide a framework that can be used in multiple contexts within higher education to bring equitable practices to research, teaching, mentoring, and organizational leadership. In this article, as a researcher who uses Indigenous research frameworks, I utilize autoethnography to engage in critical, reflexive thinking about how my perspective as an Indigenous researcher has developed over time. The purpose of this autoethnography is to reveal how Indigenous research frameworks may enhance higher education, especially for Indigenous students.

Reframing research in Indigenous countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-57
Author(s):  
Aedan Alderson
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Canadian History ◽  
Indigenous Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indigenous Territories ◽  
Preliminary Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address some of the implications for methodology and ethics that arise when researchers in Indigenous territories locate their research projects as taking place within Indigenous countries. Centering the argument that ethical research with Indigenous communities must be rooted in upholding the primacy of Indigenous sovereignty, numerous considerations to improve qualitative research practices in Indigenous countries are discussed. Design/methodology/approach The author starts by introducing his relationship to Indigenous research as a mixed-Indigenous researcher. Moving onto discussing preliminary research considerations for working in Indigenous territories, the author argues that qualitative researchers must become familiarized with the historical and geographical contexts of the Indigenous countries they plan on working in. Using Canadian history as an example, the author argues that settler-colonial nationalisms continue to attempt to erase and replace Indigenous countries both in historical and geographical narratives. Building on Indigenous literature, the author then outlines the necessity of being aware of nation-specific protocols in law, culture, and knowledge production. Findings Drawing on this discussion, the author proposes a framework for preliminary research that can be used by qualitative researchers looking to ensure their projects are grounded in the best practices for the specific Indigenous countries they want to work with. Originality/value The author concludes that researchers should not expect Indigenous knowledge keepers to contribute large amounts of labour towards debunking colonial mythology and proving the existence of Indigenous countries. By doing this work as part of the preliminary research process, researchers create space for better collaborations with Indigenous communities.

scholarly journals An Application of Two-Eyed Seeing: Indigenous Research Methods With Participatory Action Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 160940691881234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy Peltier
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Research Paradigms ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Indigenous Paradigm

In this time of reconciliation, Indigenous researchers-in-relation are sharing research paradigms and approaches that align with Indigenous worldviews. This article shares an interpretation of the Mi’kmaw concept of Two-Eyed Seeing as the synthesis of Indigenous methodology and participatory action research situated within an Indigenous paradigm of relevant, reciprocal, respectful, and responsible research. Two-Eyed Seeing is discussed as a guiding approach for researchers offering Indigenous voices and ways of knowing as a means to shift existing qualitative research paradigms. The author offers practical considerations for conducting research with Indigenous peoples in a “good and authentic way.” Through the co-creation of knowledge with Indigenous communities, a collective story was produced as a wellness teaching tool to foster the transfer of knowledge in a meaningful way.

scholarly journals Water Insecurity in Ontario First Nations: An Exploratory Study on Past Interventions and the Need for Indigenous Water Governance

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 717
Author(s):  
Rachel Arsenault
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Indigenous Perspectives

In 2018, I began an exploratory study involving fourteen Ontario First Nation participants that examined some First Nation water security challenges and opportunities. In acknowledgment that many of the government assessments, reports, and investments to date have failed, this study aims to determine the causes of the water crisis as well as potential solutions by sharing Indigenous perspectives and recommendations on water governance and security. During the study, Indigenous participants were asked interview questions regarding their water and wastewater systems, their historical and current water security conditions, and if they had recommendations for achieving water security in First Nations. The analysis from these interviews demonstrated that there were ten different themes for water security and insecurity in First Nation communities as well as a set of four recommendations shared by the fourteen participants. The participant recommendations are: (1) that Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Indigenous laws be included in water security initiatives and water governance; (2) that provincial and federal governments work with Indigenous communities on their water security challenges and opportunities; (3) that First Nation leadership develops and implements community water protection plans; (4) that Indigenous communities establish an oversight committee or body for monitoring tourist ventures and extractive development projects such as mining on their territories. This paper will also discuss how an Indigenous research paradigm can be applied during the research process to ensure that the information is captured from the Indigenous perspectives of the participants.

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