Indigegogy

A paradigm shift in Indigenous social work education centers on Indigenous knowledge. Indigenous educators are asserting the place of Indigenous knowledge, language, and culture in Indigenous social work education and have been leaders in generating significant changes over the last 40 years. Shifts have occurred over a continuum time spanning pre-contact and contact through colonization, education as a mechanism of the colonial project, movements of Indian control over Indigenous education, decolonizing education, and into the paradigm of Indigegogy. The article focuses on Indigegogy illustrating a deeper look of Indigegogy as an Indigenist paradigm. The intention of this article is to contribute to the understanding and knowledge of Indigegogy within an Indigenist paradigm with the intention of continuing the return of Indigenous social work education back to Indigenous peoples interested in learning the ways of the people, in the ways of the people.

Webs of Community

A network of Indian trading villages dominated the tributary rivers of the Ohio and fostered Indian control over the exchange process. The face-to-face exchange process that characterized these villages ushered in a golden age of Indigenous prosperity as Indian women sought new types of cloth, incorporated silks and calicoes into their wardrobes, and demanded silver ornaments to highlight and decorate their clothing. Kin-based networks controlled trade as well as social relations in the region. Traders who sought a share of this prosperity resided in these Indian trading villages and carefully observed Indigenous trade protocols. Those who failed to do so found themselves unwelcome in Indian villages. Change was ongoing: newcomers were incorporated, populations multiplied, and village life was defined by evolving kin relations. These changes occurred within the framework of an Indian world, one that was increasingly shaped by Miami hegemony over the Wabash region. Intermarriage blurred social borders and simultaneously created pathways to authority and power.