Applying Indigenous Research Methods

Storying with Peoples and Communities

Sweeney Windchief, Timothy San Pedro

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781351690041
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Applying Indigenous Research Methods focuses on the question of " How " Indigenous Research Methodologies (IRMs) can be used and taught across Indigenous studies and education.

In this collection, Indigenous scholars address the importance of IRMs in their own scholarship, while focusing conversations on the application with others. Each chapter is co-authored to model methods rooted in the sharing of stories to strengthen relationships, such as yarning, storywork, and others. The chapters offer a wealth of specific examples, as told by researchers about their research methods in conversation with other scholars, teachers, and community members.

Applying Indigenous Research Methods is an interdisciplinary showcase of the ways IRMs can enhance scholarship in fields including education, Indigenous studies, settler colonial studies, social work, qualitative methodologies, and beyond.

PART I

Palm Upwards: “Reaching Back to Receive Lessons”

1

Hands Back, Hands Forward for Indigenous Storywork as Methodology

Jo-ann Archibald Q’um Q’um Xiiem [Stó:lō and St’at’imc] and Amy Parent Nox Ayaaẃilt [Nisga’a]

Introduction

We follow Indigenous protocol by first acknowledging the First Peoples’ traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands on which we work, study, and play: the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Stó:lō First Nations. Second, we introduce ourselves.

I, Jo-ann Archibald, am also known as Q’um Q’um Xiiem, which means “strong clear water.” My father is Stó:lō (people of the river) from southwestern British Columbia (BC) and my mother is St’at’imc from the interior region of BC. I grew up on the unceded land of the Stó:lō people, so I identify with the river systems and resources of the rivers.

My name is Amy Parent. My mother’s side of the family is Nisga’a in northern BC from the House of Ni’isjoohl. We belong to the Ganada (frog) Clan. On my father’s side, I am French and German. My Nisga’a name is Nox Ayaaẃilt (Mother of the Capable One). This name connects me to my mother and signifies the importance of the matrilineal culture that flows through my bloodlines.

This chapter on Indigenous storywork (ISW) will show how we, separately, and then cooperatively with each other, developed intergenerational learning and research relationships; how the seven ISW principles exemplify an Indigenous research methodology within our respective Indigenous communities; and how ISW can be used with other communities. The seven ISW principles include: respect, responsibility, reverence, reciprocity, holism, inter-relatedness, and synergy. These principles facilitate meaning making through and with Indigenous stories, which may be of a traditional nature or about lived experiences. Our article also exemplifies the Hands Back, Hands Forward Indigenous teaching in our research interactions, which opens space for others to join the ISW circle. Indigenous tricksters, such as Raven and Coyote, will join our conversations at times.

Q’um Q’um Xiiem Jo-ann’s Story

I began writing this reflective piece about ISW on a rainy day on the west coast of BC, Canada, in Vancouver. Just over 20 years ago, I completed my PhD through Simon Fraser University, Coyote learns to make a storybasket: The place of First Nations stories in education (Archibald, 1997). Imagine writing a doctoral thesis about a coyote learning to make a storybasket in this time period! I had finished a marvelous research-focused learning journey about Indigenous stories, storytelling, and meaning-making. The learning journey was incredible, but the thesis writing process was difficult, complex, and often fraught with anxiety. I smile when I think about accomplishments because my two-year-old granddaughter says joyfully, “I did it,” when she is proud of completing a task. However, I did not accomplish the PhD research and thesis alone. I had Coyote, Elders, cultural knowledge holders, storytellers, my thesis committee, and my family supporting me. It was this vibrant support system of diverse communities that made me keep going and that provided good teachings so that I could become comfortable with a research approach and style of writing that was both academic and Indigenous. Most importantly, I undertook a research project that was very meaningful to me and beneficial to Indigenous people and education. I learned from mainly Coast Salish Elders- Stó:lō, Musqueam, Squamish, and Snuneymuxw, using mainly Indigenous oral traditions about the nature of Indigenous stories, how they learned through story or lived storied lives, and good ways to engage with them in a research relationship, which will be shared later in my story.

Towards the end of my doctoral thesis, I was able to name the theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical framework that I had developed for understanding the power and beauty of Indigenous stories for educational purposes: Indigenous storywork¹. In many Coast Salish cultural gatherings, when we hear the words, “My dear ones, the work is about to begin” we stop talking to others and pay attention to the important work that will start soon. I felt that using the term “work” with “story” signaled that it is time to pay serious attention to how stories can be used in research and education, and more. I used ISW for a few years for teaching and research purposes and then published the book, Indigenous Storywork: Educating the Heart, Mind, Body, and Spirit (Archibald, 2008) after I felt that the ISW principles could be applied in other contexts. An Indigenous teaching that compliments ISW is shared next.

Hands Back, Hands Forward

Hands Back, Hands Forward is an Indigenous teaching from the late First Nation Elder, Dr. Vincent Stogan, Tsimilano, from Musqueam, who was an exemplary mentor and teacher to many at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and elsewhere. In our gatherings, he often asked us to form a circle in order to share some good words and thoughts to establish a comfortable environment before beginning our work together. In the circle, we extend our left palm upwards, to symbolize reaching back to receive teachings (knowledge and values) from the Ancestors and those who have travelled before us. We are given the challenge and opportunity to put these teachings into our everyday lives. We then have a responsibility to pass those teachings to others, especially the younger generation, which is shown when we put our right palm downwards. In the circle we join hands in respect, reverence, responsibility and reciprocity. Elder Stogan’s teaching also exemplifies inter-generational learning.

Indigenous Storywork Methodology

Kirkness and Barnhardt (1991) introduced the 4Rs in higher education: respect for the Indigenous student, relevance to the Indigenous student’s culture, responsibility for making the university more responsive to Indigenous students, and reciprocity where those involved with the university and the student share or benefit from each other’s knowledges. I adapted the Rs of respect, responsibility, and reciprocity to serve as ethical principles and practices for working with people and their Indigenous knowledge (IK) of which stories are a core part. Instead of relevance, I used reverence to signify deep respect and honor to stories and their use. All of the ISW principles exemplify relevance to Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous stories. I will highlight some important teachings that Elders helped me to learn and use regarding the ISW 4Rs noted below, which should be viewed as a catalyst for sparking research actions. With each Elder and Elders’ group, I learned much more.

Respect

Khot-la-cha, Dr. Simon Baker, Squamish Nation, said “Sit down and listen, and that’s the thing, our ancestors used to say” (Personal communication, February 1992)². Over a 10-year plus learning/research relationship I learned how to sit down and listen in order to really hear and then to understand what the Elders, cultural knowledge holders, and storytellers were saying about the role of stories for learning. Developing respectful ISW relationships takes time and cannot be achieved in a one- to two-hour interview. Listening involves using all of our wholistic realms of heart/emotional, mind/intellectual, body/physical, and spirit in relationship to oneself, family, community, or Nation.

Reverence

Tsimilano, Dr. Vincent Stogan said to me “We always pray first to the Creator … I think in your kind of work using [spirituality] will help you a lot, it’s no shame to pray to the Creator” (personal communication, May 1991)³. Tsimilano always used his Indigenous language to say some prayerful/thankful words at the beginning of a gathering. He would make time for people to connect to their inner being, to each other, and to the Indigenous topic being discussed. The concept of reverence is very personal and subjective. I learned to appreciate and practice reverence in my personal life and in research through prayer, ceremony, and being in nature. Tsimilano also taught me over a 10-year period, and used a method where he would teach me a little bit at a time, rather than expecting that I would learn all that I needed to know at one time. I think that the concept of reverence is one where we can learn about it, a little bit at a time, in order to appreciate its full meaning.

Responsibility

Kwulasulwut, Dr. Ellen White, Snuneymuxw Nation, co-authored a journal article with me. She guided me to learn about the “core” of a story, which is an important responsibility⁴. When she spoke she talked about her ancestors’ teachings:

They said you learn the base, the very basic, the inside, the stem, and the core. It sort of sounds like it when you translate it, the core of what you are learning and then expand out. The teacher will already know that – it is like a big tree, never mind the apples or if it’s flowers [instead], we’re going to learn inside first, and then out, they said. Never from outside first.

(White & Archibald, 1992, p. 154)

I experienced a turning point in my research when Ellen shared these thoughts about the need to learn the core of a story. To me, the core meant learning about the values, beliefs, and the essence of a story, which could transcend time and place.

Reciprocity

I returned to the Stó:lō Elders to learn more about Stó:lō storytelling and making story-meaning through group research meetings that spanned a four-year period, from 1992 to 1996⁵. I learned more about how traditional and life-experience stories filled their everyday lives as children; how intimately culture (IK) and stories were intertwined with experiential, land-based, and intergenerational learning; and why Indigenous story-pedagogy was so important. On this last point, Shirley Leon, former coordinator of this Elders’ group and now an Elder said, “The old way, you had to really think … you had to figure it out, they wouldn’t give you the answer, you had to figure it out” (personal communication, December 1995). It took me a few years to figure out what the Elders were telling me. The seven ISW principles became my cultural way of “giving-back,” which is a reciprocal action that sustains stories. The three other principles of wholism, inter-relatedness, and synergy could serve as actions to create story-meanings.

…

Coyote interrupts saying, “It’s about time that I have some space in this chapter to tell a story about me!”

…

Before Coyote tells a story, I acknowledge that Dr. Eber Hampton of the Chickasaw Nation told this story at a research conference. He talked about the relationship or lack of one regarding motives and methods for research. Dr. Hampton eventually gave me permission to use this story and to adapt it to suit my cultural context. I renamed the Trickster, Old Man Coyote because Coyote in all its forms has become my Trickster of learning. Perhaps Coyote can illuminate the remaining three ISW principles?

Coyote’s Story: Searching for the Bone Needle

Old Man Coyote (OMC) has just finished a long, hard day of hunting. He decided to set up his camp for the night by starting a fire for his meal. After supper, he sat by the cozy warm fire and rubbed his tired feet from the long day’s walk. He took his favorite moccasins out of his bag and noticed that there was a hole in the toe of one of them. He looked for his special bone needle to mend the moccasin but couldn’t feel it in the bag.

Old Man Coyote started to crawl on his hands and knees around the fire to see if he could see or feel the needle. He went around and around the fire. Just then Owl came flying by and landed next to OMC. He asked him what he was looking for. Old Man Coyote told Owl his problem.

Owl said that he would help his friend look for the bone needle. After he made one swoop around the area of the fire, he told OMC that he didn’t see the needle. Owl said that if it were around the fire, then he would have spotted it. He then asked OMC where he last used the needle. Old Man Coyote said that he used it quite far away, over in the bushes, to mend his jacket. Then Owl asked OMC why he kept going around and around the campfire when the needle clearly was not there. Old Man Coyote replied, “Well, it’s easier to look for the needle here because the fire gives off such good light, and I can see better here.” (adapted slightly, Archibald, 2008, pp. 35–36)

When I first heard this story in the early 1990s, I thought that OMC’s actions of going around and around the fire were like the types of qualitative and quantitative research that were used “on” or “about” Indigenous people because academics were accustomed to using methodologies that they knew and they either did not know or did not accept that these methodologies were disrespectful, inappropriate, and harmful (Smith, 1999).

But Coyote says that is only one interpretation. Coyote is thankful that I decided to go out into the dark, to not stay around the fire complaining about “bad” research. I am thankful that my mentors (maybe the Owl) encouraged me to let my emotions, my inner spirit do some problem-solving (physical action) about story research in order to find the bone needle. Over the years, I have pondered various meanings about this OMC story. What is more exciting are the listener responses that are shared when I tell this story for teaching and for research purposes. In the oral sharing process a synergistic action, like a spark, happens when someone talks about an idea, emotion, or action and someone else catches that spark to kindle another idea, emotion, or action. Amy Parent has caught this spark throughout her graduate education and continues to kindle and make it bright. However, the trickster might say that it found Amy and guided her to use ISW, which is why I asked Amy to co-author this chapter with me. Now, it is Amy’s turn to tell her story.

Nox Ayaaẃilt Amy’s Story

In being impacted (lit by the spark) by Jo-ann’s OMC story, I am reminded of the times that I sometimes travel with a trickster friend, who often joins me in synchronistic learning moments. This friend has been known by many names by various Indigenous communities (Coyote, Napi, etc.). In my culture, we refer to this character as Txeemsim, which means trickster, or miracle worker in the Nisga’a language. According to Nisga’a Elder Bert McKay, Txeemsim displays the best ideals and behavior for which humankind should strive. But he is an approachable demi-god, full of human failings, even as he demonstrates how these failings can be conquered (as cited in Rose, 1995). In many of the stories, the Trickster also teaches us how to create balance and harmony in our lives; in this way, Txeemsim demonstrates how I have attempted to prepare for ISW while also highlighting a number of “teachable moments” that are filled with humor, complexity, and transformation. For this part of the chapter, I detail my preparation and ongoing training with ISW under the mentorship of Q’um Q’um Xiiem, Jo-ann.

I begin engaging ISW by saying a prayer, making a food offering to my ancestors and request K’am Ligii Hahlhaahl (Chief of Heavens) to guide my work in a balanced and heart-centered way. I have learned this from Jo-ann, Elders, and community spiritual leaders. Showing my deep reverence for all of creation through prayer and ceremony has become a stronger presence in my life as I continue to expand my knowledge and understandings of Nisga’a epistemology and ontology and is the first ISW principle (reverence) that guides the opening of this chapter.

It has been 10 years since I first began formal mentorship with Jo-ann, who has transformed from being my master’s (Parent, 2009), to my doctoral (Parent, 2014), then post-doctoral supervisor and now life-long mentor. Txeemsim chuckles and says “She can’t get rid of you.” I am deeply appreciative of her patience and gentle guidance in teaching me about ISW over the years. It is an incredible honor and a gift to be invited to write this chapter with her. I understand this mentorship to be a pedagogical enactment of...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Foundational Quote
• Series Editor Introduction
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• PART I: Palm Upwards: “Reaching Back to Receive Lessons”
• PART II: Palm Downwards: “The Challenge and Opportunity to Live These Teachings”
• PART III: Palms Joined: “Responsibility to Pass Those Teachings to Others”
• Afterword: To Be an Indigenous Scholar
• List of Contributors
• Index