Indigenous trans-systemic approach is a lifelong unlearning and relearning process, with no endpoint. Indigenous peoples have long called for decolonizing minds so as to support self-determination, ...challenge colonial practices, and value Indigenous cultural identity and pride in being Indigenous peoples. Indigenous trans-systemic approach is also a political standpoint toward valuing and revitalizing Indigenous knowledge and methodologies while weeding out colonizer biases or assumptions that have impacted Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, and being. Drawing from Indigenous Participatory Action Research (IPAR), I explained how I learned the meanings of trans-systematic knowledge from Indigenous Elders and Knowledge-keepers.
Using traditional Western research methods to explore Indigenous perspectives has often been felt by the Indigenous people themselves to be inappropriate and ineffective in gathering information and ...promoting discussion. On the contrary, using traditional storytelling as a research method links Indigenous worldviews, shaping the approach of the research; the theoretical and conceptual frameworks; and the epistemology, methodology, and ethics. The aims of this article are to (a) explore the essential elements and the value of traditional storytelling for culturally appropriate Indigenous research; (b) develop a model of a collaborative community and university research alliance, looking at how to address community concerns and gather data that will inform decision-making and help the community prepare for the future; (c) build up and strengthen research capacity among Indigenous communities in collaboration with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge-holders; and (d) discuss how to more fully engage Indigenous people in the research process. In two case studies with Indigenous and immigrant communities in Canada and Bangladesh that are grounded in the relational ways of participatory action research, the author found that traditional storytelling as a research method could lead to culturally appropriate research, build trust between participants and researcher, build a bridge between Western and Indigenous research, and deconstruct meanings of research. The article ends with a discussion of the implications of using traditional storytelling in empowering both research participants and researcher.
This project is a community-led collaboration between an interdisciplinary research team (including Indigenous and visible minority academics, health professionals and students working in health, and ...community disaster researchers) and First Nation leadership and community members. The project addresses two critical issues that affect Indigenous, visible minorities, and refugee communities: negatively impact their health and poor access to healthcare.We will examine how ethnic and cultural identity, protective factors, and psycho-social stresses impact this pandemic. Given the growing ethnically diverse population of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, it is essential to understand how these communities view, use, and experience health services to build their health resiliency. The findings will provide a high reward policy and programming recommendations to improve health services and deliver equitable, quality and ethnically conscious care during the COVID-19 disaster. Following relational, Indigenous, and antiracist theoretical frameworks, we will use a mixed-method approach of self-reported surveys, focus groups, individual interviews, and Indigenous story-sharing to collect data from the Indigenous, visible minorities, and refugee communities’ overall health, factors that negatively impact their health, how they cope with adversity, and their usage of health services.
It is undeniable that the global environmental crisis disproportionally affects individuals and communities, particularly Indigenous communities are among those most deeply affected. The history of ...Chittagong Hill Tracts Bangladesh colonialism is a history of the dispossession of Indigenous peoples of the lands that they and their ancestors have inhabited and cared for and of the imposition on them of destructive "development" policies. This paper addresses the ongoing environmental heritage conflict between the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous community's traditional environmental management practices and state development projects in Chittagong Hill Tract. Drawing from a relational research methodology, this study shows how the nation-state controls Indigenous land, water, and management practices through multinational agencies. This paper asks, "In CHT, why must Indigenous cultural heritage be connected to the past, present, and future to invoke state legal protection?" and "How can we move toward a more rights-based approach to heritage management?"
Community garden activities can play a significant role in bridging formal and informal learning, particularly in urban children's science and environmental education. It promotes relational methods ...of learning, discussing, and practicing that will integrate food security, social interactions, community development, environmental activism, and cultural integration. Throughout the last five years of my community garden activities, I have learned that community garden-based practices adhere to particular forms of agency: embracing diversity, sharing power, and trust building as a part of everyday learning. My auto-ethnographic study provides valuable insights for environmental educators whose goals include, incorporating ethnic diversity as well as engaging children in research, ultimately leading to community action.
Although a great number of academic researchers have introduced reconciliation in their work, they have not explained what it means from Indigenous perspectives. How do we need to understand and ...practise it in our everyday practice? Why should we all, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, practise land-based and antiracist learning-as a system of reciprocal social relations and ethical practices-as a framework for reconciliation? This article initiates these transdisciplinary questions that challenge not only our static science and social science mindsets, but also the responsibilities for reconciliation, including building respectful relationships with Indigenous people, respecting Indigenous treaties, taking actions to decolonise our ways of knowing and acting, learning the role of colonised education processes, and protecting Indigenous land and environment rights.
How does one decolonize and reclaim the meanings of research and researcher, particularly in the context of Western research? Indigenous communities have long experienced oppression by Western ...researchers. Is it possible to build a collaborative research knowledge that is culturally appropriate, respectful, honoring, and careful of the Indigenous community? What are the challenges in Western research, researchers, and Western university methodology research training? How have ‘studies’ – critical anti-racist theory and practice, cross-cultural research methodology, critical perspectives on environmental justice, and land-based education – been incorporated into the university to disallow dissent? What can be done against this disallowance? According to Eve Tuck and K Wayne Yang’s (2012) suggestion, this article did not use the concept of decolonization as a substitute for ‘human rights’ or ‘social justice’, but as a demand of an Indigenous framework and a centering of Indigenous land, Indigenous sovereignty and Indigenous ways of thinking. This article discusses why both research and researcher increasingly require decolonization so that research can create a positive impact on the participants’ community, and conduct research ethically. This article is my personal decolonization and reclaiming story from 15 years of teaching, research and service activities with various Indigenous communities in various parts of the world. It presents a number of case studies of an intervention research project to exemplify the challenges in Western research training, and how decolonizing research training attempts to not only reclaim participants’ rights in the research but also to empower the researcher. I conclude by arguing that decolonizing research training creates more empathetic educators and researchers, transforming us for participants, and demonstrating how we can take responsibility for our research.
In this paper, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars used a decolonial conversation framework to build a meaningful bridge between Indigenous and Western worldviews. Our decolonial conversations ...approach is a unique and transformative space where Indigenous and Western knowledge systems intersect, facilitating a rich exchange of valuable insights for fostering intercultural dialogue and breathing new ways of knowing and acting into Indigenous cultures. The decolonial conversation provides a platform for transmitting Indigenous knowledge and cultural practices across generations by uniting Indigenous land-based knowledge, community members, and Western researchers. Integrating Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in these environments fosters collaboration, dispels stereotypes, and forges partnerships grounded in reciprocity and trust. Through this collaborative process, traditional cultural camps emerge as potent catalysts for instilling cultural pride, fostering community resilience, and co-creating knowledge. This collaborative approach aligns with the broader objectives of decolonization and cultural revitalization. In our exploration following the decolonial learning conversation, we, comprising an Indigenous woman land-based educator and a racialized academic scholar, focused on the transformative potential and synergies realized by integrating these knowledge systems within the context of traditional cultural camps.
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