1 Getting Started#

Collection note: This is a navigation copy assembled from an existing local Markdown extract; it does not claim to be a complete or authoritative edition.
Coverage: Available local extract: printed pages 13–33.
Provenance: RCH-Wilson-ElementsOfResearchParadigm-001-260111213125-ab2ff9a0-fec7-451e-9fc4-3e6752370ad8.SOURCE.md

million times. The story that I want to tell you now has to do with being a student and a researcher (maybe even a scientist) and how I am able to be these things while holding my head up high and holding true to the ideals and culture I was raised in. It may be that hearing my story about being an Indigenous researcher will make it easier for you to carry your beliefs into whatever field you choose to pursue when you grow up.

I am going to write about an Indigenous research paradigm: what it is, why it is important and what it means to me. It is through learning and living this paradigm that I assert my Indigeneity (if there is such a word) in the world of academics. Many people before me have written about the need for such a paradigm. I am not going to go over their arguments here—you can read them for yourself if you are interested. People such as Linda Smith, Lester Rigney and Fyre Jean Graveline have written about how Eurocentric research has helped in the colonization and oppression of our people. By standing on their shoulders for my justification, I want to go further and try to explain just how research can be different—can be Indigenous. It may be that by looking at the different aspects of an Indigenous research paradigm, we can both learn more about the bigger question of what it is to be Indigenous.

In order to tell this story, it may be necessary for me to use some pretty big and daunting words. I try hard not to use these words in everyday conversations, because I think that too many people use big language as a way of belittling others. However, some of the ideas I want you to understand require these words, as they are able to get across a lot of meaning. Our traditional language has words that contain huge amounts of information encoded like a ZIP file within them. The English language also has such words, so by helping to decode them for you, this story will be a lot more understandable. Perhaps a good place to begin is to explain to you just what a research paradigm is. A paradigm is a set of underlying beliefs that guide our actions. So a research paradigm is the beliefs that guide our actions as researchers. These beliefs include the way that we view reality (ontology), how we think about or know this reality (epistemology), our ethics and morals (axiology) and how we go about gaining more knowledge about reality (methodology). I am going to talk a lot more about the meaning of these words later.

An Indigenous research paradigm is made up of an Indigenous ontology, epistemology, axiology and methodology. These beliefs influence the tools we as researchers use in finding out more about the cosmos. Like myself, other Indigenous scholars have in the past tried to use the dominant research paradigms. We have tried to adapt dominant system research tools by including our perspective into their views. We have tried to include our cultures, traditional protocols and practices into the research process through adapting and adopting suitable methods. The problem with that is that we can never really remove the tools from their underlying beliefs. Since these beliefs are not always compatible with our own, we will always face problems in trying to adapt dominant system tools to our use. I hope that my articulating the aspects of an Indigenous research

--- [p. 17] ---

health. One consequence of such studies, even though their intentions may have been good, has been the proliferation of negative stereotypes about Indigenous communities.

Another, more subtle, problem with “outsiders” researching Indigenous peoples is that there is always a comparison made between the culture of the “studied” and that of the “studier.” The language, tone and focus of research reflects this comparison, with the inevitable consequence of rating of one over the other. As proponents of a holistic view of our worlds, Indigenous scholars may recognize the holistic approach to oppression that is evident in all of the ways that Indigenous peoples are held down by research and the dominant view of knowledge and the world is upheld. It is time for Indigenous peoples and Indigenous research to break free from the hegemony of the dominant system, into a place where we are deciding our own research agendas.

In her article about the paradox of Indigenous higher education, Heather Harris (2002) addresses the issue of hegemony with a Coyote story. Stories and metaphor are often used in Indigenous societies (not just in Canada and Australia but with other Indigenous peoples around the world) as a teaching tool. Stories allow listeners to draw their own conclusions and to gain life lessons from a more personal perspective. By getting away from abstractions and rules, stories allow us to see others’ life experiences through our own eyes. This information may then be internalized in a way that is difficult for abstract discussions to achieve. Harris’s story to me illustrates just how pervasive dominant system academics have been in guiding Indigenous research and the teaching of Indigenous knowledge:

Coyote was once again fed up with running around all day in the hot sun for a few scrawny gophers and rabbits. Dirt up his nose, dirt in his eyes, and what for? Barely a mouthful. Coyote had tried getting food at the supermarket one time like the Human People do but got the shit kicked out of him for that. So, once again, he went to his brother, Raven, to ask him for advice.

Coyote said, “Raven, there’s got to be an easier way to get fed. I tried the supermarket—got beaten up. Tried to get money from welfare but came up against the Devil’s Spawn in a K-Mart dress. Nothing’s worked so far. You got any other ideas?”

“Well,” Raven said thoughtfully, “the White Humans seem pretty well fed and they say that the key to success is a good education. Maybe you could go to school.”

“Hmmm,” Coyote mused, “maybe I’ll try it. Couldn’t hurt.”

Well, Coyote went off to the city to the university because that’s where Raven said adults go to school.

In a few days Coyote was back.

--- [p. 18] ---

“Well my brother,” Raven inquired, “did you get your education?”

“Not exactly,” Coyote replied, “education is as hard to get as a welfare cheque. To get an education like the teachers at the university takes at least 10 years—that’s a Coyote’s entire lifetime—and, in the end, you don’t get paid much anyways.”

“When I got to the university they asked me what program I was in. I didn’t know so they sent me to this guy who told me about the programs. I kinda liked the idea of biology—if I learned more about gophers maybe they’d be easier to catch. I liked the idea of engineering—maybe I could invent a great rabbit trap. But in the end I settled on Native Studies. Now that’s something I can understand—I’ve known these guys for thousands of years, even been one when it suited me.”

“So I went to my Introduction to Native Studies course and, can you believe it, the teacher was a white guy? Now how much sense does that make? I saw native people around town—any one of ’em has got to know more about native people than some white guy.”

“When I asked this guy what Indian told him the stuff he was saying, he said none—he read it in a book. Then I asked who the Indian was who wrote the book. And he said, it wasn’t an Indian, it was a white guy. Then I asked him what Indian the guy who wrote the book learned from and the teacher got mad and told me to sit down.”

The next day I went to my Indians of North America class. I was really looking forward to meeting all those Indians. And you know what? There was another white guy standing up there and not an Indian in sight. I asked the teacher, “Are we going to visit all the Indians?” He said, No. So I asked him, “How are we going to learn about Indians then?” And he said, just like the other guy, from a book written by a white guy. So I asked him if I could talk to this guy who wrote the book and the teacher said, “No, he’s dead.”

“By then, I was getting pretty confused about this education stuff but I went to my next class—Indian Religions. And guess what? When I went in, there wasn’t another white guy standing up at the front of the room—there was a white woman!”

“I sat down and I asked her, ‘Are we going to the sweatlodge?’ ‘No.’ ‘Sundance?’ ‘No.’ ‘Yuwipi?’ ‘No.’ ‘Then how are we going to learn—no wait, I know—from a book written by a dead white guy! I’m starting to get the hang of this education business.”

“So then I go to my Research Methods class thinking I’ve got it figured out. In this class the teacher (you’ve got it—another white guy) said that our research must be ethical, that we must follow the

--- [p. 19] ---

guidelines set out by the university for research on human subjects. The rules are there, my teacher said, to protect the Indians from unscrupulous researchers. Who made these rules I asked—you guessed it—a bunch of white guys. They decided we need protecting and that they were the ones to decide how best to protect us from them. So I told my teacher that I wanted to interview my father. The teacher said, you’ve got to ask the ethics review committee for permission. What?! I’ve got to ask a bunch of white guys for permission to talk to my own dad? That can’t be right. I was confused all over again.”

“So I sat down and thought about all this for a long time. Finally I figured it out. If white guys teach all the courses about Indians and they teach in the way white people think, then to find Indians teaching the way Indians think, all I had to do was give up Native Studies and join the White Studies program!” (pp. 194–196)

Purpose of the Book#

The main focus of this book rests with the positive effects of maintaining, transmitting and clarifying an Indigenous way of doing and being in the research process—the basis of an Indigenous research paradigm.

The development of an Indigenous research paradigm is of great importance to Indigenous people because it allows the development of Indigenous theory and methods of practice. For example, in the field of Indigenous psychology, Indigenous people will be the ones to decide what is “normal” or “abnormal,” or if that distinction even needs to exist. A strong Indigenous research paradigm can provide ways to celebrate the uniqueness and glory of Indigenous cultures, while allowing for the critical examination of shortcomings. It will encourage a greater appreciation of Indigenous history and worldviews, thus allowing Indigenous peoples to look towards the future while neither demonizing nor romanticizing the past. This study is also important for non-Indigenous people, as it will assist in the understanding of Indigenous issues, cultures and values. Just like Coyote in his quest for knowledge, students should have the choice of studying “Native” issues that are researched and presented from an Indigenous paradigm.

There is a common recognition by workers in the fields of human services, education, health, criminology and psychology, to name a few, that Indigenous peoples, whether in Canada or Australia, present a different set of needs and necessitate a different way of doing business in the service industries (Coleman, 1998; Davidson, 1995; Novins et al., 1997; Reynolds-Turton, 1997; Ross, 1992). In an attempt to meet these different needs, investigations, royal commissions, specialized programs and staff cultural training have been advanced. A few examples of these initiatives help to justify the need for an Indigenous research paradigm.

--- [p. 21] ---

lead to research methods that are more fully integrated with an Indigenous worldview. The social sciences will be enriched as this understanding extends to the general community.

The theoretical framework underlying this study assumes that there are common aspects within the research paradigms of Indigenous peoples in Canada and Australia, and the research aims to determine what these common aspects are. Through searching out the similarities in the beliefs underlying the research of Indigenous scholars in Canada and Australia, it is hoped that a shared Indigenous research paradigm may be developed.

As stated in the foreword and conclusion, the study that this book is based upon aimed to answer the following questions:

a) What are the shared aspects of the ontology, epistemology, axiology and methodology of research conducted by Indigenous scholars in Australia and Canada; and b) How can these aspects of an Indigenous research paradigm be put into practice to support other Indigenous people in their own research?

It is important to remember that this book looks for similarities between aspects of a research paradigm for Indigenous peoples and will not compare Indigenous ideas, theories or beliefs with the dominant system. It is not possible for me to use an assimilated view (i.e., to try to conduct this research as a white researcher would) in order to try to understand successful Indigenous research. It is important for me to use an Indigenous viewpoint while conducting and writing up this research, in order that a legitimate and comprehensive understanding of an Indigenous research paradigm is reached.

The next chapter discusses how this research question developed, followed by a brief review of literature. Rather than attempt a comprehensive review of the multitude of research paradigms and methodologies that an Indigenous research paradigm might draw upon for support, the literature review focuses on the stages through which Indigenous research has progressed.

This chapter explored my personal reasons or motivation for conducting and writing up this research. Through the pre-existing relationship I share with my sons, I hope that you have formed a stronger relationship with me, the researcher and scribe. I also provided an academic rationale for the research, described its purpose and the research question that I intend to address. Thus armed with motivation, rationale and purpose for this study, I venture forth into my research saga.

--- [p. 33] ---