Subject Librarian
Indigenous Knowledges
Indigenous Knowledges are Traditional Knowledges or knowledge that comes from a community. Indigenous methodologies are increasingly being used in research.
Indigenous Knowledges (IK):
- Are transmitted from generation to generation
- Emerge from complete knowledge systems
- Are expressed in many formats. eg. oral, ceremony, artistic creations, artifacts, etc
- Are not all in the past; there is continued growth, innovation and change in practices
- Include history, law, spirituality, agriculture, environment, science, medicine, animal behaviour and migration patterns, art, music, dance, craft, construction, and more
Indigenous research methods:
- Challenge the notion of neutrality of the researcher
- Aim to animate postcolonial institutions with Indigeneity
- Challenge the assumptions of domination, patriarchy, racism
- Are increasingly accepted in academic institutions
Finding IK resources
Issues in using Indigenous Knowledge resources include:
- Assessing the quality of the information without peer review
- Ethics requirements for obtaining information directly from people
Primary sources
Many assignments require the use of primary sources, and Indigenous Knowledge resources can often be used. These might be:
- Community-produced materials and information
- Images of traditional clothing, regalia, activities
- Recordings / digital versions of traditional practices (Ceremonies are not usually photographed or recorded and if they are, it may not be appropriate to use them.)
- Oral pieces
Suggested sources:
Indigenous Methodologies - Suggested Reads
Sources and Methods in Indigenous Studies - Chris Andersen & Jean M. O'Brien
Sources and Methods in Indigenous Studies is a synthesis of changes and innovations in methodologies in Indigenous Studies, focusing on sources over a broad chronological and geographical range. Written by a group of highly respected Indigenous Studies scholars from across an array of disciplines, this collection offers insight into the methodological approaches contributors take to research, and how these methods have developed in recent years.
Decolonizing Methodologies - Linda Tuhiwai Smith
This essential volume explores intersections of imperialism and research - specifically, the ways in which imperialism is embedded in disciplines of knowledge and tradition as 'regimes of truth.' Concepts such as 'discovery' and 'claiming' are discussed and an argument presented that the decolonization of research methods will help to reclaim control over indigenous ways of knowing and being.
Kaandossiwin: How We Come to Know - Kathleen E. Absolon
In exploring the ways Indigenous researchers use Indigenous methodologies within mainstream academia, "Kaandossiwin" renders these methods visible and helps to guard other ways of knowing from colonial repression.
Research Is Ceremony - Shawn Wilson
Describing a research paradigm shared by indigenous scholars in Canada and Australia, this study demonstrates how this standard can be put into practice. Portraying indigenous researchers as knowledge seekers who work to progress indigenous ways of being, knowing, and doing in a constantly evolving context, this examination shows how relationships both shape indigenous reality and are vital to reality itself.
Indigenous Methodologies - Margaret Kovach
What are Indigenous research methodologies, and how do they unfold? Indigenous methodologies flow from tribal knowledge, and while they are allied with several western qualitative approaches, they remain distinct. These are the focal considerations of Margaret Kovach's study, which offers guidance to those conducting research in the academy using Indigenous methodologies. Kovach includes topics such as Indigenous epistemologies, decolonizing theory, story as method, situating self and culture, Indigenous methods, protocol, meaning-making, and ethics.
Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit - Marie Battiste
Chronicling the negative consequences of forced assimilation, racism inherent to colonial systems of education, and the failure of current educational policies for Aboriginal populations, Battiste proposes a new model of education, arguing the preservation of Aboriginal knowledge is an Aboriginal right. Central to this process is the repositioning of Indigenous humanities, sciences, and languages as vital fields of knowledge, revitalizing a knowledge system which incorporates both Indigenous and Eurocentric thinking.