Abstract


 Within this article, I share a story of four generations of my family and community coming together through pow wow dancing. I present the storying and re-storing of Indigenous scholarly engagement through pow wow regalia making and dance to accomplish two things: 1) to center Indigenous knowledge, kinship and community work through scholarship; and 2) to generate merit and value in the good work in which Indigenous scholars engage. Our creative and cultural selves are often excluded in terms of what receives value and merit in collective agreements. The academy wants us to teach, publish, and engage in community service. My community service is often within Indigenous kinship and community service where I engage in creativity and expressive arts. Evaluations of our tenure attribute value, credit, and merit for work produced, service generated, and research conducted steeped in a eurowestern definition of scholarly work. We theorize about the significance and importance of our culture and traditions; however, our families and communities’ practices are regarded as external and outside of the eurowestern academic contexts. This article brings together the knowledge of preparing for and dancing in a pow wow as valued and good work of Indigenous scholars within the academy. It calls attention to a need to revise systems of value and merit in a manner that benefits Indigenous scholars’ whole knowledge systems. 
 

Highlights

  • Within this article, I share a story of four generations of my family and community coming together through pow wow dancing

  • Many times over the years, I have felt like my whole indigeneity did not fit within the academy primarily because academia “obviates the need for spiritual guidance and inspiration, and it promotes head thinking over heart thinking (Stonechild, 2020, p. 167)

  • There still does not seem to be any value placed on all parts of who I am that contribute to my role as an Indigenous scholar

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Summary

Introduction

I share a story of four generations of my family and community coming together through pow wow dancing. Academia and colonial evaluation criteria within the academy omit placing value on the good work Indigenous scholars carry out in restoring Indigenous knowledge within kinship and community systems.

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