‘Naadmaadmi’: reflections of Aboriginal community members engaged in sport psychology co‐researching activities with mainstream academics

Abstract

When attempting to work with people from Indigenous cultures, mainstream researchers often encounter cultural differences, mistrust and a general resistance to community research. These challenges have emerged within the sport psychology domain as a consequence of mono‐cultural, Eurocentric research paradigms, which have marginalised Indigenous populations and disconnected community members from their traditional teachings and values. The current project was developed out of a partnership among mainstream academics and Aboriginal community members in northern Ontario, Canada, who have been engaged in sport psychology co‐researching activities for six years. The purpose of the current study was to elicit Aboriginal community members’ reflections of engaging in research with mainstream academics, based on past experiences as well as more recent efforts among the current bicultural team. The overarching intent was to encourage mainstream researchers interested in working within the Aboriginal community to adopt culturally reflexive practices that are meaningful from the local standpoint and to resist traditional mono‐cultural approaches. Conversational interviews were employed with nine Aboriginal community members who were also engaged as co‐researchers throughout the project. The community co‐researchers delineated negative and positive research experiences and outlined the specific strategies that contributed to each. A community composite vignette was developed as a narrative supplement to the data and reflects a unique and culturally relevant process within the study.