Abstract
This research examines the case of a service-learning project embedded within a CBPR-based Native American tribal nation and research university collaboration in the US. Transformative learning (TL) served as the theoretical framework by which we, the multidisciplinary research team, came to appreciate the significance of the tribal nation’s lived history and deep sense of cultural loss, as well as the social impact of the service-learning project. To date, the majority of research on transformative learning has focused on the individual. This research builds on the work of a growing cadre of TL theorists who consider the role of the collective in transformation. This is especially salient for community-focused research efforts that incorporate service-learning. In this case, we treat consciousness raising, observed through documents, direct observation and participant observation, as evidence of collective transformation. 
 
 Results indicate that the service-learning project served as a catalyst for tribal nation higher education students and tribal leaders to collectively engage in critical reflection. In doing so, both groups came to develop new, emergent views of tribal membership. Students, in particular, emerged with transformed world views and deepened cultural connections, while tribal leaders came to appreciate service-learning relative to tribal needs. We thus assert that service-learning can be a culturally appropriate, sustainable educational mechanism that has application across a wide range of Indigenous
 communities, thereby highlighting the instrumentality of this case. 
 
 The research also indicates how higher education institutions and fellow researchers oriented to CBPR may render more successful their future collaboration practices with historically marginalised communities. We advocate that service-learning be directed by the tribal nation or community in question. As such, the community’s lived experience and world view becomes the focal point of the partnership, thereby making it culturally relevant and broadening the views of other stakeholders.
Highlights
In the United States, there are 565 federally recognised Native American tribal nations, all of which experience a host of challenges: lack of economic opportunities (Cornell & Kalt 2006; Lynch & Stretesky 2012; Tighe 2014; Weaver 2012), increased rates of mental health and substance abuse (Goins et al 2012; Gone 2007; Smokowski, Evans, Cotter, & Webber 2014; West et al 2012), and continued cultural loss resulting from historic practices of genocide and legal and social marginalisation (EvansCampbell 2008; Gone 2007; Hartmann & Gone 2014; Ramirez & Hammack 2014; Writer 2001)
While the programs are for first-generation, low-income and disabled students, many of the participants are Native American. One such TRIO program is Upward Bound, which targets underrepresented students and provides them with support to help them complete high school and enter a college program (US Department of Education 2017). While these programs are helpful in orienting Native American students during their first years of college life, they do not address the specific historic or cultural needs of these students, which are likely to vary by tribal affiliation
For Indigenous communities, in particular, it is important to underscore that service-learning can be culturally appropriate if it places value on non-Westernised epistemology and values, and the lived history of specific tribal nations
Summary
In the United States, there are 565 federally recognised Native American tribal nations, all of which experience a host of challenges: lack of economic opportunities (Cornell & Kalt 2006; Lynch & Stretesky 2012; Tighe 2014; Weaver 2012), increased rates of mental health and substance abuse (Goins et al 2012; Gone 2007; Smokowski , Evans, Cotter, & Webber 2014; West et al 2012), and continued cultural loss resulting from historic practices of genocide and legal and social marginalisation (EvansCampbell 2008; Gone 2007; Hartmann & Gone 2014; Ramirez & Hammack 2014; Writer 2001). Given that Native American culture is not homogenous, Fletcher (2010) has challenged tribal nations to create educational programming based upon their own epistemological belief systems, as opposed to Westernised models It is in this vein that we consider a tribal-initiated servicelearning project as a viable mechanism for linking specific tribal community needs with academic learning. It has been shown to be an effective strategy for developing action plans that help communities improve their health or education system (Adams et al 2014; Ahari et al 2012; Castleden, Morgan & Neimanis 2008)
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