Research In Native Communities Research Articles

A Review of Indigenous Perspectives in Animal Biosciences.

This article addresses the underrepresentation of Indigenous perspectives in animal sciences by challenging the exclusive use of Western scientific paradigms in research and education. Because of the systematic exclusion of Indigenous peoples, Indigenous perspectives have rarely been represented through empirical study, leading us to believe this is a key reason for the underrepresentation of Native people in these fields. We conducted a literature review, searching for Indigenous contributions in animal sciences and finding a handful of articles in three areas: human-animal bonds, genetic testing and breeding programs, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Given the interconnected paradigm of Indigenous worldviews, we suggest that the ongoing siloes of scientific disciplines and the hierarchy of methodology contribute to the dearth of Indigenous perspectives. We suggest increased support for proper tribal consultation, contextualization of the history of research in Native communities, and the creation of scholarly spaces to support these conversations.

Women finding the way: American Indian women leading intervention research in Native communities.

Although there is literature concentrating on cross-cultural approaches to academic and community partnerships with Native communities, few address the process and experiences of American Indian women leading federally funded and culturally grounded behavioral health intervention research in Native communities. This paper summarizes relevant literature on community-engaged research with Native communities, examines traditional roles and modern challenges for American Indian women, describes the culturally grounded collaborative process for the authors' behavioral health intervention development with Native communities, and considers emergent themes from our own research experiences navigating competing demands from mainstream and Native communities. It concludes with recommendations for supporting and enhancing resilience.

Growing Our Own: Building a Native Research Team

In 2006, American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) made up less than 1% of the science, engineering and health doctorates in the U.S. Early introduction of AI/AN students to research and continued opportunities are necessary to develop successful AI/AN researchers who can better serve their communities. This team was developed to form a cohort of American Indian students, staff and faculty interested in research and becoming researchers. Since implementation, the program grew from one student to over 20 AI students ranging from freshmen just entering college to doctoral students working to complete their dissertations. This article highlights the team growth, increasing structure, student needs and the faculty and staff involved. It further addresses the support and educational aspects of growing an ongoing, multidisciplinary research team committed to ethical research in Native communities. The team addresses substance use prevalence, the relationship of substance abuse to other mental health diagnoses, and treatment issues. The team includes weekly team meetings, a Blackboard site on the Internet that is populated with resources and focused on sharing materials and information, a weekly journal club discussion of research articles, and collaborative discussions on each project and the barriers and challenges that need to be addressed to move forward.

The Indigenous Researcher as Individual and Collective: Building a Research Practice Ethic within the Context of Indigenous Languages

The Indigenous Researcher as Individual and CollectiveBuilding a Research Practice Ethic within the Context of Indigenous Languages Gail Dana-Sacco (bio) We Indigenous scholars can exercise more proactive leadership by practicing critical introspection and building strength and capacity from within our communities. By critical introspection I mean a regular, rigorous, reflective self-evaluation process in which we consider our Indigenous research and scholarship practice in the context of our accountability to the collective. This evaluation should consider how Indigenous languages can inform our practice. It's not enough to ask only how we can be supportive of tribal communities; we must also practice personal accountability to our communities. We bring ourselves into the work with all our strengths, limitations, and complexities. Recognizing personal accountability to the larger collective is a humbling experience that helps us to understand not just who we are in the community but the legacy of our families and all the sacrifices large and small that have been made on our behalf. I wish to illustrate how the complex, vibrant, textured interweaving of a reflexive Indigenous research practice that examines our relationships with Indigenous languages can contribute to building self-determining communities. Reflexivity in qualitative research requires critical reflection on the linguistic and ideological underpinnings of the researcher experience.1 Critical introspection enables us to recognize where we are standing and should prompt us to transgress the implicit boundaries of a colonial legacy that devalues Indigenous knowledges contained in our languages. In this article I describe my experience as an Indigenous researcher conducting dissertation research on Passamaquoddy ideas of health and decision making in my home community and how these can be applied [End Page 61] in contemporary tribal health decision-making processes. Sibyig nil noojayow, wabubanakig nil noodagudum. I come from Sibyig, on the edge, I'm related to the people of the dawn. Here I reflect on my practice of applied Indigenous scholarship, focusing on how my position, inextricably situated within the collective, informed my research process. I describe my self-examination process, using a critical frame of reference, in dialogue with community members. A careful examination of the data collected in my dissertation research and my responses to the research process revealed four salient themes of translation, reciprocity, disclosure, and reconciliation. I discuss how I recognized and negotiated the themes and offer my perspective as I struggled to understand and center Indigenous language and its teachings in my research. Ludwewognun wooleepeesuniw. Our language has good medicine. Background Improving Health Research Practice in Native Communities Much of the social science literature about how to conduct research in Native communities is directed to non-Native researchers and to achieving more culturally competent practice. Tribal participatory research (TPR), for example, which is applied in psychology but could be used in other disciplines, incorporates best practices and synthesizes existing theory into a model that includes active involvement of Native communities through tribal oversight, use of a facilitator for research meetings with the tribe, training community members as project staff, and the use of culturally specific intervention and assessment procedures.2 Other researchers suggest ways to reflect Indigenous values and practices using existing approaches. For example, qualitative research approaches can include processes that value the wisdom of elders, utilize narrative as a form of data, and recognize the importance of relationships and of serving the Indigenous community's interests.3 The use of phenomenological research methodologies that rely on narrative to reflect Indigenous knowledge can inform culturally appropriate health promotion strategies.4 Grounded theory approaches have been successfully applied to study Indigenous concepts of health and to design culturally relevant tribal health interventions.5 Individual and group interview data have been utilized to inform the development of culturally appropriate interventions in suicide prevention and smoking cessation.6 [End Page 62] Building relationships and credibility with a broad representation of community members are essential elements of a successful research practice in Indigenous communities.7 These approaches to health research hold promise for addressing challenges to community health in ways that reflect community concerns and interests. Some observers attribute advances in empirical research methods utilized in American Indian/Alaska Native health research to the shift toward participatory research designs.8...

Genetic Research in Native Communities

People are living longer because of advances made through biomedical research. The challenge in genetic research on indigenous peoples is that it raises a complex range of legal, ethical, social, spiritual, and political issues. The current research paradigm is one of paternalism and biocolonialism. Such was the case of the Havasupai, who believed their blood samples were to be solely used for their collective benefit and well-being, and Native Hawaiians, who are opposed to genetically modified taro. Pertinent questions that should be considered before conducting research with and amongst Native communities include:* Is there informed consent or the need for re-consent?* Is cultural knowledge respected?* Are indigenous beliefs, values, and practices taken into account?* Is there potential for group harm?* Is there accountability to community?Establishing a community Institutional Review Board may be the most effective means toward achieving equal and ethical treatment in population/group-based research. Research should be about ethically rigorous processes and effectively tailored interventions that address community needs, interests, and values.

Research Methods as a Situated Response: Towards a First Nations' Methodology

In this paper the author writes in retrospect about her experience of researching the creation of a culture-based curriculum in a tribal community. She is situated in the community as both an insider and an outsider, represented in this article through the use of an academic voice spliced with a narrative voice. Both her research problem and methodology emerged as a response to the community. The methodology she used was inspired by a wide range of cultural and academic traditions. Finally, rather than prescribing a particular formula for research in Native communities, she is suggesting that the model of a ''situated response,'' particular and dependent on context, would ground research in community, as well as academic, concerns.

Research methods as a situated response: Towards a First Nations' methodology

In this paper the author writes in retrospect about her experience of researching the creation of a culture-based curriculum in a tribal community. She is situated in the community as both an insider and an outsider, represented in this article through the use of an academic voice spliced with a narrative voice. Both her research problem and methodology emerged as a response to the community. The methodology she used was inspired by a wide range of cultural and academic traditions. Finally, rather than prescribing a particular formula for research in Native communities, she is suggesting that the model of a ''situated response,'' particular and dependent on context, would ground research in community, as well as academic, concerns.