What the grandfathers taught me: Lessons for an Indian country researcher

Abstract

Native scholars face several challenges when they enter research spaces. These challenges include difficulty in engaging with the broader research community because of the social and educational urgency of tribal-focused research, discouragement from using Indigenous methodologies because they are not “widely recognized,” and resisting positivist and postpositivist methodologies that marginalize Native populations. Using an autoethnographic approach, I make meaning of how the Seven Grandfathers lessons from my childhood inform my research practice. I also discuss how these lessons give me the tools to address the challenges I experience as a Native scholar and provide a holistic approach to the process of decolonizing research.