Unapologetically Indigenous: Understanding the Doctoral Process through Self-Reflexivity

Abstract

As a K’awaika & Diné, I revisit my writings to answer a life-informing question, as opposed to just a research question, of how relationships inform and disrupt my meaning-making of being unapologetically Indigenous in the academy. To answer this question, I offer a series of personal stories and relatives to reconnect to what it means to navigate the doctoral process. Through relationality as a methodology, I connect two sets of stories to disrupt the linear and forward-moving underpinnings of the doctoral process. I connect stories to highlight three dimensions, i.e., authenticity, vulnerability, and intentionality, to develop what it means to be unapologetically Indigenous in the academy.