- [Narrator] Indigenous Ways of Knowing.
Considerations for Researchers
Working in Indigenous Communities:
Relationship Building and Interconnectedness.
Presented by
the Center for Native Child and Family Resilience.
Paulette Running Wolf, PhD,
enrolled Blackfeet Tribal Member,
CEO, Running Wolf & Associates
- [Paulette] One of the examples of Indigenous way
of knowing that I think is just crucially important
is relationship building.
And not just relationship building within a community,
but between the researchers
and the staff that are coming into the community.
They have to recognize
that all of those relationships are important,
and being able to understand the importance of it
is recognizing that connectedness.
- [Narrator] Relationships and accountability
to those communities are the lynchpin
of the entire research or evaluation process.
- [Paulette] And in my research on Blackfeet values,
one of the concepts that I found
that I think many tribes can respond to
or be resonant with
is the process of becoming.
And we talked about that in the roadmap article,
and that I think is so crucial
because it acknowledges how life is always changing.
Things are always growing; life, the world around us,
the environment, you know, our families,
all of that is always changing.
If we look back to 100 years ago,
it's a whole lot different.
So, I think that process of becoming
is a concept that distinguishes us from many researchers
who are coming into our communities
and don't understand the importance
of relationship building.
They come in with an agenda, it's already locked into place;
their communities have rarely had an opportunity
to contribute to that agenda, or point out,
"Yeah, that might work where you been,
"but it's not going to necessarily work here."
We have a process; we have cultural protocols.
And this is the way we'd like to do it.
- [Narrator] Learn about the unique history
of the community,
its experiences with research and evaluation, good and bad,
and any cultural protocols, formal and informal,
surrounding the planning and conduct of research activities.
- [Paulette] And I think that's really crucial,
you know, understanding that sense of belonging,
building relationships
cannot only contribute to individual connectedness,
but the community then has another opportunity
to engage and understand each other.
And the more opportunities that those happen,
such as ceremonies and events
that they've joined together to produce,
the more connected they feel, not just to their community,
but to their cultural values and beliefs.
- [Narrator] Lemyra DeBruyn, PhD.
Lemyra DeBruyn is French-Canadian
from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
She has lived and worked in Indian country since 1972.
- [Lemyra] First of all, in terms of relationship building,
I truly believe that without relationship building
and community involvement
no project is going to be successful or mean anything.
It's just not going to have the meaning,
it's not going to make a difference,
and hopefully, the goal of research and evaluation
is to make a difference in community.
- [Narrator] Researchers and evaluators
must build a relationship with the tribal community
based on trust and authenticity prior to beginning any work.
- [Lemyra] But if you break that down into the elements
that are the outcomes of relationship building,
it's ultimately trust.
And if you are able to gain the trust of the people
that you're working with,
and I never think of them as subjects, it just is beyond me
to think of community members as subjects,
so I think of them often as family.
- [Narrator] The Center for Native Child
and Family Resilience was funded by the Children's Bureau,
Administration for Children and Families,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
under cooperative agreement number 90CA1853.
The contents of this product are solely the responsibility
of JBS International Incorporated,
and do not necessarily reflect
the official views of the Children's Bureau.