Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:16:35.735Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Applying Indigenist Research Methodologies in Health Research: Experiences in the Borderlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Vicki Saunders ,
Roianne West  and
Kim Usher
Vicki Saunders
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Nutrition, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
Roianne West
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Nutrition, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
Kim Usher
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Nutrition, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
Get access

Abstract

For Indigenous scholars in health sciences, finding “ways of doing” research that value Indigenist knowledge is an important consideration. Indigenist research methodology offers a useful alternative to mainstream research approaches that draw upon orthodox Western knowledge systems. However, as Indigenous research approaches have only recently entered the academic discourses of health science, few courses currently exist to support Indigenous students and their supervisors who work in this area. While negotiating Indigenist methodologies is challenging, more Indigenous scholars are recognising the importance of doing so. This paper will outline some of the issues experienced by two Indigenist research students coming to terms with the relevance of an Indigenist research approach to their study, as well of those of their supervisor, the third author of the paper.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 39 , Issue S1: Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Knowledge: Dialogue Or Conflict In The Academy? , 2010 , pp. 1 - 7
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Clandinin, D. J., & Rosiek, J. (2007). Mapping a landscape of narrative inquiry: Borderland spaces and tensions. In Clandinin, D. J. (Ed.), Handbook of narrative inquiry: Mapping a methodology (pp. 35–76). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.) (pp. 1–32). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2008). Introduction: Critical methodologies and Indigenous inquiry. In Denzin, N. K., Lincoln, Y. S. & Smith, L. T. (Eds.), Handbook of critical and Indigenous methodologies (pp. 1–20). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Henry, J., Dunbar, T., Arnott, A., Scrimgeour, M., Matthews, S., Murakami-Gold, L., & Chamberlain, A. (2002a). Indigenous research reform agenda: Positioning the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health. Links Monograph Series: 1. Casuarina, NT: Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health.Google Scholar
Henry, J., Dunbar, T., Arnott, A., Scrimgeour, M., Matthews, S., Murakami-Gold, L., & Chamberlain, A. (2002b). Indigenous research reform agenda: Rethinking research methodologies. Links Monograph Series: 2. Casuarina, NT: Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health.Google Scholar
Houston, S., & Legge, D. (1992). Editorial: Aboriginal health research and the national Aboriginal strategy. Australian Journal of Public Health, 16(2), 114–115.Google Scholar
Humphery, K. (2000). Indigenous health and Western research discussion paper No. 2. Melbourne, VIC: VicHealth1 Koori Health Research & Community Development Unit, Centre for the Study of Health & Society, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Humphery, K. (2001). Dirty questions: Indigenous health and “Western research”. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 25(3), 197–202.Google Scholar
Karnieli-Miller, O., Strier, R., & Pessach, L. (2009). Power relations in qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 19, 279–289.Google Scholar
Kincheloe, J. (2001). Describing the bricolage: Conceptualizing a new rigor in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 7, 697–692.Google Scholar
Kincheloe, J. L., & McLaren, P. (2003). Rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), Thelandscape of qualitative research (2nd ed.) (pp. 433–488). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Kincheloe, J. L., & Steinberg, S. R. (2008). Indigenous knowledges in education: Complexities, dangers, and profound benefits. In Denzin, N. K., Lincoln, Y S. & Smith, L. T. (Eds.), Handbook of critical and Indigenous methodologies (pp. 135–156). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Kirmayer, L., Brass, G., & Tait, C. (2007). The mental health of Aboriginal peoples: transformations of identity and community. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 45, 607–616.Google Scholar
Ladson-Billings, G. (2003). Racialized discourses and ethnic epistemologies. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research (2nd ed.) (pp. 398–432). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Lafrance, J., & Bastien, B. (2007). Here be the dragons! Reconciling Indigenous and Western knowledge to improve Aboriginal child welfare. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 3(1), 105–126.Google Scholar
Lather, P. (1991) Feminist research in education: Within/against. Geelong, VIC: Deakin University Press.Google Scholar
Lavallee, L. F., & Poole, J. M. (2009). Beyond recovery: Colonization, health and healing for Indigenous people in Canada. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction, 8(2), 271–281.Google Scholar
Laycock, A., with Walker, D., Harrison, N., & Brands, J. (2009). Supporting Indigenous researchers: A practical guide for supervisors. Darwin, NT: Collaborative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health.Google Scholar
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (2003). Ethics: The failure of positivist science. In Lincoln, Y. S. & Denzin, N. K. (Eds.), Turning points in qualitative research: Tying knots in a handkerchief (pp. 219–238). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.Google Scholar
Mayo, K., Tsey, K., & the Empowerment Research Team (2009). Research dancing: Reflections on the relationships between university-based researchers and community-based researchers at Gurriny Yealamucka Health services Aboriginal Corporation, Yarrabah, Discussion Paper No. 8. Darwin, NT: Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health.Google Scholar
Nakata, M. (1998). Anthropological texts and Indigenous standpoints. Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2, 3–12.Google Scholar
Nakata, M. (2002, August). Indigenous knowledge and the cultural interface: Underlying issues at the intersection of knowledge and information systems. Paper presented at the 68th IFLA Council and General Conference, Glasgow, Scotland.Google Scholar
Nakata, M., Nakata, V., & Chin, M. (2008). Approaches to the academic preparation and support of Australian Indigenous students for tertiary studies. TheAustralian Journal of Indigenous Education, 37(S), 137–145.Google Scholar
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). (1990) Guidelines on ethical matters in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing.Google Scholar
Rigney, L. I. (1997). Internationalisation of an Indigenous anti-colonial cultural critique of research methodologies: A guide to Indigenist research methodology and its principles. The Joumalfor Native American Studies, 74(2),109–121.Google Scholar
Rigney, L. I. (2001). A first perspective of Indigenous Australian participation in science: Framing Indigenous research towards Indigenous Australian intellectual Sovereignty. Kauma Higher Education Journal, 7, 1–13.Google Scholar
Rigney, L. I. (2006). Indigenist research and Aboriginal Australia. In Goduka, I., Nomalungelo, I., & Kunnie, J. (Eds.), Indigenous people's wisdoms and power: Affirming our knowledges through narrative (pp. 32–50). London: Ashgate Publishing.Google Scholar
Smith, L. T. (1999) Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press.Google Scholar
Smith, L. T. (2005). On tricky ground: Researching the native in the age of uncertainty. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.) (pp. 85–108). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Smith, R. (2001). Editorial: Measuring the social impact of research; Difficult but necessary. British Medical Journal, 323(7312), 528.Google Scholar
Sommerville, M. (2007). Postmodern emergence. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 20(2), 225–243.Google Scholar
Sonn, C., Bishop, B., & Humphries, R. (2000). Encounters with the dominant culture: Voices of Indigenous students in mainstream higher education. Australian Psychologist, 35(2), 128–135.Google Scholar
West, R., Saunders, V., & Usher, K. (2009, December). Finding our voices: Using Indigenist research methodology within a PhD. Paper presented at the Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Knowledge Conference (ISIK), Perth, Australia.Google Scholar