Introduction

Weblog entries one, two and three follow the three discussion headings for the module. Weblog entry four focuses on indigenous research methodologies while weblog five takes a look at indigenous researchers and their research on colonization.

For my first entry, I decided to include two categories centering on identity and capability. For the first section, I selected one article dealing with the question of identity and a second article on human development. For the second section, I selected two websites, on indigenous development. While broad in context, they do help to contribute to the overall discussion on issues important indigenous people.

Indigenous Identity and Contrasting Societal Values

• Jeff J. Corntassel, Who is Indigenous? ‘Peoplehood’ and Ethnonationalist Approaches to Rearticulating Indigenous Identity, 2003 (pdf file)
• Björn-Sören Gigler, Indigenous Peoples, Human Development and the Capability Approach, 2005 (pdf file)

Indigenous Peoples, Human Development and the Capability Approach

• Human Development and Capability Association: Development as Freedom (website)
• Asia Indigenous Peoples’ Pact (website)

Traditional Culture, Technology and Youth

The disconnect between indigenous youth and their traditional culture is an important issue amongst indigenous peoples. They are always looking for ways to combat this problem. Here are a few worth exploring.

• Jasmine Bruce, Indigenous Youth, (pdf file)
• Cara Heaven & Matthew Tubridy, Highly Affected, Rarely Considered: Global Youth, Culture and Youth Identity, (pdf file)
• Unknown, Natives on the Electronic Frontier (posting)

Contemporary Indigenous Identities

Indigenous people continue to seek ways to communicate their identity to their people and to others. Whether it’s through a website or a community event or through the fine arts, attempts are being made by indigenous peoples to reconnect but on their own terms. The following sites are worth a visit because they show how indigenous peoples are attempting to reach out and connect with others in the global community.

• Canada’s World Canada (website)
• Indian Country Today American (website)
• Contemporary Indigenous Theatre in Australia, Australian (weblog)

Indigenous Research Methodologies – Canadian Perspective

Canada has a large indigenous population. Like indigenous people elsewhere in the world, the research based on their people has also been tainted by European colonization thinking. These earlier methodologies are also in a state of change. Review some of the following information for a Canadian perspective on appropriate aboriginal research methodologies.

• Simon Brascoupé and Howard Mann’s A Community Guide to Protecting Indigenous Knowledge, Ottawa, 2001(pdf file)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Aboriginal Research Pilot Program, Government of Canada (website)
• Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins’s Research Models, Community Engagement, and Linguistic Fieldwork: Reflections on Working within Canadian Indigenous Communities, Victoria, 2009 (pdf file)

Indigenous Researchers and Research on Colonization

The push by researchers to decolonize research methodologies is truly a global phenomenon. On such researcher leading the charge is Linda Tuhiwai Smith. An Associate Professor in Education and Director of the International Research Institute for Maori and Indigenous Education at the University of Auckland, her 1999 book, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples, explains how previous research on indigenous peoples was biased towards European colonialism. Smith then offers some suggestions as to how this research should be conducted.

Other suggested readings include:

• John Dougherty’s review on Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples (Review)
• Kü Kahakalau’s Indigenous Heuristic Action Research: Bridging Western and Indigenous Research Methodologies, Hawaii, 2004 (pdf file)
• Elizabeth Tchacos’s Research in Aboriginal Communities: Cultural Sensitivity as a Prerequisite Australia, 2004 (pdf file)