{"title":"Gathering our medicine: strengthening and healing kinship and community","authors":"D. Findlay","doi":"10.1177/11771801231168178","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231168178","url":null,"abstract":"This article considers the terms culture and healing, critiques perpetuation of colonizing perspectives in conventional trauma-informed mental health approaches, and introduces Gathering Our Medicine, an innovative community framework created by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish; Coast Salish Peoples Indigenous to the lands of Southern British Columbia, Canada) practitioner Denise Findlay in response to the need for decolonial approaches to mental health for Indigenous communities throughout British Columbia, Canada. The framework encourages re-imagining healing and mental health practices through values such as lateral kindness that draw from distinct traditional Indigenous philosophies, ontologies, and epistemologies. By revitalizing and centring distinctive traditional knowledges about actualization, transformation, and healing, the framework provides a role for allies that disrupts the impulse to deny culpability that Indigenous scholar Susan Dion calls the perfect stranger position. Findlay provides an alternative—the imperfect friend—drawing on kinship practices as effective indirect praxis for collective healing and well-being, transforming the distanced expert into engaged community member.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45901711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hector Vazquez-Cordoba (Totonac), Jesús Alberto Flores Martínez (Masewal)
{"title":"Chikomexochitl: an Indigenous research methodology rooted in the Masewal people’s worldview","authors":"Hector Vazquez-Cordoba (Totonac), Jesús Alberto Flores Martínez (Masewal)","doi":"10.1177/11771801231168174","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231168174","url":null,"abstract":"Masewal (Indigenous people who live in the Huasteca region, Mexico) associate Chikomexochitl (seven flower or corn-child) to a ritual practice and also with the five stages of the development of corn, from seed until the harvest is completed. Just as corn grows, the five stages of the development of corn provides us with a framework to centre the importance of building relationships of trust that grow over time when doing research with Indigenous communities. First, we provide a description of the Huasteca region. We then engage in a critical discussion to challenge the dominant western positivist approach in research, which has historically served to undermine Indigenous perspectives as less valid forms of knowledge. Masewal people’s narratives give meaningful insight into the Masewal worldview and the importance of corn and the corn plant. Finally, we propose the use of Chikomexochitl as an Indigenous research methodology rooted in the Masewal worldview.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48534264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Conservation for self-determination: Salween Peace Park as an Indigenous Karen conservation initiative","authors":"A. Paul, Robin Roth, Saw Paul Sein Twa","doi":"10.1177/11771801231169044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231169044","url":null,"abstract":"States have long used protected areas to consolidate control over Indigenous Peoples’ territories, undermining community-based governance and access to resources. Despite this history, Indigenous Peoples around the world are increasingly designating their own protected areas to defend ancestral territories and assert self-determination. This paper examines Indigenous conservation politics in the Salween Peace Park in Kawthoolei, an autonomous territory of the Karen (Sino-Tibetan language-speaking peoples living primarily in Burma and along the Thai-Burma border). Local villagers and the Karen National Union envision the park as a grassroots initiative for peace in an area that has suffered decades of armed conflict between the Burmese military and the Karen movement for self-determination. Using the Salween Peace Park as a case study, we engage Indigenous scholarship on politics of recognition, resurgence, and refusal. We explore intersections and tensions between these political strategies, highlighting ways that Indigenous protected areas mobilize different forms of power to advance self-determination.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48028657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Indigenous relationality: definitions and methods","authors":"Matthew Wildcat, Daniel Voth","doi":"10.1177/11771801231168380","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231168380","url":null,"abstract":"The following seeks to advance relational research methods by providing more specificity in how relationality is defined, and by engaging commonly held refrains on relational research. Responding to concerns about Indigenous relationality being pan-Indigenous, we suggest a three-part framework that defines Indigenous relationality. First, relationality as a defining aspect of global Indigeneity; second, relational understandings that emerge from specific Indigenous nations and third, relationality as manifest within inter-Indigenous connections. Building on our definitional work, we argue that three common refrains within relational research methods should be extended. First, researchers should be able to balance a slippage between the particular context of Indigenous nations and the general context of Indigenous relationality. Second, we have to do more than simply value relationships, and consider how we use relationality for critical thinking. Finally, ensuring accountability within Indigenous research requires us to revisit how we analyze the concept of community.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47906187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The cost of Indigenous cultural safety training: examining facilitator burnout and the impacts on health and wellness","authors":"Tara Erb, C. Loppie","doi":"10.1177/11771801231168140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231168140","url":null,"abstract":"This research represents an in-depth exploration of the lived experience, demands and risks of facilitating Indigenous cultural safety and the impact it has on the health and wellness of Indigenous cultural safety facilitators. Using Indigenous and qualitative methodologies, this study gathered data from 11 Indigenous cultural safety facilitators in the Vancouver Island and Vancouver regions through in-depth interviews. Issues around training, preparation, boundaries and capacity within Indigenous cultural safety spaces were examined, as well as the resistance, harm, violence, emotional taxation, hardships and burnout often experienced by Indigenous cultural safety facilitators. With a focus on how facilitating Indigenous cultural safety affects physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellness, as well as emphasizing the high risk of burnout, this research demonstrates that Indigenous cultural safety environments can be unsafe for Indigenous cultural safety facilitators and exposes a need to explore further how social and structural supports can better protect the health and wellness of Indigenous cultural safety facilitators.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44428998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Initiating decolonization: from The Last Straw! to Whāriki","authors":"R. Quigg, Francis Kewene, K. Morgaine","doi":"10.1177/11771801231167913","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231167913","url":null,"abstract":"The board game, The Last Straw!, is part of the Aotearoa (New Zealand) public health and medical curriculum at the University of Otago. An engaging and effective teaching tool about the social determinants of health, the game falls short by being silent about Indigenous experiences. A project is underway to adapt The Last Straw! for play following an Indigenous framework, kaupapa Māori (Māori (Indigenous people of Aotearoa) approach). The game board is being redesigned as Whāriki, a woven mat. The mat represents a metaphor for life as strands of thread are woven throughout the lifecourse, and the thread characteristics impact the strength and qualities of the mat. This brief commentary outlines the first stage of adapting this resource, illustrating decolonizing the public health and medical curriculum in a way that honours and embeds te ao Māori (the Māori worldview), making them visible and intentional.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46189689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experiences of whānau Māori caring for a young child on the autism spectrum","authors":"Jessica Tupou, Chevelle Ataera, Hannah Waddington","doi":"10.1177/11771801231167652","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231167652","url":null,"abstract":"This mixed-methods study aimed to explore the experiences and goals of Māori parents and whānau (families) caring for young autistic children. Data were collected via a rōpū kōrero (focus group) and an online questionnaire, with a total of 33 parents and whānau participating in at least one phase of the study. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse rōpū kōrero data with findings used to inform the design of an online questionnaire. Questionnaire responses were summarised using descriptive statistics. Results indicate that experience and perceived helpfulness of supports varied across participants. Communication and values-based goals were a high priority for most participants, and most rated cultural goals as important. Findings highlight the value of considering parent and whānau voices, especially those from Indigenous communities.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43799020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond binaries: mixed-blood Indigenous inequalities","authors":"H. Dicks","doi":"10.1177/11771801231167654","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231167654","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores existing research related to mixed-blood Indigenous individuals in an effort to reveal a more complete picture of social inequality that exists within and between the binary categorization of Indigenous and non-Indigenous within Canada. Tracing a line through past and present discriminatory assimilationist policies, this article reveals the pervasive challenges associated with living as a mixed-blood Indigenous person in this country. Marked by a perpetual struggle to gain recognition from both Indigenous and settler populations, individuals living within this marginal identity face a structure of inequality that is little explored in contemporary research literature.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46533750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Words to deeds: localising the vision of Uluru","authors":"Sharon Louth, Veronica Bird, Joyce Bonner","doi":"10.1177/11771801231167872","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231167872","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports on the outcomes of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community–led project which sought to build a pathway to reconciliation through formulating a localised community response to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The research follows a phenomenological research design which collected qualitative data from lived experiences of the participants. Phenomenological analysis was conducted iteratively on the data where themes were identified as integral to achieve self-determination and reconciliation locally: respect, voice, truth, treaty and unity. Each theme comprised interconnected sub-themes where a Local Response to the Statement of Commitment was hewn from these results. This response will be used as a local charter to promote Memorandums of Understanding across the Fraser Coast region, Queensland, Australia, to improve life choices, control decision making and self-determination for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the region, enacting the vision of the Uluru Statement.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47516408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Colonial civilizing mission, Indigenous resistance, and witch-hunting in Anvita Dutt’s Bulbbul (2020)","authors":"Navin Sharma, P. Tripathi","doi":"10.1177/11771801231170270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231170270","url":null,"abstract":"Shashank Sinha, in his research on the practice of witch-hunting in the Adivasi (Indigenous or tribal) community of Chhotanagpur, Bengal, India, infers that witch-hunting as a practice was infused with gender and anti-colonial tensions. Relying on his data and findings about the unexpected surge of witch-hunting among the Indigenous people of Chhotanagpur, this research conducts a discourse analysis of the film text of Anvita Dutt’s film Bulbbul (Nightingale) (2020). Bulbbul explores the clash between the conventional gender roles assigned to Indian women and evolving socio-cultural standards around the equality of rights for women in the late 19th century. The film is a feminist stance on the politics of labelling rebellious women as witches and removing them through motivated witch-hunting. Through a close reading of Bulbbul, this article concludes that witch-hunting is a conscious Indigenous resistance and cultural politics in response to colonial civilizing missions in India by the British.","PeriodicalId":45786,"journal":{"name":"Alternative-An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43587267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}