Masta, S. (2018). What the grandfathers taught me: Lessons for an Indian Country research. The Qualitative Report, 23(4), 841-852.
Native scholars face several challenges when they enter research spaces. These challenges include difficulty in engaging with the broader research community because of the social and educational urgency of tribal-focused research, discouragement from using Indigenous methodologies because they are not “widely recognized,” and resisting positivist and postpositivist methodologies that marginalize Native populations. Using an autoethnographic approach, I make meaning of how the Seven Grandfathers lessons from my childhood inform my research practice. I also discuss how these lessons give me the tools to address the challenges I experience as a Native scholar and provide a holistic approach to the process of decolonizing research.
Keywords: Indigenous Research, Autoethnography
Doing Indian Country Research 