1. October 10, 2014 Joseph P. Gone, Ph.D. Montana State University / University of Michigan

2.  Introducing Myself  Who I am  What I do  Where I’m from  How I know October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association2

3.  Share preliminary reflections  Raise general questions  Offer gentle critiques  Stimulate further progress October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association3

4.  Caveats  Tailored to academic knowledge production  Based on preliminary exposure & experience  Subject to future reconsideration & revision October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association 4

5.  Structure  Ten Postulates of Indigenous Research Methodologies (IRMs)  Three Key Questions for Proponents of IRMs  Eight Persistent Misgivings about IRMs  Two Take-Away Ideas about IRMs October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association 5

6. Unpacking the Rationale: Ten Statements October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association6

7.  #1. Indigenous epistemologies (IEs) existed prior to European contact  #2. Europeans brought their epistemologies with them  #3. Colonization included eradication, suppression, & displacement of IEs October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association7

8.  #4. But differentiable & distinctive IEs continue to exist today  #5. Universities have been dominated by “Western” epistemologies & associated research practices October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association8

9.  #6. Indigenous academics are poised to challenge this dominance by incorporating IEs into their research practices  #7. Research activities based on IEs require alternative methodologies & methods October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association9

10.  #8. Such IRMs prescribe distinctive ways of conducting inquiry that will yield novel insights & answers  #9. These novel insights & answers are better for improving Indigenous lives than results from Western research October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association10

11.  #10. Academic acceptance & recognition of IEs & IRMs is an important moral, ethical, & political goal  Fair & accurate distillation?  Open for later discussion October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association11

12. Revisiting Indigenous Epistemologies October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association12

13. October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association13

14. October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association14  Castellano’s (2000) Indigenous Traditional Knowledges  Sources ▪ Traditional teachings ▪ Empirical knowledge ▪ Revealed knowledge

15. October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association15  Castellano’s (2000) Indigenous Traditional Knowledges (cont)  Characteristics ▪ Personal ▪ Oral ▪ Experiential ▪ Holistic ▪ Narratively conveyed

16.  What is an Indigenous Epistemology (IE) in specific & concrete terms?  How comprehensive, coherent, constructive, & consensual must these knowledge practices be?  What are the differences between & among various basic terms within this discussion?  How distinctive must IEs be from “Western” approaches?  How could pre-contact IEs survive until today? October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association16

17.  Who is an Indigenous “knower”?  What are attributes of Indigenous knowers?  What is the relationship between identities & practices relative to IEs?  How can academic knowers access IEs?  Can non-Natives become indigenous knowers? October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association17

18.  How should we study, describe, & represent IEs?  What qualifies particular Indigenous scholars to access IEs for academic purposes?  What is the methodology by which Indigenous scholars should recover IEs?  How could IEs be so ready-made for university-based knowledge production?  What are the sociopolitical, ethical, & economic implications of studying & writing about IEs? October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association18

19. True Confessions of Cautious Concern October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association19

20.  Participates in untenable ethnoracial & cultural essentialism?  Emphasizes form much more than findings?  Promises beyond what it delivers in terms of novel insights & answers? October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association20

21.  Insulates inquiry from skeptical interrogation?  Resituates research as identity expression rather than knowledge contribution?  Obscures intellectual debts to “Western” critical theories & approaches? October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association21

22.  Misdirects attention from material decolonization?  Marginalizes existing (but non-academic) Indigenous knowledges? October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association22

23. Some Concluding Thoughts October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association23

24.  Unlikely that IEs are very well-suited for university-based knowledge production  Requires a great deal of repackaging, recasting, or reconstruction of these knowledge traditions  Who?  How? October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association24

25.  IRMs adopted by & for Indigenous peoples are best characterized as Métis forms of inquiry  Most of what endures as IEs is already mixed  Importing IEs into the university further mixes it  How would re-conceptualizing the IRM project as Métis change this knowledge endeavor?  How would re-labeling IRMs as Métis change our promotion of them? October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association25

26.  For more information about my scholarship (& to download my publications), please visit my website at: http://gonetowar.com  Thank You! October 10, 20142014 Meeting of the American Indigenous Research Association26