Indigenous Methodologies

Smith, Linda T. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books, 1999.

This book is a pillar in the promotion of harmony and collaboration between indigenous communities and research institutions. Smith’s discipline hopes to emphasize the context of research problems and possible implications for communities involved. She explores the history and power relations of research institutions while offering revolutionary thinking that works in a space of decolonization. The book bridges research and community in a way that invites researchers and activists to reconsider imperial methods of engaging with indigenous peoples.

Kovach, Margaret. Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts. University of Toronto Press, 2010.

By deciphering the distinction from western qualitative approaches, Kovach’s study offers researchers a guide to indigenous methodologies, epistemologies, decolonizing theory, and protocol. The book is useful for familiarity with the principal discourse and supplements the theory with stories from multiple perspectives by indigenous researchers. Students may reference the book for innovative approaches to methods and ethics in the emergent discourse. The author’s own experiences and meaning-making is fundamental to the development of the discourse.

Wilson, Shawn. 2008. Research is ceremony: indigenous research methods. Black Point, N.S.: Fernwood Pub.

Maintaining accountability in research is a central theme of this book by demonstrating how a standard of indigenous scholarship can be put into practice. This overview proves that careful choices should be made regarding selection of topics, methods of data collection, forms of analysis, and the way in which information is presented.

Denzin, Norman K., Yvonna S. Lincoln, and Linda Tuhiwai Smith. 2008. Handbook of critical and indigenous methodologies. Los Angeles: Sage.

New forms of critical theories and multiple indigenous perspectives inform this critical text. The authors explore the indigenous and non-indigenous voices that inform research, politics, and social justice.