This Word is (Not?) Very Exciting: Considering Intersectionality in Indigenous Studies

ABSTRACT

Gender and intersectional approaches can provide important insights and reflections for indigenous studies. Issues related to indigenous people and communities are broad and complex. Doing research within indigenous studies has to consist of more than simply discussing indigenous identity. I argue that intersectional approaches of varying kinds provide an opportunity to understand several aspects of identity and a diverse set of issues relevant to indigenous communities. Using intersectional approaches enables one to maintain a critical focus on power. In this article, I describe indigenous studies and intersectionality separately, then move on to a discussion of how intersectionality and gender perspectives can be used within indigenous studies. The starting point for intersectional approaches as well as for indigenous studies is the margins rather than the centre. The focus of the article is on methodology, which is based on the reading of literature from indigenous methodologies, gender studies, and intersectionality. A key concept is the cultural interface, which points towards the existence of plural subject positions both for individuals and within a community.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous people
• intersectionality
• gender
• indigenous studies
• feminism
• methodology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Torjer A. Olsen

Torjer A. Olsen, PhD in religious studies (2008), is Professor of Indigenous Studies at the Centre of Sámi Studies, University of Tromsø—The Arctic University of Norway. Olsen’s research interests include issues of methodology within indigenous studies, indigenous issues in educational contexts, and indigenous Christianities. In 2015/2016, he was a visiting at Te Puna Wananga (School of Maori Education), University of Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand.