Indigenous data, indigenous methodologies and indigenous data sovereignty

ABSTRACT

The field of Indigenous methodologies has grown strongly since Tuhiwai Smith’s 1999 groundbreaking book Decolonizing Indigenous Methodologies. For the most part however, there has been a marked absence of quantitative methodologies with the methods aligned with Indigenous methodologies predominantly qualitative. This article proposes that the absence of an Indigenous presence from Indigenous data production has resulted in an overwhelming statistical narrative of deficit for dispossessed Indigenous peoples around the globe. Using the theoretical concept of Indigenous Lifeworlds this article builds on the core premises of Walter and Andersen’s 2013 book Indigenous quantitative methodologies. Arguing for a fundamental disturbance of the Western logics of statistical data the article details recent developments in the field including the emergence of the Indigenous Data Sovereignty movement. The article also explores Indigenous quantitative methodologies in practice using the case study of a Tribal Epidemiology Centre in New Mexico.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous
• Indigenous data
• Indigenous quantitative methodology
• Indigenous data sovereignty

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

There are no applicable Funding Agency acknowledgements related to this article or disclosure statement.

Notes on contributors

Maggie Walter

Maggie Walter (PhD) is palawa, descending from the pairrebenne Aboriginal people of North Eastern Tasmania. She holds the dual roles of Professor of Sociology and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Aboriginal Research and Leadership at the University of Tasmania. Maggie teaches and publishes in the fields of race relations, inequality and research methods and methodologies. Her books include the bestselling edited Social Research Methods (2006, 2009, 2013 OUP);Indigenous Statistics: A Quantitative Methodology (2013, co-authored with C. Andersen, Routledge) and most recently Indigenous Children Growing up Strong (2017 co-edited with K.L. Martin and G. Bodkin-Andrews, Palgrave McMillan).

Michele Suina

Michele Suina, PhD is from the Pueblo of Cochiti tribe located in New Mexico, USA and is the Program Director for the Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country Program at the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Centre. She has nearly 20 years of experience as a health educator and chose this career to contribute to the vitality of Indigenous peoples and to influence western approaches to public health for Native Americans so they can realize their own self-defined health aspirations. In 2015, Michele graduated from Arizona State University School of Social Transformation with the Pueblo PhD Justice Studies cohort.