Finding our ‘good way’: critical reflections on researching disability, connection, and community from an Indigenous perspective

ABSTRACT

From our standpoints as Indigenous and ally researchers in the social sciences and socio-legal field, we offer an autoethnographic, reflexive account of a three-year research collaboration about close relationships, disability, and social connection. After engaging in one structured reflection exercise, several informal reflective conversations, and a pipe ceremony that marked the beginning of our next research endeavour together, we outline three emergent issues, each representing a point of struggle that ultimately became a strength in our research approach and contributions to knowledge. We also put forward a fourth issue that emerged in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and that has deeply shaped our research and reflection since. Our paper is intended to function as both a specific examination of lessons learned and knowledge generated in our experience of community-engaged Indigenous research, and also as a broader ensemble of principles that can be useful for doing thoughtful and critical reflective practice from an Indigenous perspective. We maintain that, taken together, the issues and principles we bring forth help to clarify how reflection on Indigenous research can assess whether and how we are doing our work in a ‘good way,’ and exemplify an approach that strives to empower communities while generating new knowledge.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous perspectives
• qualitative research
• disability
• relationships
• community
• knowledge translation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Knudson

Sarah Knudson is an Associate Professor of Sociology at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan. She teaches in the areas of families and research methods, and also enjoys the challenge of teaching introductory sociology. Her main research focus is partnering and intimate relationships across the life course, and she is also interested in young adults’ goal-setting and transition to independence. She is a strong supporter of research that works in partnership with communities.

Kelley Bird-Naytowhow

Kelley Bird-Naytowhow is Cree from Montreal Lake reserve/Sturgeon Lake, Saskatchewan. He has completed an Indigenous Social Work degree at First Nations University of Canada in Saskatoon and currently focuses on working within the community of Saskatoon alongside youth. Kelley chooses to work with methodological teachings such as the medicine wheel, talking/healing circles, ceremonies such as the sweatlodge, fasting, the sundance, yarning, ethical space, and two-eyed seeing. His works appear in a variety of scholarly journals and other outlets.

Tamara Baldhead Pearl

Tamara Baldhead Pearl is a Nēhiyaw iskwew (Plains Cree woman) from One Arrow First Nation, Saskatchewan. She has a B.A. in Anthropology and J.D. and LL.M. degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, and is beginning a Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Saskatchewan where she will explore the role of community engagement in the recruitment of Indigenous post-secondary students. She was born and raised in Saskatoon’s inner-city neighborhoods, which informs her passion for creating a more equitable legal landscape. Tamara has also worked as a research assistant in Indigenous community-driven projects, where she has contributed to the betterment of local communities and used her legal analytical skills.