What Is Cihuatl Xicana Scholar Activism? Implications for Decolonizing Research Methodologies

• In Event: Re-Creating and Reimagining Spaces for Indigenous Feminisms: Case Studies From Five Cultural Contexts

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to reveal research as ceremony (Wilson, 2008) as an ontological approach for Cihuatl--meaning “she is woman” in Mexicano/Nahuatl, a language with Uto-Aztecan origins, pronounced see-what-- Xicana scholar activism in social science. Drawing from decolonial studies and Indigenous feminist epistemologies, a Cihuatl Xicana scholar activist ontological approach is explored by conceptualizing trenzas (Espino, Muñoz, and Marquez Kiyama, 2010; Gonzalez, 2001), or braids, that weave personal, professional and academic journeys to make a tapestry of becoming in and outside of the academy.


Xicanismo affirms the worldviews and scientific contributions of native peoples of Abya Yala, or what we know as the American continents. This affirmation stems from a critical consciousness (Freire, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 2009) that privileges the cultivation of ancestral knowledge systems (Castillo, 1994; Comas-Díaz, 2001; Moraga, 2011). Like Chicanismo’s birth as a political statement of resistance against violent otherization (Garza, 2004), Xicanismo is differentiated by the “X”, a native phoneme of Uto-Aztecan origin, pronounced “sh”. Xicanismo fluidly unfolds through the telling of identities as stories (Sfard & Prusack, 2005) rather than neatly fitting one’s identity as a static “x” inside a box.


In addition, scholar activism weaves theory and practice in research settings. As a criterion for rigor in educational research, Gutiérrez and Penuel (2014) call on scholars to make academic contributions relevant to practice in schooling communities. Scholar activism promotes longevity in social science research in that research that bridges conceptual framing, methods, findings and action links all parts of the research process in full circle. In other words, the transparency of research goals, commitments, frames of reference, guiding concepts and theories, and working assumptions (Ravitch & Riggan, 2012, p. 52) is made visible to a community of research participants through actions.


A Xicana Scholar Activist is best explored through a Xicana Sacred Space (Soto et. al, 2009), a framework that privileges indigenous and feminist epistemologies while decolonizing research methods. By developing a critical consciousness, cultivating cultural intuition (Delgado Bernal, 1998) and examining positionalities, scholar activists conduct rigorous research in education.


Using auto-ethnographic and critical reflexivity methods (Hughes, Pennington, and Makris, 2012; Pillow, 2010) to convey the processes in which the author analyzes the data to explore the central research question: How might Cihuatl Xicana scholar activism serve as a framework for decolonizing research methodologies in the academy, while meeting the standards of academe? Both theoretical and methodological frameworks are guided by accountability systems that each individual has to protect collective dignities and Mother Earth, a central aspect of revitalizing ancestral knowledge systems in one of the largest metropolitan areas of Arizona, where revitalizing ancestral knowledge systems means engaging in subversive acts.

The author analyzed 30 hours of audio transcriptions and 30 journal entries across one year of learning Mexicano/Nahuatl at the kitchen table. Themes such as storytelling and critical reflections drive the coding variables of the study. The scholarly significance of this research broadens participation in research processes, and unwinds systems of hegemony that are often taken for absolute truth.

Author

• Cueponcaxochitl Dianna Moreno Sandoval, Arizona State University