Becoming a Beauty Way Researcher: Living a Methodology of Hózhó

• In Event: Indigenous Pathways in a Doctoral Degree: Creating Lived Methodologies Centered in Community

Abstract

Diné scholar Charlotte Davidson (2018) shares stories from her journey becoming a Beauty Way Researcher through the development of a Methodology of Beauty, which she describes as a“beauty-centered politic of research inquiry” (p. 36). Following her example, I place myself within the genealogy of Diné scholars who carry out research from a beauty-centered positionality tracing all the way back to the first beings in Diné Bahane’ (Diné Creation Stories) and presently recreated in the sacred endeavor of Sa’ah Naagháí Bik’eh Hózhóón. Diné scholar, Vangee Nez (2018) says “[Sa’ah Naagháí Bik’eh Hózhóón] cannot be known only by one person, or one teaching, or one way of knowing, because it has many forms of interpretation. But all are aiming for the same outcome—walking in beauty and creating harmony and compassion for all living things” (p. 27). I utilize a Methodology of Hózhó (beauty) to live out Sa’ah Naagháí Bik’eh Hózhóón through research and to define what it means to “walk in beauty” through the academy.

Having spent the majority of my youth within the intellectual and ceremonial spaces of my Diné community, entering the spaces of higher education and western academia was a daunting experience. However, through the guidance of my Indigenous academic elders, I have come to better understand my position as a researcher from the perspective of my peoples’ epistemological lens. The articulation of this Methodology of Hózhó came out of my own experiential knowledge, the guidance of these elders and ancestors, and continuous conversations with my sister scholars.
I use Nêhiyaw and Saulteaux scholar, Margaret Kovach’s (2021) definition of methodology “to describe both the thinking and doing aspects of conducting research” (pp. 42-43) and draw inspiration from Opaskwayak Cree scholar Shawn Wilson (2008), who states “for Indigenous people, research is a ceremony,” (p. 60) to describe a Methodology of Hózhó. From a Diné epistemological lens I see the thinking (philosophy) reflected in the cyclical process of t’áá shá bik’ehgo na’nitin (the Sun Wise Path Teachings) and the doing (method) as the utilization of the appropriate tools and medicines contained within a Diné person’s jish (medicine bundle).

By following the patterns of the natural and celestial world, t’áá shá bik’ehgo na’nitin guides individuals to develop a reverence for self, others, and nature, and a respect for the cycles of life. Within research, these philosophical teachings describe a process by which researchers can think through how to carry out research in a proper manner. By developing a knowledge-base of different research methods and their appropriate use and procedures, researchers add to their academic jish they rely on in the doing of research. Together, these two concepts describe a Methodology of Hózhó and guide me in my journey to becoming a Beauty Way Researcher.

Author

• Sarena Gray, University of Oklahoma