Indigenous Research Methodologies and Building Coalitions

• In Event: Research and the Politics of Re/building Coalitions for Racial Justice Leadership and Advocacy in Education

Abstract

The discourse of race relations in educational practice are often couched in a White/non-White binary and serve as a foundation for limited learning and subsequent practice specific to a majoritarian gaze. Indeed, a conversation around coalitions that reflect racial justice and advocacy in education would need to come from specific communities who are engaged toward change in order to avoid inappropriately essentializing community identity. Though the spaces of gathering often happen as a result of such essentialism, coalitions have developed and will continue. The challenge is to ground change in the identities and value systems of the change makers, as opposed to the majoritarian systems that we work within, which is certainly easier said than done. There are inter and intra – group phenomenon to navigate. Borrowing from the liberatory scholarship of various critical race theorists, the ideas that are set forth are becoming of the intent of social justice action according to Asian, Black, LatinX, and Indigenous communities. There are important connections made that prompt philosophy when reframing the conversation. This work includes one Indigenous perspective (among many).
The pervasive discourse of conflict seems to be hard-wired when it comes to people of color, particularly for North American Indigenous peoples. When approved curriculum, mass media, Hollywood, and video games are presented in the American reality, they overwhelmingly share only half of the story. These stories are most commonly couched within the context of conflict. This presentation examines the other half of the story which is a context of support and relationship. In both historical and contemporary contexts, coalitions existed. When considering the fact that Indigenous history did not start in 1492, There were times when some North American tribes supported one another building long standing and community remembered coalitions. The author presents these as examples that can inform coalitions among different racialized groups to include a modern American context, for example a recent coalition to protect water at the #NoDAPL encampment.
Important lessons from the #NoDAPL coalition consider whose protocol to follow in the context of multiple Indigenous, as well as non-Indigenous water protectors. The support provided to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe provided answers to some questions related to coalition building among racialized groups. How does one maintain cultural integrity in the environment of another? What is the reason for “adoption” and what responsibilities come with it? Finally, how do we focus on what connects us, as opposed to what makes us different from one another? These and other reflective questions will guide this theoretical and historical analysis centralized from an indigenous American counter-narrative with implications for educational leadership and advocacy.

Author

• Sweeney Windchief, Montana State University