Skip to main content
Intended for healthcare professionals
Restricted access
Research article
First published online November 1, 2013

Indigenous Storytelling as Research

Judy IsekeView all authors and affiliations
Volume 6, Issue 4
https://doi.org/10.1525/irqr.2013.6.4.559

Abstract

Story is a practice in Indigenous cultures that sustains communities, validates experiences and epistemologies, expresses experiences of Indigenous peoples, and nurtures relationships and the sharing of knowledge. Storytelling is also a central focus of Indigenous epistemologies, pedagogies, and research approaches. Excerpts from discussions by Métis Elders, whose stories and histories are shared, suggest a complex mindfulness and require “deep respect” in research (Iseke & Brennus, 2011, p. 247). Elders’ stories inform discussions of (a) storytelling types (mythical, personal, and sacred), (b) storytelling as pedagogical tools for learning about life, (c) storytelling as witnessing and remembering, and (d) sharing stories of spirituality as sources of strength. Discussions follow.

Get full access to this article

View all access and purchase options for this article.

Get Access

References

Absolon (Minogiizhigokwe), K. E. (2011). Kaandossiwin: How we come to know. Halifax: Fernwood.
Google Scholar
Archibald J.-A. (2008). Indigenous storywork: Educating the heart, mind, body, and spirit. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Google Scholar
Barnhardt R., & Kawagley A. O. (2005). Indigenous knowledge systems and Alaska Native ways of knowing. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 36, 8–23.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Cajete G. (1994). Look to the mountain: An ecology of Indigenous education. Durango, CO: Kivaki Press.
Google Scholar
Cajete G. (2000). Native science: Natural laws of interdependence. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light.
Google Scholar
Castellano M. B. (2000). Updating Aboriginal traditions of knowledge. In Dei G. J. S., Hall B. L., & Rosenberg D. G. (Eds.), Indigenous knowledges in global contexts: Multiple readings of our world (pp. 21–36). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Google Scholar
Daniels-Fiss B. (2008). Learning to be a Nêhiyaw (Cree) through language. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 2, 233–245.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Dei G. J. S. (2011). Indigenous philosophies and critical education: A reader. New York: Peter Lang.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Deloria V. Jr. (1998, June). Sacredness among Native Americans. In Deloria V. Jr., & Stoffle R. W. (Eds.), Native American sacred sites and the Department of Defense (pp. 19–28). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved from http://www.denix.osd.mil/na/upload/Native-American-Sacred-Sites-and-the-DoD.pdf
Google Scholar
Denzin N. K., Lincoln Y. S., & Smith L. T. (Eds.). (2008). Handbook of critical and Indigenous methodologies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Dion S. D. (2004). (Re)telling to disrupt: Aboriginal people and stories of Canadian history. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 2(1), 55–76.
Google Scholar
Dion S. D. (2009). Braiding histories: Learning from Aboriginal peoples’ experiences & perspectives. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Google Scholar
Ellerby J. H. (2001). Working with Aboriginal elders: An introductory handbook for institution-based and health care professionals based on the teachings of Winnipeg-area Aboriginal elders and cultural teachers. Winnipeg: Native Studies Press, University of Manitoba.
Google Scholar
Ermine W. (1995). Aboriginal epistemology. In Battiste M., & Barman J. (Eds.), First Nations education in Canada: The circle unfolds (pp. 101–112). Vancouver: UBC Press.
Google Scholar
Felman S., & Laub D. (1992). Testimony: Crises of witnessing in literature, psychoanalysis, and history. London: Routledge.
Google Scholar
Haig-Brown C., & Dannenmann K. (2002). A pedagogy of the land: Dreams of respectful relations. McGill Journal of Education, 37, 451–468.
Google Scholar
Hendry P. M. (2007). The future of narrative. Qualitative Inquiry, 13, 487–498.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Iseke J. (2008). A living history of Metis families as told by Dorothy Chartrand [Video file]. Retrieved from www.ourelderstories.com/films/
Google Scholar
Iseke J. (2010a). Importance of Metis ways of knowing in healing communities (with input from Tom McCallum, Albert Desjarlais, Alma Desjarlais, George McDermott, and Mila Morris). Canadian Journal of Native Education, 33(1), 83–97.
Google Scholar
Iseke J. (2010b). Grandmothers of the Metis Nation [Video file]. Retrieved from www.ourelderstories.com/films/
Google Scholar
Iseke J. (2010c). Understanding what life is about: Storytelling with Tom McCallum [Video file]. Retrieved from www.ourelderstories.com/films/
Google Scholar
Iseke J. (2011a). Indigenous digital storytelling in video: Witnessing with Alma Desjarlais. Equity and Excellence in Education, 44, 311–329.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Iseke J. (2011b). How the spirit moves with Albert Desjarlais [Video file]. Retrieved from www.ourelderstories.com/films/
Google Scholar
Iseke J. (2013). Spirituality as decolonizing: Elders Albert Desjarlais, George McDermott, and Tom McCallum share understandings of life in healing practices. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 2(1), 35–54.
Google Scholar
Iseke J., & Brennus B. (2011). Learning life lessons from Indigenous storytelling with Tom McCallum. In Dei G. J. S. (Ed.), Indigenous philosophies and critical education (pp. 245–261). New York: Peter Lang.
Google Scholar
Iseke J., & Desmoulins L. (2011). Spiritual beginnings of Indigenous women's activism: The life and work of the Honourable Thelma Chalifoux, White Standing Buffalo. Canadian Woman Studies, 29(112), 24–34.
Google Scholar
Iseke J., & Moore S. (2011). Community-based Indigenous digital storytelling with elders and youth. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 35(4), 19–38.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Iseke J., & Ndimande B. (in press). Negotiating, sustaining, and nurturing Indigenous languages: Narratives from Canada and South Africa. International Multilingual Research Journal.
Google Scholar
Iseke-Barnes J. (2009). Grandmothers of the Metis Nation: A living history with Dorothy Chartrand. Native Studies Review, 18(2), 69–104.
Google Scholar
Iseke-Barnes J., & Danard D. (2006). Indigenous knowledges and worldview: Representations and the Internet. In Dyson L. E., Hendriks M., & Grant S. (Eds.), Information Technology and Indigenous People (pp. 27–37). Hershey, PA: Idea Group.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Kawagley A. O. (1995). A Yupiaq worldview: A pathway to ecology and spirit. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Google Scholar
King T. (2003). The truth about stories: A Native narrative. Toronto: House of Anansi Press.
Google Scholar
Kovach M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations, and contexts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Google Scholar
LaDuke W. (2005). Recovering the sacred: The power of naming and claiming. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
Google Scholar
Lewis P. J. (2006). Stories I teaeh∧live by. Qualitative Inquiry, 12, 829–849.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Lewis P. J. (2011). Storytelling as research/Research as storytelling. Qualitative Inquiry, 17, 505–510.
Crossref
Google Scholar
McAvoy L. (2002). American Indians, place meaning and the Old/New West. Journal of Leisure Research, 34, 383–396.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Michell H. (2005). Nēhîthâwâk of Reindeer Lake, Canada: Worldview, epistemology and relationships with the natural world. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 34, 33–43.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Portman T. A. A., & Garrett M. T. (2006). Native American healing traditions. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, S3, 453–469.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Ratt S. (2001). A Woods Cree grammar and workbook. Lac La Ronge: Cree Language and Culture Programming Curriculum Resource Unit, Canada.
Google Scholar
Simon R. I., Eppert C., Clamen M., & Beres L. (2000). Witness as study: The difficult inheritance of testimony. The Review of Education/Pedagogy/Cultural Studies, 22, 285–322.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Simon R. I., Rosenberg S., & Eppert C. (Eds.). (2000). Between hope and despair: Pedagogy and the remembrance of historical trauma. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Google Scholar
Smith L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. London: Zed Books.
Google Scholar
Vizenor G. (1992). North American Indian literature: Critical metaphors of the Ghost Dance. World Literature Today, 66, 223–227.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Wilson S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Halifax, NS: Fernwood.
Google Scholar
Young M. I. (2005). Pimatisiwin: Walking in a good way, a narrative inquiry into language as identity. Winnipeg: Pemmican.
Google Scholar

Cite article

Cite article

Cite article

OR

Download to reference manager

If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice

Share options

Share

Share this article

Share with email
EMAIL ARTICLE LINK
Share on social media

Share access to this article

Sharing links are not relevant where the article is open access and not available if you do not have a subscription.

For more information view the Sage Journals article sharing page.

Information, rights and permissions

Information

Published In

Volume 6, Issue 4
Pages: 559 - 577
Article first published online: November 1, 2013
Issue published: November 2013

Keywords

  1. Indigenous storytelling
  2. Indigenous research
  3. story types
  4. storytelling pedagogies
  5. witnessing
  6. Indigenous spirituality

Rights and permissions

© 2013 International Institute for Qualitative Inquiry.
Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Metrics and citations

Metrics

Journals metrics

This article was published in International Review of Qualitative Research.

VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICS

Article usage*

Total views and downloads: 3166

*Article usage tracking started in December 2016

Articles citing this one

Receive email alerts when this article is cited

Web of Science: 0

Crossref: 67

  1. Kapori: researching local responses to sorcery accusation–related viol...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  2. Nishtam Niwiipitan (My First Teeth): Oral Health Digital Stories from ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google ScholarPub Med
  3. Using Science Fiction and Design Thinking in Workshops to Share Resear...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  4. Learners’ Perspectives on ARCH + STEM: Integration of Archaeology and ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  5. Episteme and Ecology: Amitav Ghosh’s The Living Mountain...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  6. Literacy and Photography as Tools to Propel Stories of Self-Leadership...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  7. Muhasebe Eğitiminde Hikâyeleştirme (Storytelling) Ve Uygulama Öneriler...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  8. Nanny’s Dolly: Using Storytelling to Explore the Residential School Ex...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  9. Elevating the Uses of Storytelling Methods Within Indigenous Health Re...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  10. “Entre encantados e outras criaturas sobrenaturais”: A identidade ling...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  11. Empowering Indigenous Communities Through a Participatory, Culturally ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  12. Dismantling power asymmetries in disaster and emergency management res...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  13. What is Intergenerational Storytelling? Defining the Critical Issues f...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  14. Exploration of inter-jurisdictional TB programming and mobility in a C...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  15. Australian Aboriginal children talking culture: what does ‘seeing’ Cou...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  16. Creating Oneness—Ceremonial Research
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  17. Indigenous research methodologies in water management: learning from A...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  18. “You Should Know the Name of the Wind Where You Live”—Relationality an...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  19. The Role that Cultural Plays in Fostering Educational Sovereignty for ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  20. Implementing genuine participatory action research with Aboriginal Eld...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  21. Storying Indigenous (Life)Worlds: An Introduction
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  22. Out-of-school girls’ lives in Zimbabwe: what can we learn from a story...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  23. Decolonising the school experience through poetry to foreground truth-...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  24. Performing goodness in qualitative research methods
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  25. Sex Trafficking of Black Girls: A Critical Race Theory Approach to Pra...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  26. At the Beginning of the Curve: Social Work Education and Indigenous Co...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  27. Insourcing the Indigenous Without Outsourcing the Story Teller: A Sust...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  28. Decolonisation of Research Methodologies for Sustainable Development i...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  29. Global Disruptive Communication: The Thin Line Between Destruction and...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  30. Digital Preservation of Indigenous Knowledge in South African Rural Co...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  31. Storying Traditions, Lessons and Lives: Responsible and Grounded Indig...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  32. “You Look at an Ocean; I See the Rips, Hear the Waves, and Feel the Cu...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  33. Why the Navajo Nation was hit so hard by coronavirus: Understanding th...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  34. The “Sociological Equation”: Intersections Between Street Sex Workers’...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  35. Understanding Determinants of Hunting Trip Productivity in an Arctic C...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  36. Decolonising the Urban Screen: An Argument and Approach for First Peop...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  37. Miskâsowin—Returning to the Body, Remembering What Keeps Us Alive
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  38. Reclaiming Mountain Lake: Applying environmental repossession in Biigt...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  39. Universal/Particular Beliefs, Values, and Principles
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  40. Recognizing indigenous farming practices for sustainability: a narrati...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  41. Valuing Indigenous Research Paradigms in the Context of Language Acqui...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  42. More than words: A documentation and a morphological analysis of an in...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  43. Elevating the uses of storytelling approaches within Indigenous health...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  44. Community Archaeology at the Trowel's Edge
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  45. “But the Law Won’t Help Us”: Challenges of Mobilizing Law 348 to Addre...
    Go to citation Crossref Google ScholarPub Med
  46. Archives of Pain, Methodologies of Care: Caring for the “Gold” and “Di...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  47. Queer Use of Psychoanalytic Theory as a Path to Decolonization: A Narr...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  48. Unsettling the taken (for granted)
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  49. Indigenous systems of knowledge and transformative learning practices:...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  50. Engaging Communities and Government in Biodiversity Conservation and C...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  51. “Just because they aren't human doesn't mean they aren't alive”: The m...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  52. Recommended methodologies to determine Australian Indigenous community...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  53. Resisting the “Tyranny of an Expert”
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  54. A Pathway to “Becoming”
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  55. Hip-hop and Decolonized Practices of Language Digitization among the C...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  56. Indigenous Resurgence, Regeneration, and Decolonization through Sport ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  57. Navigating the Politics of the Academe
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  58. The Teacher Testimony Project: A Research, Pedagogical, and Advocacy V...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  59. Stories Blending, Flowing Out: Connecting Teacher Professional Learnin...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  60. Visual metaphor and visual tools in accounting education
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  61. Traditional storytelling: an effective Indigenous research methodology...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  62. An Indigenous Research Narrative: Ethics and Protocols Over Time and S...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  63. The Research Vignette...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  64. The Indigenization of Photovoice Methodology...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  65. Digital stories as a tool for health promotion and youth engagement
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  66. In the Garden of the Sexes
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  67. Critical Advocacy Perspectives on Organization in Higher Education
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar

Figures and tables

Figures & Media

Tables

View Options

Get access

Access options

If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:

Alternatively, view purchase options below:

Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.

Subscribe to this journal

Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.

Start 2 week free trial
Need help?

View options

PDF/ePub

View PDF/ePub
Download PDF

Also from Sage