Description
Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods is a recent publication by Fernwood Publishing and written by Shawn Wilson, Opaskwayak Cree from northern Manitoba currently at the Northern Rivers University Department of Rural Health, NSW, Australia. In this slim volume the author proposes a new paradigm for Indigenous Research as one that involves relationships. The book is highly accessible because the author has chosen effective Indigenous communication in the form of storytelling to accomplish his research journey. The foreword offers readers new to the idea of Indigenous relationality and relational accountability a means to understand the process. The second chapter discusses the author's research journey, definition of terms, an overview of the dominant paradigms, and his strategy of inquiry. The third chapter asks the question; can a ceremony include a literature review? This section talks about the development of an Indigenous paradigm and the criterion for Indigenous research. The fourth chapter covers the elements of the Indigenous research paradigm. The next two chapters offer explanations of the nature of relationality and relational accountability. Building and maintaining relationships with people, the land, the cosmos, and ideas are important for the Indigenous researcher. The topics selected for research and the methodology are equally important and must be considered. The final chapter details the Indigenous research paradigm in action. Readers will notice the different typeface that explores the author's approach to accessibility through scholarly research and storytelling. The book contains a bibliography.