Description
Jimena Márquez is a multidisciplinary Mexican/Canadian scholar. She has over ten years of teaching experience, most recently in the Indigenous Studies program at McGill University. She received her PhD from the University of Ottawa. Her research focused on Indigenous Canadian scholarship across disciplines, looking specifically at Indigenous Epistemologies and Methodologies and the crucial role that positionality plays in Indigenist research. She is currently the Assistant Director in charge of developing culturally relevant programs for Nunavik at Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the Inuit school board in charge of Inuit education in Northern Quebec.
This timely and engaging volume brings together eight remarkable, leading, and emerging Indigenous scholars from various fields in conversation with author Jimena Márquez to critically assess the state of Indigenist research in a post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission era. Through ten thematically organized chapters, Márquez uses a multigenerational dialogical lens to explore what work has been done over the last decade, what shifts are taking place now, what’s in store for the future of the field, and who should take on this valuable work and how they can be held accountable to Indigenous communities.
Topics include the core principles of Indigenist research, intellectual integrity, identity-shifting strategies still present in academia, and the consequences of misguided approaches. Through these candid conversations, students and researchers will get a rare view into the complexities of decolonial scholarship and the responsibilities it entails. Woven together and contextualized by Márquez, the discussions converge on a shared direction forward and offer a tool for critical reflexivity to support readers in decolonizing their own research practices.
Designed to be accessible and thought-provoking, this is an ideal resource for students beginning their journey into Indigenous research methodologies, as well as for student researchers who might already have an Indigenist project in mind.
Features:
The text is structured around candid, in-depth conversations with senior and emerging Indigenous scholars, including Dr. Shawn Wilson, Dr. Kathy E. Absolon, Dr. Lynn Lavallee, Dr. Kundoqk, Dr. Jacquie Green, Dr. Gladys Rowe, Dr. Damien Lee, Dr. Debby Wilson Danard, and Sandra Owén:nakon Deer, whose work is foundational to Indigenous research methodologies worldwide. Their lived experience, critical reflections, and collective vision offer students rare access to the thinking behind the theory,
This book contains helpful instructor tools such as thoughtful discussion questions for individual and group reflection, further readings curated by field experts, and suggested assignments that include positionality and reflexivity work.
This is a practical resource that helps students move from performative “decolonizing” language to accountable practice that is suitable for a wide range of course levels.