Indigenous Methodologies in International Research on Indigenous Family and Community Engagement

Indigenous research methodologies have been theorized by prominent Indigenous scholars over the past few decades and advocated for in research focused on Indigenous communities for their emancipatory power to reestablish Indigenous peoples’ expertise and self-determining and sovereignty rights over education and research. Western intrusion in Indigenous education and community focused research through colonial schools and Western research methodologies has negatively impacted the schooling experiences of Indigenous children, their families and communities, as well as the ways they are studied and depicted in research. Responding to calls for Indigenous methodologies in research focused on Indigenous communities, this literature review introduces an Indigenist Methodological Framework, developed from canonical scholarship on Indigenous methodologies, that we use to explore the applications (and potential misapplications) of Indigenous methodologies in 20 international studies about Indigenous family and community engagement. We aimed to determine if adherence to the elements of an Indigenist Methodological Framework served to disrupt extractive, exploitative, and damage-centered practices in and portrayals of Indigenous communities (common in Western research methodologies). Further, we critically analyzed the findings of these studies to see if they offered more culturally responsive and strength-based conceptualizations of Indigenous families and communities. We uncovered applications and misapplications of Indigenous methodologies that impacted researchers’ commitments to and actions towards establishing and maintaining relational accountability throughout and beyond the research while also influencing findings that, in most cases, challenged narrow and deficit-based perceptions and portrayals of Indigenous students, families, and community members.