About
In print since 1971, the American Indian Culture and Research Journal
(AICRJ) is an internationally renowned multidisciplinary journal
designed for scholars and researchers. The premier journal in
Native American and Indigenous studies, it publishes original scholarly papers and book reviews on a wide range of issues in fields ranging from history to anthropology to cultural studies to education and more. It is published three times per year by the UCLA American Indian Studies Center.
Volume 47, Issue 1, 2024
Special Issue: Community-Based Inquiry from within Indigenous Early Learning Communities of Practice
Front Matter
Articles
The Wisdom of Plants: Guides in a Journey of Community-Based Inquiry
The COVID-19 global pandemic brought many stressors that greatly impacted communities on many different levels, and in the shadow of these stressors were opportunities to innovate. This was especially true for early learning communities, and specifically for Indigenous early learning communities. From a foundation of Community-Based Inquiry, I aim to tell my story as a first time director at Daybreak Star Preschool where our process of healing and re-membering Indigenous practices with preschool children is rooted in land-based pedagogy and curriculum. This process built a momentum for our early learning community to move from a place of simply surviving the pandemic, to a place where we could thrive in reciprocity with our plant relatives and their wisdom.
“Why Don’t We Try Something New?”: How Indigenous Educators Supported One Another in Leaning Toward in Community-Based Inquiry
What would the impact be on Indigenous practitioners’ viewpoints if they had access to resources pertinent to Indigenous education and make the information they learn from these resources relevant to their community? How can a teacher push through problematic rhetoric and obstacles when committing to Indigenous youth’s education? This article presents these questions, showing how a group of Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho educators dialogued about education and teaching. When these educators dedicated time to discuss Indigenous education resources, they were able to lean toward in community-based inquiry and dream about curriculum that centered Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho beliefs.
Łe:k’iwhlaw ‘O:lts’it: Knowledge-Gathering as a Methodological Approach to Na:tinixwe-Based Inquiry
This article will highlight the ways in which my community, the Hoopa Valley Tribe (Na:tinixwe), and I have taken part in our own Community-Based Inquiry project with youth in our community. Our Na:tinixwe-based inquiry approach, Łe:k'iwhlaw'o:lts'it (knowledge-gathering), is a careful and intentional process which prioritizes sustained relationships. Knowledge-gathering consists of a three-part process of Ch’idilwa:wh (Conversations), łe:ne:tł'-te (meetings), and Ye-silin [(Re)envisioning Praxis Camps]. Using our project as a case study, I then reflect on important connections between the ways that we and other communities have done this important work.
Centering Community, Indigenous Relationships, and Ceremony through an Alaska Native Collaborative Hub to Prevent Suicide and Promote Youth Wellbeing
The Alaska Native Collaborative Hubfor Research on Resilience (ANCHRR) engages Indigenous leadership at all levelsin a strength-based study to deepen our understanding of community levelprotective factors in Indigenous communities, which are the collectiveinfluences shaping individual wellbeing across time. Overall, ANCHRR aims toposition Alaska Native Tribes, Tribal organizations, and community members asthe guides for culturally responsive research that is aligned with communitypriorities of increasing resilience and wellbeing among Alaska Native youth andreducing their suicide risk. Our approach brings together Indigenous knowledgeand research methods that humbly draw attention to the solutions that alreadyexist within communities. An Indigenous paradigm shifts the approach from asingular focus on individuals and their risks and deficits, to appreciation forthe cultural, community and systemic ways in which community members support,care for, and guide their young people into adulthood. We describe the lessonslearned about this unique approach to Indigenous leadership and community engagementand discuss the research processes that keep the relational heart-work at thecenter of every project activity. This capacity-building, mutually beneficialand relational approach offers new insights to knowledge development endeavors.
From the Light of Rainbows: Growing the Spiralic Garden of Community-Based Inquiry and Co-Learning
This paper considers my relationship as a co-learner (i.e., evaluator) with the Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative (IELC). I draw on my history of relations and conversations with IELC partners and explore what it means to be a co-learner along a number of dimensions (e.g., roles, responsibilities, reciprocity). Throughout the paper, I discuss the use of metaphor and story as forms of knowing that can support co-learning and Community-Based Inquiry in consequential ways. I conclude by reflecting on what it means to listen for and hear goodness as a co-learner.