Indigenist Research

Indigenist research is a form of social enquiry based on the principles and philosophies of indigenous peoples, adopted by indigenous people and designed to be conducted by indigenous people within their own communities. Its primary purpose is to allow indigenous people to represent their worlds in ways they can only do for themselves, using their own processes to express experiences, realities and understandings that are unique to indigenous society, history and culture. It achieves this purpose by drawing on indigenous philosophical understandings of the world and places itself against what is seen as an imposed (Western) view that does not acknowledge indigenous ontology and epistemology. It is an inherently political activity that critiques the assumptions of colonial constructions and understandings of indigenous society and culture.

Indigenist research comprises a range of methodologies for engaging individuals and communities in research, usually from an intra-society perspective [Page 430]rather than for external interests. It presents a culturally specific way of empowering indigenous people as the creators and collectors of knowledge and information rather than as the providers of information to others. Furthermore, its core purpose is to allow indigenous communities to engage in creating their own history and understandings of culture in ways that are internally consistent with the ontologies and epistemologies of that culture and that deeply engage with their experience of events and social process, expressing them in language, narrative and styles that are culturally appropriate. It provides the intellectual context, language and rationale for research as a whole-of-life and fundamentally political engagement with the world. In this way, it reflects the principles of action research, allowing for context-specific communal self-development and empowerment amongst indigenous communities. This entry reviews the history and development of indigenist research and the epistemological foundations and principles of this form of research, emphasizing the importance of social relationships in indigenist research. It then examines the relationship between indigenist research and action research and the role of indigenist research in achieving positive change.