Research Reports
Reflections on Traditional American Indian Ways, 1998
Threats to Tribal Sovereignty, 1998
Traditional American Indian Leadership: A Comparison with U.S. Governance, 1997
Reflections on Traditional American Indian Ways
A caveat to the paper
We made a major departure from the scientific realm of research when we chose not to tie individual report participant's names to each commentary in this report. This was a conscious effort and was done on purpose. We understand that a move like this may cause legitimacy of the paper to suffer. But so be it. It is the content of the paper that is important, not telling who said what. It is important to learn in the elders' way by listening to what they have to say.
Traditional scientific research modalities are specific and detailed and would prefer to have names of individuals tied directly to quotes. Moreover, such modalities are linear in design so that the reader may follow in sequential fashion. Conversely, American Indians have subscribed to and have sought out spiritual and traditional ways which forces them to learn from experience; they view matters from a broad perspective; more like global thinkers, i.e., seeing things from a wider perspective. This method of learning does not fit the scientific research paradigm. Perhaps A.C. Ross said it best in his book, Mitakuye Oyasin, "we are all related." He wondered, why had he not heard the traditional Indian stories from the elders? They told him, "you never asked." Many of the elders we talked to were never asked, or interviewed, in a way they could respect.
We decided to ask. The thoughts that went into conceiving this project come from real life experiences. The elders we spoke to were born and raised in the Second World War era when nearly all Indians lived on Indian reservations. The Indian cultural environment back then was relatively intact and an Indian person was virtually immersed in the culture.
The
Well-Being of American Indian Children in Minnesota: Economic Conditions,
1994
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