Week 5. Indigenous Methodologies: Storytelling and Insurgent Research

Indigenous communities represent history, fight, and resistance. They struggle to obtain the recognition they deserve, the visibility of their ancestral knowledge that lasts and share the same time and space with modern society.

This type of research should focus on respect. It is a big challenge to document, analyze and disseminate their experiences, practices, and perceptions without alterations caused by the researcher's biases.

Knowledge is not only generated by social interaction, but it is also a result of the articulation of historical facts and their own particular context. Indigenous communities own particular ways of communication and interaction that must be taken into account in order to gain access to their wisdom.

I personally think that this type of research should manifest like a vocation. Researchers should carefully balance the power dynamics with the participants, making them confident of the fact that their real voices will be heard.