Research With Older Adults in American Indian ¹ Communities – Understanding Knowledge, Power and Practice

Abstract

Current research about American Indians of all ages is in short supply, yet design and allocation of public services and resources are increasingly guided by ‘evidence’ provided by research. The health and wellness of this population is persistently poorer than that of other marginalized populations. American Indian tribes have been beset progressively since the earliest arrival of European settlers by both malevolent and well-intentioned assaults on their cultures and peoples. This long history of cultural and physical genocide continues into the present and undermines the effectiveness of Eurocentric processes for research that have been shaped by values and beliefs antithetical to those of most tribes (e.g. individualism, proprietary ownership, science as the way of knowing). Individual and collective historical trauma is present in all of the more than 500 federally recognized tribes in the United States of America, and a lack of trust further compromises the validity and positive impact of most research. This chapter describes the roots and foundations of flawed and successful research and identifies practical resources and approaches that are valid and beneficial for conducting research with indigenous people. The processes described in this chapter are grounded in the experiences of tribes in the United States of America; however, parallel experiences of indigenous populations that have a continuing legacy of trauma are found in many other countries (such as in Brazil and New Zealand) and the insights and approaches found in this chapter may be applicable to some degree.

Citation

Holley, L.M. and Mokuta, A. (2023), "Research With Older Adults in American Indian ¹ Communities – Understanding Knowledge, Power and Practice", O'Sullivan, R. (Ed.) Ethics and Integrity in Research with Older People and Service Users (Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity, Vol. 9), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 147-168. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-601820230000009008