Research Is Ceremony: The Evolution Of Indigenous Research Methodology With The Swinomish Tribe, From 2006 And 2023
Abstract
This paper traces the evolution of Indigenous research methodologies conducted with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, contrasting a 2006 study that used co-researchers, grounded in Tribal Participatory Research, with a 2023 study guided by an Indigenous research paradigm. Drawing on Indigenous epistemologies, storytelling, talking circles, and tribal co-researchers, the work emphasizes relationality, respect, reciprocity, and cyclical validation using focus groups, member checking, and tribal oversight to ensure cultural appropriateness and trustworthiness of themes and attributional interpretations of student success. By situating methodology within Indigenous ceremony and worldview, the authors critique the earlier Tribal Participatory Research framing, document a deliberate shift toward community-led agenda setting and shared decision-making, and articulate how Indigenous paradigms integrate ontology, epistemology, axiology, and methodology into a unified, reciprocal research practice that centers Swinomish voices and accountability.