Working in a tribal college on my tribal lands after being trained in research-1 institutes by the ocean has been a blessing. However, our Indigenous nations and our tribal colleges are filled with multiply layers of epistemological imperialism, perhaps even more so than institutions off the reservations. Here are a few pieces that dialogue with these complicated realities:
Sheep in the Clouds: (Re)Introductions of Sheep (2023)
In this 15 minute presentation for the 2023 Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board Conference, I present a chapter in my forthcoming book Today, We Butcher, "ONE - Sheep in the Clouds: (Re)Introductions of Sheep." This chapter encompasses how epistemological imperialism has clouded sheep’s history within Diné culture and the larger American narrative. I focus on the statement by a Diné NAU graduate student at the 2015 NNHRRB Conference who, while presenting her project on uranium contamination in sheep within the Navajo Nation, declares: "as we all know, sheep came from the Spanish."
As I present in the book: "Regardless if the source is antiquated or contemporary, Diné or non-Diné authored, the result of these Euroamerican understandings of sheep that declare sheep as a product of the Spanish within Diné culture conjures debates of cultural authenticity. These attacks, consciously or not, lead to further degradation of Diné people and Diné sheep. As this chapter explores, we as Diné scholars, when working within the realms of Diné research methodologies, have the responsibility to engage ontologically grounded ways of knowing. When we don't, when we repeat status quo because we fear repercussions of our Diné (Indigenous) faith based ways of knowing within academia, or because we simple don't know (yet), we find ourselves within the clutches of epistemological imperialism which are guarded by colonization and internal colonization. Sheep are presenting themselves to us for a Vizenorian chance to break through the epistemological imperialistic walls of entities such as western research and even Christianity. All we need to do is believe in the clouds."
In this 15 minute presentation for the 2023 Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board Conference, I present a chapter in my forthcoming book Today, We Butcher, "ONE - Sheep in the Clouds: (Re)Introductions of Sheep." This chapter encompasses how epistemological imperialism has clouded sheep’s history within Diné culture and the larger American narrative. I focus on the statement by a Diné NAU graduate student at the 2015 NNHRRB Conference who, while presenting her project on uranium contamination in sheep within the Navajo Nation, declares: "as we all know, sheep came from the Spanish."
As I present in the book: "Regardless if the source is antiquated or contemporary, Diné or non-Diné authored, the result of these Euroamerican understandings of sheep that declare sheep as a product of the Spanish within Diné culture conjures debates of cultural authenticity. These attacks, consciously or not, lead to further degradation of Diné people and Diné sheep. As this chapter explores, we as Diné scholars, when working within the realms of Diné research methodologies, have the responsibility to engage ontologically grounded ways of knowing. When we don't, when we repeat status quo because we fear repercussions of our Diné (Indigenous) faith based ways of knowing within academia, or because we simple don't know (yet), we find ourselves within the clutches of epistemological imperialism which are guarded by colonization and internal colonization. Sheep are presenting themselves to us for a Vizenorian chance to break through the epistemological imperialistic walls of entities such as western research and even Christianity. All we need to do is believe in the clouds."
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When Waters Rise and Rocks Speak: An Analysis of Indigenous Research Credential Theft by an Ally (2022)
"When Water Rises and Rocks Speak" (2022) is about the birth of the Indigenous research and Native American Studies program at a tribal college.. Much like butchering at times - it is messy - born from an experience with an “ally” who utilized (utilizes) my credentials and teachings as her own… but now this story lives as a teaching for me to learn when to remain silent and when to speak up.
As the conclusion states: “This is not the article that I had intended to co-author with my 'supportive' colleague. In that other unwritten article, I only wished to report the positive relationships of how Dr. Ma’ii and I moved forward together. But this experience demanded another telling, one filled with not only the successes but also the failures, my failures. For some, this may be a mere story of a charred relationship and lost friendship. It is. For others, this story reveals layers of uncomfortable feelings because they see themselves in parts of it; they wonder when they have infringed on colleagues’ voices; they cringe at their own failures to speak up; they start to recognize that the knowledge they hold is stolen from their Native colleagues and/or community members and that they themselves are the thieves. I hope it does.”
"When Water Rises and Rocks Speak" (2022) is about the birth of the Indigenous research and Native American Studies program at a tribal college.. Much like butchering at times - it is messy - born from an experience with an “ally” who utilized (utilizes) my credentials and teachings as her own… but now this story lives as a teaching for me to learn when to remain silent and when to speak up.
As the conclusion states: “This is not the article that I had intended to co-author with my 'supportive' colleague. In that other unwritten article, I only wished to report the positive relationships of how Dr. Ma’ii and I moved forward together. But this experience demanded another telling, one filled with not only the successes but also the failures, my failures. For some, this may be a mere story of a charred relationship and lost friendship. It is. For others, this story reveals layers of uncomfortable feelings because they see themselves in parts of it; they wonder when they have infringed on colleagues’ voices; they cringe at their own failures to speak up; they start to recognize that the knowledge they hold is stolen from their Native colleagues and/or community members and that they themselves are the thieves. I hope it does.”