This innovative, collaborative, comparative ethnographic inquiry aims to explore the ways indigenous research methodologies can be effectively utilized in the study of arctic indigenous youth with special focus on local impacts of settlement on socialization practices and experiences of growing up in two arctic Indigenous communities: one in Siberia and one in Alaska. The design and methods of the study arise directly from community requests and contemporary circumpolar social exigencies to come up with more effective and culturally responsive ways of working with Indigenous youth in arctic contexts. The involvement of two native Alaskan and Siberian social scientists are crucial for introduction of an innovative method of anthropological peer observation in each community to document and address the complexities of conducting Native research as a Native person. The process of peer observation will enable the intersection of meaning systems through the cultural encounter of Indigenous participant observers bringing to bear on the research process the following conditions: traditional Indigenous knowledge, empathy, a native-point-of-view of the contemporary socio-economic and global environmental context as well as a non-native's perception of local specificities. This participatory study will address the following questions: What are the key characteristics of Indigenous research methodologies? How are Indigenous research methodologies applied in arctic Indigenous contexts and with youth? How can Indigenous research methods impact critically upon important social issues in the communities? What are the benefits and challenges of utilizing an Indigenous approach to research, and how can Indigenous research methods apply more generally across cultural and academic contexts? This study aims to impact the international Indigenous and scientific communities by providing critical information on research process, methods and outcomes from both the Indigenous community perspective as well as from the Indigenous researcher perspectives.
This study will explore the processes and practices of two Indigenous social science researchers working with arctic Indigenous youth on issues related to social change and well-being in the circumpolar north. The researcher will introduce innovative methods, such as peer observation of research, as part of an exchange between two Indigenous arctic communities, one in Siberia and one in Alaska. During 2013 the exchange will involve site visits to each community by a research team made up of the two Indigenous PIs and two Indigenous community collaborators.
NSF supplement 1339073 will provide funds for the investigators and additional personnel to spend more time conducting the cross-site comparisons.
