Indigenous Story Methodology as a Pathway to Tribal Identity Development

2022
k Vicki Besaw

Since the arrival of colonizers on American shores centuries ago, Native Americans have been targeted for erasure. Acts of genocide, forced relocation, and assimilative practices have worked systematically to strip Native people of their lives and identities. Today, the legacy of historical trauma engendered by these practices impact our lives generationally and intergenerationally, manifesting as injuries expressed in innumerable ways. This qualitative, autoethnographic study addresses disconnection to tribal identity in the context of trauma response and how elements of Indigenous story can serve as a potential pathway to exploration and reconnection to tribal identity. As both the researcher and the researched, I share stories of life experiences framed within Indigenous story methodology to demonstrate praxis and identify considerations for practical application in tribal college classrooms

About the Author

Vicki Besaw is an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She has worked in tribal education for the past twenty-five years on the Menominee Reservation. Since 2006, she has been an instructor of liberal studies at the College of Menominee Nation and transitioned into a teaching and research-centered position in 2022. She earned her EdD in First Nations Education from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay in May 2022. Dr. Besaw is especially interested in issues related to trauma-induced tribal identity disconnection and the role tribal colleges can play in healing.