Abstract:
The purpose of this Indigenous phenomenological research study was to document the experiences of Lakota women using creative practices to work in Lakota community. The research question was: “How do Lakota women experience their leadership when working in community?” An Indigenous data collecting method called Community Kinship Circle, a type of focus group, was used to gather co-constructed knowledge with six Lakota women working in Lakota community. The interpretation of the findings employed the theoretical lens of a phenomenological approach guided by Indigenous methodologies. The data were collected in a three-hour Community Kinship Circle with follow-up conversations for clarity. Coding and analysis of the transcribed data led to documenting the leadership experiences as being defined as Lakota kinship and relational practices guided by Mitákuye Oyásʼiŋ.
The findings revealed four topics with corresponding subthemes: Lakota women’s leadership (Leadership is a Western concept, and Lakota women do not see themselves as leaders), Mitákuye Oyas’in (It is everything and responsibility, and it is known and it is unknown), kinship/being a good relative (Evolving and changing, rely on intuition and instinct, and Western influence causes difficulty and trauma), and creative practices (guided by kinship and grounded in Mitákuye Oyas’in, and to teach and share and connection to be people and land).