“Justice for Native People, Justice for Native Me”: Using Digital Storytelling Methodologies to Change the Master Narrative of Native American Peoples

Abstract

Native American and Indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants of the U.S., including hundreds of tribes with distinct cultures and histories that inform their epistemological (i.e., ways of knowing) and ontological (i.e., ways of being) worldviews. Despite this, Western peoples continue to story the experiences of Native peoples for them, creating master narratives in which Native peoples are relics of the past, and impoverished, uneducated, drunkards in the present (Duran, 2019). Indeed, this is a longstanding effect of the colonial project that continues to erase the authentic, lived experiences of Native peoples, thus, limiting their self-understanding and future possibilities. To counter these enduring colonial narratives, it is critical Native peoples have access to both Native-centered and community-based spaces in which the complexities of Native identities and experiences can be voiced and storied. OrigiNatives sought to provide urban Native peoples in Minnesota a space that privileged their ways of knowing and being through digital storytelling workshops, in which Native peoples (n = 75) from 34 different tribal communities created original and authentic stories of their cultures, histories, and lives using digital media technologies. We review the process of creating and implementing OrigiNatives through partnerships with Native-serving organizations in Minnesota, highlighting implications digital storytelling methodologies have for challenging and resisting coloniality by empowering Native peoples to tell our stories, our way.

Cisheteronormativity, Conversion Therapy, and Identity Among Sexual and Gender Minority People: A Narrative Inquiry and Creative Non-fiction

“…The anguish that the protagonist endured navigating oppressive master narratives resulted in many years of struggle and delay of adopting a personal narrative that forms his identity. However, the adoption of alternative narratives that resist master narratives are part of a social process that has potential for disruption and social transformation ( Fish & Counts, 2020 ; Stetsenko & Arievitch, 2004 ). The processes that are experienced by SGM who experience these master narratives through amplified means, such as SOGIECE, require either adjusting to social expectations of straight or cisgender identities or engaging in active work to adjust to an alternative narrative ( Cohler & Hammack, 2007 ).…”

“…Inside of my Home, I was Getting a Full Dose of Culture”: Exploring the Ecology of Indigenous Peoples’ Development Through Stories

“…The present study involved 1) responding to a series of story prompts, and 2) attending OrigiNatives, a community-based digital storytelling workshop to create a digital story. Digital storytelling is a participatory research method that social scientists use to empower Native peoples to create and share stories about their lived experiences while simultaneously answering important research questions (Fish & Counts, 2021;. This study was not pre-registered.…”

“…We chose to focus our analyses on the digital story narratives alone and not the digital media. Nonetheless, we feel confident that we used a methodological approach that resonated with Native peoples (Fish & Counts, 2021). Finally, we did not examine the historical and cultural content of the developmental environments that Native peoples wrote about, despite referencing it at times.…”

Participatory science as a decolonizing methodology: Leveraging collective knowledge from partnerships with refugee and immigrant communities.

“…There is no space for tokenization (e.g., adding “token” stakeholders, community members, or youth to appear that the research is “participatory”), performative allyship, or claims without substance. Moreover, an important factor to prioritize is an emphasis on cultural humility, as well as epistemological and ontological humility (Fish & Counts, 2020).…”