Ulàpeitök: Using Bribri Indigenous Teachings to Develop a Ph.D. Research Methodology

Abstract

Although there is a growing interest in Indigenous research, education regarding how to put Indigenous research into practice is not often part of academic training. To increase the awareness of how Indigenous methodologies can be applied to academic research, we describe how we used Bribri Indigenous teachings to develop a Ph.D. research methodology for a food security project in Costa Rica. Our research approach was based on a Bribri concept related to cooperation, ulàpeitök; this concept guided our work and helped to reduce the negative consequences associated with conventional research with Indigenous people (e.g., extractive practices, reinforcement of gender inequality, misrepresenting cultural information). We identified three considerations that may be useful for other scholars applying Indigenous teachings to academic research: 1) build flexibility into the entire research program, 2) ensure that community-level and university-level researchers are willing to play multiple roles beyond those associated with conventional research, and 3) proceed with an ethic of friendship. Our work is relevant to scholars working in Indigenous/non-Indigenous research teams that aim to transform conventional research approaches to ensure that they support human rights, equity, and cultural continuity. In Costa Rica, our research is specifically relevant to building wider acceptance of Indigenous methodologies in higher education.

Applying an Indigenous methodology to a North–South, cross-cultural collaboration: successes and remaining challenges

“…Interrogating privilege is central to Indigenous research. One critique of Sylvester and García Segura’s previous research was the disparity in opportunities for research; specifically, that non-Indigenous researchers often have the opportunity to travel to Indigenous communities to learn about their culture, but that the reverse is rarely the case (Sylvester & García Segura, 2017). Our project was designed so that both Indigenous researchers and community members would travel abroad to learn from cultures different to their own, a key aspect of the project being dialogical encounters between Indigenous peoples for transformational change (Ashencaen Crabtree et al, 2019).…”

“…This research started when researchers from the UK contacted researchers from Costa Rica via email to invite them to collaborate in the project. The main project goals were developed by the British researchers; however, in early conversations, García Segura and Sylvester explained the need to do research based on Bribri methodologies to make space for Indigenous protocols, values, and ethics in academic research (see Sylvester & García Segura, 2017). García Segura has been doing research based on Bribri values for over three decades and was selected by his elders to do so.…”

“…Battiste, 2013; Cajete, 2000; Castellano & Reading, 2010; Hart, 2010; Kovach, 2009; Tuhiwai Smith, 2012; Wilson, 2008). When Indigenous values guide research, the impacts can include (a) accurately representing people and their culture (Sylvester & García Segura, 2017), (b) individual and community healing (Marsh et al, 2015), and (c) the survival of identities (Castellano, 2004).…”

“…In Latin America, there is a growing dialogue about decolonizing academia by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars (Cumes, 2012; Cusicanqui, 2012; Moreno, 2013; Rocha-Buelvas & Ruíz-Lurduy, 2018; Tapia, 2014; Tzul, 2015). Despite a rich academic dialogue, fewer studies examine how Indigenous methodologies are applied in the Global South (but see Datta, 2018; Romero & Cal y Mayor, 2017; Solano, 2019; Sylvester & García Segura, 2017).…”

Burdened in Business: Pacific Early Career Academic Experiences with Promoting Pacific Research Methodologies in the Business Academy

“…It is crucial in ensuring Indigenous voices, culture, and identities are accurately represented. 8 Prominent Tongan scholar Konai Helu Thaman suggests the power imbalance that exists through the domination of Western epistemologies and conscious subjugation of Pacific ways of constructing knowledges should be acknowledged. 9 Pacific research methodologies involve Indigenous research that is conducted from the ontological and epistemological viewpoint of Pacific peoples.…”