“stəqpistns iʔ pqlqin kihew omīkwan -
Eagle Feather”
Book chapter:
“stəqpistns iʔ pqlqin kihew omīkwan - Eagle Feather” co-authored with Mariel Belanger, Vicki Kelly, and Joseph Naytowhow. New Directions in Theorizing Qualitative Research: Indigenous Research, edited by Norman K. Denzin and James Salvo, Myers Education Press, 2020. 195-202.
Abstract:
It is the Eagle feather that teaches us to align our searching learning spirits through reaching; it teaches us to see deeply, clearly, and to be far-seeing. The Eagle has a power of vision seven times more powerful than that of the human eye and it has a full panoramic view. To see with an eagle’s eye is to cultivate detailed seeing and deep insight and to understand the patterns of creation within the multiple contexts in which we live; to learn to become wise means to learn to love deeply. It is Love that helps us to see clearly and deeply. This is the aligning of our learning spirit with the spirit of all creation, and All Our Relations. The Eagle Feather is often used in Ceremony, to brush or cleanse, or used in the protocol of the talking circle, the invitation for each of us to speak our truth and to be truly heard. The stem is the life lived in alignment with the seven Grandfather/Grandmother teachings and the filaments are a metaphor for the threads of learning that collectively offer us clarity of vision, and wisdom for living the good life and walking the red road.
Joseph Naytowhow’s Drum - photo by Manulani Aluli-Meyer
Overview of New Directions in Theorizing Qualitative Research: Indigenous Research:
The chapters in this volume collect together perspectives on Indigenous epistemologies. These Indigenous ways of knowing pay particular attention to the relational aspects of language, culture, and place. They are not identified as specific themes, but as integrated parts of a philosophy, for Indigenous epistemologies think within a relational framework, so that all aspects are best understood from this perspective. Indigenous ways of knowing have resisted colonization and oppression, and as such, Indigenous research perspectives exemplify a commitment to social justice, one that recovers knowledges that have been silenced or subjugated. When such knowledge is shared, we can see how to challenge oppressive regimes. We can see how to seek truth in a relational way that’s attendant to being together. Indigenous Research takes up issues of social justice in a way that is informed by Indigenous epistemologies, an important practice in contemporary research, particularly qualitative inquiry.