The purpose of this ethnographic study was to examine how Indigenous elders perceive traditional values. This study employed Portraiture, which allowed Indigenous elders to share their stories in a culturally tailored and relational manner. The authors’ captured and present richly detailed stories that describe the intersects between human experiences and sacred beliefs. The scholars eloquently braid the first authors experiences at three (3) traditional Indigenous ceremonies with the words of Indigenous elders to tell a story about overcoming an attempted cultural genocide. The ceremony participation and elder visits helped identify ten traditional values encasing spirituality displayed in the Hoop of Traditional Blackfoot Values presented in the English language and the Blackfoot language.
In this Indigenous grounded, transformative sequential explanatory study, the author examines the influence an American Indian way of knowing educational paradigm had on cultural connectedness in a sample (n = 41) of American Indian youths attending a public school on a federally recognized Indian reservation. The author uses ethnographic writing to share his cultural journey with American Indian cultural immersion teachers. Participants completed a survey packet including a demographic form and, an adapted cultural connectedness survey. Results indicated that positive aspects of an American Indian way of knowing educational paradigm were associated with increased cultural connectedness (Spirituality, Identity, and Traditions) for American Indian youths. The author also sought to capture youth participants' perspectives to develop a deeper understanding of how they conceptualize cultural connectedness resulting in the identification of eleven culturally specific categories. These findings may help inform a broader development and application of an American Indian way of knowing instructional model that contributes to strengthening cultural identity in American Indian youths through culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogies.
This article presents findings captured during a study with four Non-Indigenous child and adolescent psychiatrists treating American Indian youths at a child and adolescent psychiatry hospital located in a rural northwestern state. The author used a qualitative design to develop a deeper understanding of how the psychiatrists conceptualize the relationships between the components of school connectedness and American Indian youths. The study resulted in categorizing 53 descriptors of protective factors and 31 descriptors of risk factors associated with elements of school connectedness identified as 1) Cultural Connectedness, 2) Community, 3) Caregivers, 4) Teachers, and 5) Peers. The descriptors are illustrated through richly detailed comments from the participants.
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