| Session Title: Indigenous Knowledge Creation and Evaluation Practice |
| Multipaper Session 628 to be held in Baltimore Theater on Friday, November 9, 1:55 PM to 3:25 PM |
| Sponsored by the Presidential Strand |
| Chair(s): |
| Carrie Billy, American Indian Higher Education Consortium, cbilly@aihec.org |
| Joan LaFrance, Mekinak Consulting, joanlafrance1@msn.com |
| Discussant(s): |
| Karen Kirkhart, Syracuse University, kirkhart@syr.edu |
| Abstract: Evaluation is a form of knowledge creation. Formal training in evaluation practice has been defined by Western ways of looking at knowledge creation, whether it flows from positivism or constructionist theory. To make evaluation practice truly responsive to the culture and values of Indigenous communities, we must do more than explore how to adapt methodologies based on Western frameworks. We must explore how Indigenous communities looked at knowledge creation and from this framing, discuss approaches to practice. The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) has undertaken this task. Through extensive consultations with an advisory committee of cultural experts, evaluators and science educators, a series of focus groups and pilot meetings in tribal communities, AIHEC has developed an Indigenous framing and training for evaluation. This panel will discuss the process of developing the framework, the elements of Indigenous knowledge creation that influence evaluation practice, and the relevance of the project to tribal communities. |
| Building the Indigenous Framework |
| Iris Prettypaint, University of Montana, iris.prettypaint@mso.umt.edu |
| AIHEC recognized that building an Indigenous framing for evaluation would require extensive consultation with tribal people in the United States as well as discussions with Indigenous peoples in other countries. This paper describes the consultation process that included regular meetings of the advisory committee comprised of cultural experts, three focus groups to discuss the framing, meetings in seven different communities to test the basic foundations of the framework, and pilot training institutes to further refine the curriculum developed to train tribal college personnel and Indian educators. The author is one of the cultural experts who served on the advisory committee and participated in at least one of each of the different consultation meetings. She will discuss how she was able to offer input from her own tribal cultural framing and learn from those with whom she interacted throughout the process. |
| Cultural Grounding |
| Richard Nichols, Colyer Nichols Inc Consulting, colyrnickl@cybermesa.com |
| This paper will describe the ways in which the project team explored foundations in Indigenous knowledge creation and defined common values that form the framework. Elder scholars and Indian academics were consulted to learn how they would describe the function of assessing worth or evaluation within the context of their culture and language. The consultations were augmented by a literature review describing Indian ways of knowing or knowledge creation. This research resulted in five propositional statements regarding how Indigenous views of knowledge creation should influence evaluation. Through the consultation process, the project team identified four common cultural values that also influence evaluation. These values and Indigenous ways of knowing form the foundations for the framework. The consultation process also assisted in developing a basket weaving metaphor to describe the relationship of evaluation and program implementation |
| Implications for Evaluation |
| Joan LaFrance, Mekinak Consulting, joanlafrance1@msn.com |
| This paper describes how evaluation practice is influenced by the cultural grounding. It explores the meaning of evidence within an Indigenous framework. Assessment and data gathering methods should reflect common values for community, personal integrity, sense of place and tribal sovereignty. The discussion includes ways in which all of these elements are considered in the Indigenous framing. It describes how evaluators working in Indian country have to continually 'reframe' their practice by pulling from cultural ways of knowing and doing inquiry as they apply evaluation methodologies familiar to Western modalities. |
| The View From the Field |
| Dawn Frank, Oglala Lakota College, dfrank@gwtc.net |
| The final paper in the panel discusses the relevance of the Indigenous framing and related training program from the perspective of an Indian educator and evaluator who works within her own tribal community. The paper considers how the overall Indigenous framing has meaning and adaptability at a tribal level. It describes the value of the training in building capacity among Indians educators and the proposed Indigenous Evaluation Resource Center that will be maintained by AIHEC to continue the dialogue about and development of Indigenous evaluation. |