Conducting Sacred Research: An Indigenous Experience

Abstract

Worldviews and perceptions of reality may differ from one culture to another (Leininger 1995). What is naturally known or constitutes proof in one culture may not be understood or considered relevant in another culture. As a consequence, there are different ways of gathering, understanding, and/or applying information. These variations can influence researchers of diverse cultures to conduct and guide the research process in a fashion atypical to the linear, quantitative research studies. This article is a description of one American Indian researcher's experience prior to and while conducting research for a phenomenological nursing doctoral thesis, "The Lived Experience of Ojibwa and Cree Women Healers" (Struthers 1999). This author's intention is to share a personal approach to research that was culturally sensitive, balanced, harmonious, circular, sacred, natural, holistic, and unfolded with fluidity and grace for the researcher and research participants. ("American Indian" is used synonymously with "Native American," "Native," "aboriginal," and "indigenous.")