#22 - Tribal People Doing Tribal Research: Native perspective on complications and mismatches in Tribal academics - Guest: Salisha Oldbull

Tribal Research Specialist: The Podcast

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In the episode, the IRC team speaks with Salisha OldBull (Salish/Apsáalooke). She is a Student Success Coordinator at the University of Montana (UM). She's currently completing a Bachelor of Arts degree at UM. She's a former Native American Studies Instructor, with a BA in NAS, BA in Psychology, Masters of Interdisciplinary Studies and Masters of Public Administration. She enjoys focusing on placed-based theory educational knowledge. Her goal in art is to continue to explore place-based values and traditional ecological knowledge.

The episode begins with sound bytes from IRC Advisory Board members Vernon Finley (Kootenai) and Greg Dumontier (Salish). Vernon explains that "...understanding and the explanation that comes to them through experience... that understanding will change between this and next year. And that and the new understanding will also be right for that particular time." Greg continues to explain that "The boundaries are always going to be there, there's always going to be limits to what you can approach from an academic standpoint, and we shouldn't be frustrated or angered or try to avoid those boundaries. We need to find those."

Salish and the IRC Team start the discussion by focusing in on the disparity of Tribal perspectives in academic text. This also brings forward the challenges that Native researchers face when trying to study their own people and places. The team discusses the often double standard we face when engaging in research that is outside the scope of Western Academics, where the focus is on our own questions and research the edges on the important topics that are not often discussed outside of the Tribal context. Issues arise including knowledge hoarding, loss of traditions and in-fighting
The second half episode begins with a sound byte from IRC Advisory Board Myrna (Salish). Myrna says "...we're the ones that are standing in the doorway right now. And am I going to advance or just stand here for a while longer and hold this door shut to people? Like some of the elders who for whatever reason, can't allow that door even, you know, a crack or whatever to allow a discussion or to allow for a little bit more experience for someone who's searching..."
Salisha and the IRC Team continue the discussion on the reality that much knowledge will not be passed on due to individual choices to hold certain understanding so tightly that they never are shared or learned by anyone. The discussion center on how we can do better to reframe what our own native perspective is and isn't. Discussed is the idea that we should not force an unnatural narrative just to meet the needs of outside influence. Also discussed is the emergence of some Native attire and how the preception of traditionalism has transformed through these outward expressions.
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Guest: Salisha OldBull
Hosts: Aaron Brien, Shandin Pete
Website http://irc.skc.edu
Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-irc/id1512551396
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