Traditional Knowledge as the Foundation of Inclusive Academic and Native American Partnerships

This paper explores best practices for developing culturally responsive research by informing empirical and biomedical methods with traditional/Indigenous forms of knowledge (TK). Federally funded research in collaboration with Native American tribes faces a need to interface with cultural competency and tribal self-determination. These goals are often paired with a desire to integrate “Traditional Knowledge” and “Indigenous methods” in research. Such efforts serve as positive forces to promote Native American self-determination in health research if properly integrated with the scientific method. Thus, TK is an important starting point for defining the outcomes researchers seek to test empirically. A key hazard of translating TK to biomedical and empirical research is the conflation of postmodern philosophy and critical theoretical methodology with science (e.g., post-positivist methodologies and experimentation). While both subjectivist and objectivist methodologies are indispensable for addressing issues of environmental justice, these methodologies use different approaches to answer different questions and cannot be used interchangeably. We propose a methodological order of operations for multidisciplinary research in which TK informs hypothesis generation and testing, which in turn can influence policy decisions and advocacy. Establishing such an order of operations is essential to avoid cultural appropriation, reap the benefits of the empirical method, and ensure the integrity of Native American and academic partnerships. Accordingly, this process is not just a best practice recommendation for environmental justice. Rather we are describing a process which most appropriately promotes the goals of community science.