Niizhaaweynima-nimama (Mother Earth Song)

Abstract

This study investigates factors that have contributed to other Indigenous Peoples’ successes at the post-secondary level in graduate studies by interviewing Indigenous People that have gone through the system and have graduated. The study examines how Indigenous ways of knowing, seeing, doing and being contribute to an Indigenous scholar’s success while in a Eurocentric educational setting. By exploring how Indigenous ways of knowing, seeing, doing and being have contributed to the success of Indigenous People at the post-secondary and graduate level, this may provide insight into helping future generations of Indigenous scholars understand how Indigenous traditions assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities to family, community, and scholarship. What was found was the importance of relationships and how these relationships are woven into each scholars’ work through an Indigenous way of knowing, seeing doing and being. The study is framed from the unique perspective of a traditional Indigenous male, who is a single parent.