What are the values and principles behind your research?

Note: Figure 1 describes the nature of holism as defined by Indigenous author and researcher Joann Archibald. This diagram is an adaption from her book “

• Goal

  • Ability to find stability, wellness, and healing

• Values

  • Holism

  • Relationality

    • Interconnectedness of knowledge.

    • Contextualizing knowledge, provide necessary context

    • Identity/Lived experience of researcher(s) impact and influence on research

  • Connection to the land

    • Environmental influences, influences on our behavior, mood, habits

    • Reseources available, ways to use strengths to meet needs

  • Consent

    • “moving at the speed of collaboration”

      • May feel slow in captialistic structure that prioritizes efficency and productivity over human health and wellness

      • Picking pace that feels natural + respectful of relationships

  • Relational Accountability

    • Show up for your commitments

    • Fulfill promises and/or remedy shortfalls

Using an indigenous research paradigm, I was really inspired by the ideas of holism and relationality. The idea that “all knowledge is relational” as Shawn Wilson says, knowledge is relational all knowledge is relational and exists within a context and circumstance and

When looking at complex issues like homelessness and trauma, you know, my interest really lies in understanding the factors and interdependent relationships that impact a person's ability to find stability and security in their life.

The Indigenous research paradigm takes a holistic approach, trying to understand the whole picture as much as possible. The biggest part of it is just contextualizing knowledge and making sure that you provide the necessary context about where this information is coming from. On another level, it’s allowing the knowledge to be whole itself. It’s understanding how the various parts of your experience as a researcher and/or your relationship with your co-researchers —how your emotions and inner experience—influence and impact the research.

The other part of it is “moving at the pace of collaboration.” I can’t remember who I first heard this from, but the idea is that consent is paramount. Consent is the central component of ethical, Indigenous research. Picking a slow pace, picking the pace that feels natural, and also being adaptable, helps to define the ways to perform your research in a way that promotes health and healing of the whole self— of the whole of the project.

Land is also a large component of this. In exploring the significant realtionships influencing the process at Everyone Village it was important to understand how the environment of our interactions were influencing our habits.   relationship that you have with the Earth is reciprocal. So reciprocity is another part you know, are you are you giving and receiving? How are you giving and receiving in this process? And you know, it requires long, long relationships and so you know, when I first got connected with everyone village back in January of 2022, and I was really excited to work on this for my master's project because I've been building relationships there and you know, in western science, you're not supposed to have connection with the people before you start doing research. But in indigenous research paradigm, it's quite the opposite. You know, you want to have this mutual on, you want to build the trust in the relationship necessary to understand so that people so you have full consent and people know that they can trust you and that oftentimes and indigenous research you, you know, you use the name of the people because it is an important way of holding each other accountable. It's also an important part of that giving the context for knowledge. And,”It can take time and mutual trust building, mutual care to get to a level of trust where the formal research can really start. In a lot of ways I felt that with this project, working with people who have experienced houselessness and you know, our our receiving in some circumstances, poor treatment by the people who are supposedly supposed to be giving them care you know, I feel it's especially important to build that trus. With some, with your residents in are particularly sensitive to promises. And

“When you're in a state where you have so many needs to met, maybe you know, you're in survival mode or you're feeling a sense of desperation. It's really hard to give consent, and so the slower we can move––in order to build that trust and ensure that there is an ethical connection––the better. This is counter to the way that a lot of research is done. In the US, where the timeline is usually fixed and/or inflexible, and there's specific outcomes needed.”

and in this research, you know, I had power in this in this position, and I chose this process. And I chose to focus on the process over specific products because I really believe that when it comes down to it, it's about relationships, and it's about connection. And at the end of the day with these principles, it it it might be more challenging in some ways to set specific outcomes with specific deadlines, especially in the circumstance where, you know, people need have specific needs and are in really dire situations and needs seeing right away and you know, at the same time wanting to build the trust and consent necessary to ensure that people can really accept that that support and understand where it's coming from and you know, communities just so important and you know, I feel like in all the other types of research that I had done before this like it really  stressed me out to think about this efficiency component as most important and that you know, I had to sacrifice relationships in order to get something done in time the product you know, I really believe when it comes to trauma informed design. You know, the principles being this like culture of care. Making sure that comfort community and choice are central components to the expression of this process. You know, it means that

means that the research has to be focused on our relationships and connections and if I by the end of this, I told myself, you know, more than a product, you know, I want to walk away with caring and meaningful relationships and, you know, I really feel like the people that I've been working with that and Garden Club and the staff at everyone village you know, I

I really feel like we've been awarded opportunities to continue our work because because that's, that's what matters, and that's what's helping.

And that comfort community and choice component, that community of care is part of this healing justice approach, trying to move away from capitalistic paternalistic settler colonial principles. I mean, one of the core principles of capitalism is this idea of private property and you know, when you're looking at Shared Equity models are living in community. You're sharing space, you know, that's what's a big shift, and you can't apply the same principles when

it's not fair to you. Now I have a whole list of capitalistic principles and this is this is putting the you know, at the very foundation of this is putting care and wellness and connection at the center that is foundationally about relationality and, and finding ways to take a holistic approach that focus on focuses on well being. That's different. That's different than a lot of other Western research.