The Cahuilla Research Agenda Model: Using Indigenous Methods and Cahuilla Traditional Knowledge in Research

Abstract

Years of settler colonialism, annihilation, and assimilation caused our tribal communities to lose precious traditional knowledge in cultural traditions and our relationships to land. The relationships between people and land are significant because we create physical and cultural identities based on our life experiences while living on the landscape. We create realities that explain our presence and we make meaning of our surrounding environments. As a culture, we pass the knowledge down to our future generations, so they know where they come from and how to give respect and thanks to our Ancestors and our Creators. In return, our Ancestors give us the gifts of life. To disturb our relationship with the land is to disturb our culture and our identity. In efforts to preserve culture, researchers throughout time have documented traditional knowledge in Cahuilla language, history, traditions, and stories. Oral stories, language and traditions have also been recorded by Cahuilla Elders in books, phonographic records, and tapes. Although Cahuilla cultural studies continues with the use of these sources, it is not common practice for researchers to engage with Cahuilla communities to help with the research. Their research also does not fully accomplish the goal of directly reconnecting us to our culture or our relationships to our traditional land. In this research, I engage with my community to change the narrative and bring forth their voice in helping us reach those goals. I apply Indigenous methodologies which are methods of research that are guided by traditional knowledge systems and worldviews. Applying these methods changes the course in how knowledge is shared between the researcher and the community and how we reach researcher and community goals. Furthermore, using these methods requires us to create a research framework that includes tribal ethics, tribal sovereignty, and worldview. In this research, we explore Indigenous research methods and engage with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indian tribe to create a research agenda model that can be used in further research studies on their culture. As an example, we explore how the Cahuilla Research Agenda model is used by applying its research methods to an ongoing research project that studies the traditional use of plants, the Cahuilla Plant Database Project. Our goal is to reconnect the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians to their traditional homelands and revitalize cultural ways of life by doing research by, with, and for the community.