Pathways to Understanding: 'Wahkohtowin' as a Research Methodology

McGill Journal of Education. McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1Y2. Tel: 514-398-4246; Fax: 514-398-4529; Web site: http://mje.mcgill.ca.

Y

16

Research Methodology; Foreign Countries; Cross Cultural Studies; Reading Attitudes; Writing Attitudes; Language Arts; Indigenous Knowledge; Canada Natives; Cultural Influences; Memory; Comparative Analysis; Literacy Education

0024-9033

"Wahkohtowin," a Cree word meaning kinship or the state of being related, is a fundamental concept for understanding Indigenous culture and traditional beliefs (Ermine 2001). This article describes how three researchers in western Canada incorporated this concept into a research project that compared Indigenous and non-Indigenous students' memories of learning to read and write. It is argued that this concept can be used as one way of incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing within cross-cultural academic discourses and methodologies. (Contains 2 notes.)

Author

36

2006

EJ737076