Amy T. Blodgett

In Indigenous Words: Exploring Vignettes as a Narrative Strategy for Presenting the Research Voices of Aboriginal Community Members

Recently, awareness within academia has grown regarding the incompatibilities of mainstream research with indigenous cultures as well as the historical injustices that have accrued through colonizing practices. Accordingly, support for alternative (non-Westernized) research approaches has been increasing. Participatory action research (PAR) and cultural praxis reflect two approaches where researchers advocate for a movement toward cultural inclusivity. Both approaches have been integrated within the current work amongst mainstream academics and Aboriginal community members in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The purpose of the current project was to empower Aboriginal coresearchers to share their voices regarding research, grounded within their lived experiences and the surrounding cultural context. Vignettes were developed as a method for presenting each Aboriginal coresearcher’s story in their “own words.” In this article, vignettes are explored as a potential method for centralizing indigenous voices and ultimately enabling PAR and praxis.

Moving beyond words: exploring the use of an arts-based method in Aboriginal community sport research

In recognising the limitations of verbally based research methods for understanding and capturing the multidimensionality of lived experience, arts-based methods have been gaining ground within the social sciences. These methods embrace emotional, sensory, embodied and imaginative ways of knowing that lend to richer knowledge production and communication processes. Yet, these methods are rarely used in sport research. The purpose of the current project was to explore an arts-based method as a tool to facilitate participatory action research (PAR) and generate locally resonant knowledge about the sport experiences of Aboriginal community members in north-eastern Ontario, Canada. Mandala drawings were used to embrace an Indigenous epistemology and open up a culturally affirming space for Aboriginal athletes to share their experiences of sport relocation. Conversational interviews were then used to facilitate deeper understandings of the athletes’ mandalas. The images contributed towards community action on two levels: (1) they affirmed a need for athletes to feel connected to their cultural community during relocation, therein reinforcing local efforts to support relocated athletes; and (2) they served as a resource for educating and inspiring other aspiring young athletes. The strengths and challenges of arts-based methods are discussed in relation to PAR. It is concluded that arts-based methods offer potential for community-based sport research, as these methods open up a diversity of art forms which can be adopted to reflect localised PAR processes and ways of knowing.

Praxis and community‐level sport programming strategies in a Canadian aboriginal reserve

Abstract From national statistics, it has been indicated that Canadian Aboriginal youth are overrepresented in lower health demographics than the rest of the national population, suffering from higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart problems. When Schinke, Michel, and colleagues (2006) engaged in preliminary research with elite Aboriginal athletes, the participants expressed a cultural struggle related to retaining Aboriginal youth in sport programming. The athletes proposed modifying programming strategies to account for attrition. Herein, mainstream academics partnered with Aboriginal community members to address this concern. Talking circles and a decision‐making consensus were employed. Emergent themes included integrating elders, promoting Aboriginal role models, and developing a broader volunteer base. This manuscript is authored to elucidate, from the words of the Wikwemikong, how culturally relevant sport programming will be reconsidered in their Reserve

Cultural sport psychology research: conceptions, evolutions, and forecasts.

Cultural sport psychology (CSP) is a relatively new research genre that challenges mainstream sport psychologys assumptions to facilitate contextualized understandings of marginalized topics and cultural identities. Conceptual writings on CSP have grown in the past 10 years, and with that, empirical literature explicitly positioned within CSP. In this article, the landscape of CSP is outlined to more clearly explicate and contextualize the goals and tenets of this mode of inquiry, with the overarching intent of making further recommendations for CSP research. As CSP is broad, a small body of sport research conducted on race and ethnicity (two facets of cultural identity) is reviewed. Suggestions are made to extend the limited body of research on marginalized cultural identities via a CSP approach, focusing on reflexive processes and participant engagement. Through these strategies, CSP research is put forward as a way to further open the possibility of advancing social change and social justice.

‘Naadmaadmi’: reflections of Aboriginal community members engaged in sport psychology co‐researching activities with mainstream academics

When attempting to work with people from Indigenous cultures, mainstream researchers often encounter cultural differences, mistrust and a general resistance to community research. These challenges have emerged within the sport psychology domain as a consequence of mono‐cultural, Eurocentric research paradigms, which have marginalised Indigenous populations and disconnected community members from their traditional teachings and values. The current project was developed out of a partnership among mainstream academics and Aboriginal community members in northern Ontario, Canada, who have been engaged in sport psychology co‐researching activities for six years. The purpose of the current study was to elicit Aboriginal community members’ reflections of engaging in research with mainstream academics, based on past experiences as well as more recent efforts among the current bicultural team. The overarching intent was to encourage mainstream researchers interested in working within the Aboriginal community to adopt culturally reflexive practices that are meaningful from the local standpoint and to resist traditional mono‐cultural approaches. Conversational interviews were employed with nine Aboriginal community members who were also engaged as co‐researchers throughout the project. The community co‐researchers delineated negative and positive research experiences and outlined the specific strategies that contributed to each. A community composite vignette was developed as a narrative supplement to the data and reflects a unique and culturally relevant process within the study.

The Development of Cross-Cultural Relations With a Canadian Aboriginal Community Through Sport Research

When sport psychology researchers from the mainstream work with people from marginalized cultures, they can be challenged by cultural differences as well as mistrust. For this article, researchers born in mainstream North America partnered with Canadian Aboriginal community members. The coauthors have worked together for 5 years. What follows is our story of how positive cross-cultural relations developed in stages and how we modified our focus from solely academic dissemination to a project that adheres more closely with the American Psychological Associations multicultural guidelines. Recommendations are offered for those interested in developing reflexive cultural sport psychology research while building positive cross-cultural relations.

May the circle be unbroken: the research recommendations of Aboriginal community members engaged in participatory action research with university academics.

This study was conducted by university and Aboriginal coresearchers in Canada, utilizing a participatory action research (PAR) approach akin to a decolonizing methodology. The purpose was to empower nine Aboriginal coresearchers to share their recommendations for meaningful research practice, grounded in their cultural perspectives and lived experiences. Data were collected through conversational interviews. The overarching intent was to (a) challenge the Eurocentric research paradigms that are prevalent within the sport sciences by bringing forward Indigenous voices; and (b) delineate applied strategies for research aimed at social transformation within other marginalized communities. The project provides one example of how participatory action research can be put into action so that positive relations may be restored between academics and marginalized community members and social justice may be achieved.

From Practice to Praxis Community-Based Strategies for Aboriginal Youth Sport

Through research grounded in praxis, sport psychologists can seek to understand and then help meet the motivational needs of sport participants from marginalized cultures. The present report unveils the recommendations of 23 elite Canadian Aboriginal athletes and subsequent community meetings with an Aboriginal community regarding how to enhance sport programming and increase enrollment of youth within a First Nations reserve. Data were analyzed inductively with the coding of themes developed by community consensus, reflecting barriers to sport participation and recommendations regarding how programming can be refined through training strategies with youth participants, parents, and sport and recreation staff. Recommendations include educating youth about the value of persistence and success, encouraging coaches to foster positive beliefs, and integrating Aboriginal role models.

The Adaptation Challenges and Strategies of Adolescent Aboriginal Athletes Competing Off Reserve

Within the motivation literature, it has been indicated that athletes respond more effectively to sport’s contextual challenges through effective adaptation skills. Fiske identified five core motives as facilitators of the adaptation process across cultures: belonging, understanding, controlling, self-enhancement, and trusting. Through a cultural sport psychology approach, the adaptation challenges and strategies of Canadian Aboriginal adolescent athletes from one community (Wikwemikong) are described as they traveled off reserve to compete in mainstream sporting events. Concurrently, Fiske’s core motives are considered in relation to youth sport participants from the aforementioned Aboriginal community. Culture sensitive research methods among the Wikwemikong, including community meetings, talking circles (TCs), indigenous coding, and coauthoring, were employed in this article. Data are reflected in three themes: (a) challenges pursuing sport outside of the Aboriginal community in advance of bicultural encounters, (b) challenging bicultural encounters in Canadian mainstream sport contexts, and (c) specific responses to racism and discrimination.

Adjusting to the Receiving Country Outside the Sport Environment: A Composite Vignette of Canadian Immigrant Amateur Elite Athlete Acculturation

This qualitative project is focused on the challenges that newcomer athletes revealed when they considered their earliest encounters with a receiving culture during general daily life. Conversational interviews with 24 national and international amateur newcomer athletes were subjected to interpretive thematic analysis and developed into a composite vignette. This vignette unearths three themes revealing hope (theme: opportunities abound); uncertainty and fear (theme: weighing the risks for the journey ahead); and anger, humiliation, and hardening (theme: public stonings). Understanding the fluidities within the vignette will permit practitioners to explore the uncertainties of acculturation and find entry points to support athlete acculturation.