Diné (Navajo) Research Approaches and Implications for Community Development Indigenous daily life and decision-making are based in communal ontologies, epistemologies, methodologies, and axiologies. However, there is a dearth of literature at the intersection of community development and Indigenous studies. These ways of knowing, being, and doing are grounded in land-based cultural traditions specific to each Indigenous group. For Diné (Navajo), approaches to research and community development exist vis-à-vis their unique ways of knowing and being through K’é (kindship/relationality), k’eí (clanship), and Diné Bikéyah (Diné homelands). This project presentation will discuss Diné research approaches used within a recently completed study and their implications for community development scholarship and practice.
This project presentation relates well to both the conference theme of Innovative Pathways to Thriving Communities, as well as two of the conference tracks, as it relays knowledge gained from participatory research with an Indigenous group. Indigenous communities are impacted by Western culture and society. This includes the ways that community and economic development occurs within Tribal Nations, specifically within the American context. By leveraging Diné shared resources, knowledge, and approaches to community development, Diné people and culture are sustained, revitalized, and reclaimed from Western paternalism and governmental institutions, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This approach to community development is both people-driven and place-based in the way that knowledge is grounded and utilized. This topic also presents a critical perspective on community development theory and practice, given than it is non-Western. It is also a practical application of new practices in the community development context. This said, however, Diné approaches have existed since time immemorial, though they may be new to the Western scholarly and practitioner context. Ultimately, employing Diné knowledge for Diné community development leads to sustainable, thriving, and flourishing Diné communities, as it follows elements of decolonization and nation-building to define, build, and develop Diné communities for and by Diné.
