This literature review examines how U.S. mental health research and treatment rely on Western, Eurocentric methods that have marginalized American Indian/Alaska Native communities (Thambinathan and Kinsella, 2021). Datta (2018, p. 2) describes decolonization as, “an on-going process of becoming, unlearning, and relearning regarding who we are as a researcher and educator, and taking responsibilities for participants”. Decolonization theory recenters Indigenous epistemologies, grants Native people authority over cultural protocol versus academic protocol, and gives them ownership over this knowledge with the ability to use it to benefit their community. Decolonization encourages acceptance of practice-based evidence, alongside participatory action research, instead of relying only on evidence-based practices. (Datta, 2018; Friesen et al., 2011). This allows the development and funding of culturally responsive methods, and frameworks. Cultural competency and humility among non-Native researchers are crucial for successful collaborations that lead to understanding and eventual change.
References Datta, R. (2018). Decolonizing both researcher and research and its effectiveness in Indigenous research. Research Ethics, 14(2), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747016117733296
Friesen, B. J., Cross, T. L., Jivanjee, P. R., Gowen, L. K., Bandurraga, A., Bastomski, S., Matthew, C., & Maher, N. J. (2011). More than a nice thing to do: A practice-based evidence approach to outcome evaluation in native youth and family programs.
