Wâhkôhtowin (a Kinship) of the Indigenous Episteme, Circlework and Epistemic Justice in Indigenous Research

Indigenous research is moving with momentum in Canadian universities. Amid university efficacy with mandates urging evermore research productivity and the subsequent dash for data, the heightened attention toward Indigenous research is disconcerting. Indigenous epistemology, axiology and theory are too often neglected in this scenario. In Indigenous research, this is troubling because Indigenous epistemological negligence inevitably leads to Indigenous cultural knowledge suppression. We assert that the separation of theory from method in Indigenous research creates a condition of epistemic injustice for Indigenous peoples. We analyze how the marginalization of Indigenous epistemology might happen in Indigenous research through the assistance of Fricker’s framework (2007). We anchor our analysis by applying Fricker’ framework to the Indigenous testimonial practice of circlework increasingly found in Indigenous research. We ask how the nature and relations of circlework might change depending upon the knowledge system guiding it. We call upon Indigenous theorists in this chapter to assist in our analysis and close with the seminal work of Kirkness and Barnhardt’s (1991) 4Rs – respect, relevance, reciprocity and responsibility – to remind us why it is necessary to do the epistemological work for epistemic justice in Indigenous research.