Native Ways of Knowing: Let Me Count the Ways

Abstract

This article reviews Native Ways of Knowing and similar terms in academicscholarship. The first section introduces questions to guide a discussion on NativeWays of Knowing. The second section deals with the assumptions or generalframework for this discussion and definitions. The third section describes acontinuum to analyze the use of the terms Native Ways of Knowing (NWK), Indigenous ways of knowing, and traditional culture in academic venues. Thedescription is helpful as means of placing scholarship on Native Ways of Knowingcontextually and temporally in mainstream academic review. The fourth section dealswith sample scholarship described using a nonhierarchical typology of process,position, person, and product (results). It draws on 24 pieces of scholarship in the lastdecade. The fifth section presents a term lattice derived from use of the terms inrepresentative publications and draws conclusions about the use of the terms.