This article relates the story of a spiritual research journey that was both personal andacademic. What began as a personal search for healing led to the completion of a dis­sertation. Two distinct forms of learning were integral to the pursuit of this spiritualresearch journey: traditional community-based experiential learning under the guid­ance of a gifted Elder, combined with the academic pursuit of the knowledge related toIndigenous research and scholarship. In this article, I address the ontological and epis­temological nature of spirit in Indigenous research, and how, in the process of con­ducting my research, I maintained my connection to spirit through the use of PlainsCree protocol and methods of inquiry.