This four-article dissertation is an autobiographical written study, a Scholarly Personal Narrative of life writing. It culminates with a research study by way of a Talking Circle among a group of scholarly elders who gathered to share guidance for Indigenous scholars navigating systemic colonial structures in our sites of knowledge production. Utilizing a Mixed-Methods approach, this sharing was transcribed, coded, and examined via Western thematic analysis. Through stories, casting an international light, analyses reveal a work of written guidance not only for Indigenous scholars, but also for education stakeholders, for those claiming diversity, equity, and inclusion, and for sites of knowledge production globally.
The author’s story frames this work as she walks alongside the memories in her mind. Through becoming a mother, she documents a path of healing located in the philosophy her grandmother taught her as a child: Hina Hanta, the bright path, a path of stories based on oral traditions. This is her paradigm. She shares her understanding that Talking Circles hearken back to ancient times when stories were shared through Indigenous ways of being since time immemorial. Sharing circles, Talking Circles, are about providing experiences based on ancient ceremonial practices (Wilson, 2008).