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"Unsettling" the Bear River Massacre| A Transformative Learning and Action Project Utilizing Indigenous Worldviews and Ceremonial Elements

<p> Grounded in the transformative paradigm (p. 35), this study asked, &ldquo;In what ways might a group of non-Natives be individually and socially transformed by encountering the Bear River Massacre from within Indigenous Worldviews?&rdquo; The methodology incorporated Indigenous Worldviews and ceremonial processes (Wilson, 2008) into Queensland University&rsquo;s Indigenous Australian Studies&rsquo; model (Mackinlay &amp; Barney, 2010), interweaving transformative learning processes with Indigenous elements such as a traditional Shoshone sweat lodge, visiting a massacre site, and listening to a Shoshone elder. During ceremonially centered mini retreats data was collected via individual journals, group email and process notes, art-based expressions, videotaping, individual and group written evaluations and surveys, and follow up interviews. Findings established &ldquo;perspective transformation&rdquo; (King, 2009) in 80% of participants within the dimensions of better understanding the Bear River Massacre, the Shoshone people, the colonization process, and the loss of their own Indigenous roots. Follow-up interviews revealed that 87.5% of respondents believed that the integration of Indigenous elements into the project impacted their learning experience &ldquo;a great deal.&rdquo; 87.5% reported sustained behavioral x change in relation to the topic and 71% stated they wanted to get to know Native people and culture better. In addition, 43% stated they were interested in obtaining a public Presidential apology to Native people. Unconscious shadow transference material (Romanyshyn, 2007) emerged and was discussed from a depth psychology perspective. Limitations to this study include sample size and lack of funding. The theoretical development of ceremonial research potentially expands this method into other areas of inquiry.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3606920
Date11 February 2014
CreatorsBrown, Crete
PublisherCalifornia Institute of Integral Studies
Source SetsProQuest.com
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typethesis

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