A match made in heaven: Tribal critical race theory and critical indigenous research methodologies

Utilizing a counter-narrative, this chapter will highlight the ways that Critical Race Theory informs the ways that we think about, collect, and engage data as Indigenous people. The protagonist, Henry Sampson, explores the epistemological and ontological tensions often inherent in “mainstream” methods and their concomitant methodologies. In his engagement with his colleague, Lola Pons, and student, Jerome Jackson, Sampson points to the ways that his own research, as an Indigenous man, has been framed by the intersections between Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Indigenous Research Methodologies (CIRM). These connections revolve around what Sampson calls the four Rs: relationality, responsibility, reciprocity, and respect. Ultimately, Sampson argues that connecting CRT with CIRM has allowed him to create a custom-made way of thinking about, and doing, research in tribal communities.