In this thesis, I develop a navigational epistemological lens in order to understand the pathways of navigating knowledge construction. Specifically, I am working with Native American and Indigenous scholars in general, and three scholars specifically, to develop this lens around four main characteristics: history, land, story and relationships. This thesis is broken down into three content chapters, and each chapter focuses on one primary author. Chapter 2 works with Lisa Brooks’ The Common Pot: The Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast to build the structure and foundation of the four characteristics. Chapter 3 is a conversation with Andrew Blackbird’s History of the Ottawa and Chipewa Indians of Michigan to better understand how history and land functions in Native epistemology. Chapter 4 is a journey with Louise Erdrich’s Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country, specifically considering the implications of story and relationships in Native epistemology. Together, these chapters offer a method of understanding the ways that knowledge is constructed in an Indigenous context and provides a way to theorize and contextualize history, land, story, and relationships with in scholarly discourse.
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