Self-Location and Ethical Space in Wellness Research

Working with Indigenous communities involves responsibility, relationship, respect, and reciprocity (Kirkness & Barnhardt, 2016). Our research consists of a partnership with Nipissing First Nation to explore their citizens’ understanding of wellness. Our aim is to tell a collective story of wellness based on the experiences of Nipissing First Nation citizens. As part of our relational process, our research team engaged in an exercise of self-location in preparation for working with Nipissing First Nation stories. This process involved looking back into our own stories of wellness from three temporal points: as children, youth, and adults. Our collective perspective of wellness involved three main themes of relationship, identity, and determinants of health. This exercise helped researchers become aware of their own subjective lenses about wellness. Awakening to our own stories helped us to recognize the ethical space that existed between us as researchers, the stories we will gather, and the perspectives of our community advisory committee. Engaging in this exercise illuminated the need for a continual reflexive stance, consistently being mindful about the privilege we hold as researchers and the invisible stories that creep into an analysis. The process of self-location was an essential element in beginning our research journey. It prepared us for working respectfully and reciprocally with the community that honours the ethical space we collectively share.