Year of Award
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Name
Teaching and Learning
Department or School/College
Phyllis J. Washington College of Education
Committee Chair
Kate Brayko
Commitee Members
Jingjing Sun, Morgen Alwell, Dana FitzGale, Michelle Johnson-Jennings, Kirsten Murray
Keywords
Indigenous Educational Systems, Native American Education, Nitsitapii, Teaching and Learning, Tribal Teacher Prep Programs
Abstract
This qualitative three component study, grounded in Indigenous research methodologies, conceptualizes educational sovereignty as a community healing intervention, and centers tribal epistemologies and ontologies as holistic systems of education that promote wellbeing and academic achievement. Component One, a Nitsitapii (Blackfoot- “Real People") research methodology and constructive grounded theory, was employed with tribal Elders co-constructing a Nitsitapii Epistemology Framework (NEF) to better understand the teaching and learning systems that traditionally centered Pookaiks (children) into Nitsitapii ways of knowing. Component Two utilized a storysharing methodology with a phenomenological approach to understand the lived experiences of teachers who graduated from a Nitsitapii teacher prep program (TPP). This component shares both salient experiences of the teachers and their personal and professional journeys in the TPP, and follows them into their current roles as teachers, focusing on three interrelated dimensions: tribal identity, wellbeing and healing, and culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogy. Component Three uses the NEF as an analytical lens to better understand how teachers are enacting Nitsitapii educational sovereignty in contemporary ways. Together, the three components of this study illuminate educational sovereignty as a living and relational process grounded within Nitsitapii ways of knowing, being, and teaching.
Recommended Citation
Running Wolf, Lona Renee, "WHEN “GROW YOUR OWN” MEANS SOVEREIGNTY: NITSITAPII TEACHERS CENTERING POOKAIKS" (2026). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12711.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12711
© Copyright 2026 Lona Renee Running Wolf