(Re)Creation Stories: (Re)Claiming Indigenous Identity through Art, Story, and Place

Abstract

This inquiry explores how Indigenous storytelling, art, and land-based knowledge support the (re)creation and (re)claiming of Indigenous identity through relational, arts-based research. Grounded in Unangax̂ and Alutiiq worldviews, it draws on Indigenous methodologies, including storywork, autoethnography, and arts-based inquiry, and is rooted in the understanding that research is relational and accountable to communities and knowledge holders. Drawing on relational conversations and shared practices with Indigenous artists, educators, and knowledge holders, this work follows the movement of Aalux̂, a great wave, as a living framework for how knowledge is gathered, carried, and returned. Through this framework, it traces how teachings move through Land, story, language, and the work of our hands, remaining connected to people and place. The inquiry reveals that Indigenous knowledge continues through everyday acts of making, teaching, and gathering. These practices show how language, story, and artistic practice support the (re)creation of identity and intergenerational continuity. They reflect resurgence as a lived and ongoing presence within Indigenous communities, sustained across generations. Relational responsibility remains central, emphasizing that knowledge is held collectively with care. Generative refusal honors relational boundaries, including moments where stories are intentionally held. Some knowledge remains within relationship, guided by those who carry it. This work returns to the question of what it means to carry these teachings forward and offers implications for K–12 educational spaces and community-based learning by calling for practices grounded in relationship, guided by knowledge holders, and connected to Land, language, and community. Indigenous knowledge systems continue to live through relationships, and the responsibility of research is to carry these teachings forward in a good way.