Defying Colonial Language/Reclaiming Personal Stories : Indigenous Autoethnography and ‘Truth Telling’

Abstract

Indigenous Peoples have a long-standing tradition of storytelling since our Ancestors told our first stories. Though strides have been made in academia, challenges persist making it difficult to carry and pass on knowledge through our original ways of knowing. This paper expands on ‘truth telling’, exposes colonial autoethnographic language, and reclaims personal story through Indigenous autoethnography. Further, this paper critically examines existing academic policies that may prevent marginalized populaces from speaking our truths through each own’s respective story.