ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on some aspects of Indigenous worldviews that are often marginalized within Western academic research: relationships of mutuality between humans, the spirit world, and the natural world. There are many different terms Indigenous peoples use when describing the interconnections and relationships between humans and the more-than-human world. Interconnected knowing also emphasizes the importance of the interrelationships of mind, body, emotion, and spirit, which many Indigenous scholars regard as integral in understanding human experience. Interconnected knowing also emphasizes respectful relationships between the researcher and the research participants. Spirituality is an integral aspect of interconnected knowing, as evidenced in the work of Begay and Maryboy and others, who maintain that Indigenous research is 'inherently spiritual'. In contrast, interconnected knowing seeks to acknowledge and integrate the call and response between spirit, the natural world, and humans.
