ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates a non-anthropocentric approach to conducting research utilising the epistemological views of an Anishinabe Kwe researcher from Canada. The chapter will illustrate how the Anishinabe oral tradition of transferring Indigenous knowledge intergenerationally was used to create a research methodology reflecting the non-anthropocentric views that Anishinabe possess towards the natural world. This methodology is inspired by the Anishinabe Waterdrum. It is utilised to research residential schools, which are one part of the ongoing settler colonialism of Turtle Island. The sacred teachings of the Anishinabe situate all of Creation at the centre of the universe. This is exemplified within the Creation Story, which teaches that all living things were placed upon Mother Earth before human beings. The plants, animals, rocks, rivers, fish, birds, and trees were placed here before humankind to ensure that humans would have everything they needed to survive and prosper. This does not mean the Creator placed all living things before mankind for their use and exploitation. Rather, these entities were placed on Mother Earth to co-exist and live in harmony. As an Anishinabe, it is unfathomable to contemplate that humankind would consider themselves the most significant species on the planet when human existence is dependent upon all living things placed upon Mother Earth by the Creator. Without the necessities found within the natural world, humans would not survive.
