AN EXAMINATION OF THE CONSTRAINTS ON MUTUAL INQUIRY IN A PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH-PROJECT

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is designed to promote active invo lvement in every stage of the research process by those who are conven tionally the focus of research. PAR thereby replaces the traditional h ierarchical approach to research with a commitment to mutual inquiry a nd local ownership. The ideals of PAR have been much written about, bu t very little PAR literature actually describes how the research unfol ded in any particular context, so this article examines the way that m utual inquiry manifested itself in a deeply divided Native community. In this setting, Native participants wanted to learn more about intern al community problems and were interested in taking advantage of non-N ative time, research skills, and resources for that purpose. However a history of oppression had left this community distrustful of outsider s (inhibiting mutual inquiry) and internally divided (inhibiting self- inquiry). The use of PAR allowed a tenuous alliance to develop between myself as an English Canadian and the members of this Native communit y. Our particular modifications to the theoretical PAR model facilitat ed the coordinated participation of community groups that were resista nt to working together in a research process that revealed barriers to change in the community and clarified directions for action. To achie ve our goals, the PAR principles of mutuality and public responsibilit y were altered considerably from the prescriptions found in the PAR li terature.