Research Articles

Spaces for participatory research, decolonization and community empowerment: working with speakers of Nahuatl in Mexico

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Abstract

This paper focuses on theoretical and practical approaches to decolonizing,participatory research in Indigenous communities and on ways of fosteringthose decolonizing methodologies in the areas of ethnohistory,sociolinguistics and language revitalization. I discuss the results of severalcomplementary projects involving the Nahuatl language in Mexico, includingmethods and practices which we developed and implemented, both withregard to ethnolinguistic fieldwork in Nahua communities and to the analysisand usages of historical and modern data. Empowerment and capacitybuildingof Indigenous participants have been essential aspects of this work; ithas also embraced attempts to create spaces for the development ofIndigenous research methodology. Another important focus has been thedevelopment and promotion of ‘participatory historical culture’, consisting ofjointly reading and discussing Indigenous texts written by ancestors ofmodern Nahuas. I discuss the possible impacts of these activities on positivelanguage attitudes and historical identities in the context of languagerevitalization, as well as on the individual and collective capacity to act withregard to their linguistic and cultural heritage.

Keywords: Decolonization, Indigenous communities, ethnohistory, Nahuatl, Mexico

How to Cite:

Olko, J., (2019) “Spaces for participatory research, decolonization and community empowerment: working with speakers of Nahuatl in Mexico”, Language Documentation and Description 16, 1- 34. doi: https://doi.org/10.25894/ldd111