Living Indigenous Leadership: Native Narratives on Building Strong Communities

Indigenous scholars strive to produce accessible research grounded
in the daily lives of Native peoples, research that will improve their
communities in meaningful and sustained ways. They also recognize that
long-lasting change depends on effective leadership.

Living Indigenous Leadership showcases innovative research
and leadership practices from diverse nations and tribes in Canada, the
United States, and New Zealand. The contributors use vibrant stories
and personal narratives to offer insights into the unique nature of
Indigenous leadership. These dynamic case studies reveal that Native
leaders, whether formal or informal, ground their work in embodied
concepts such as land, story, ancestors, and elders, concepts rarely
mentioned in mainstream studies of leadership. Indigenous leadership,
they show, finds its most powerful expression in collaboration, in the
teaching and example of Elders, and in community projects to promote
higher education, language revitalization, health care, and the
preservation of Indigenous arts.

This collection not only adds Indigenous methods to studies on
leadership, it also gives a voice to the wives, mothers, and
grandmothers who are using their knowledge to mend hearts and minds and
to build strong communities. Their personal stories and collective
knowledge will inspire further research and future generations.