Dreams and Identity in Indigenous California

Abstract

Dreams and Identity in Indigenous California was a qualitative, narrative inquiry that utilized a Red Pedagogical, transmodern philosophical approach to research on dreaming and its influence on a sense of Indigenous identity among self-identifying Indigenous people in the state of California. Using Story Science as a research approach and methodology, data were gathered on the presence and significance of dreams to precontact Native California people, and identified contemporary dream and identity praxes that help to build an emancipatory sense of Indigenous identity that contribute to Indigenous decolonization and community wellbeing. Particular focus was placed on the genocide of California Indians for gold, land, and human resources; and traditional and contemporary dream and identity praxes perceived to regenerate Indigenous culture and create Indigenous identity resilience in post-genocidal, colonized California. The researcher offered a self-reflective analysis on terminal Western narratives concerning the reality of dreams, and engaging traditional Indigenous logic rather than Western biological assumptions in Indigenous recognition practices. The work concluded with the researcher’s Red Pedagogical insights gathered in the process of conducting decolonial research from the Indigenous margins.