Indigenous research paradigm framework for AI engagement that centers relationality, ceremony, and accountability. Use when work implicates communities or territories, when research must honor relational accountability, when applying ceremonial methodology (five-stage process), when structural tension charting is used as ceremonial technology, when protecting against extraction defaults, or when more-than-human actors must be considered in decision-making.
The structural dynamics frameworks (Creative Orientation, Structural Tension Charts, MMOT, Delayed Resolution) function as ceremonial technology bridging Western methodologies with sacred relational Indigenous ways.
| Structural Dynamics | Indigenous Paradigm Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Structural Tension Charting | Entering Sacred Space — tension IS mana (sacred space between things) |
| MMOT (Truth as a Verb) | Relational Accountability — prevents Wetigo/spiritual crash |
| Delayed Resolution | Holding Sacred Tension — prevents false consensus |
| Creative Orientation | Knowledge to Wisdom Transformation — three phases parallel ceremonial stages |
| Action Steps | Ritualized Manner — collective focus, not task completion |
| Anti-Pattern | Violation | Corrective |
|---|---|---|
| Extraction defaults | Fractures relational accountability | Hold productive tension, require co-exploration |
| Consent assumptions | Ignores more-than-human actors | Identify ALL affected relationships first |
| Technical language erasure | Flattens relational meaning | Use cultural bridges, preserve non-verbal understanding |
| Problem-solving bias | Creates oscillation, not advancement | Start with nothing, identify structure, then create |
| False equilibrium | Prevents productive tension | Delayed Resolution — hold tension, document discrepancies |
Without relational accountability = "no skin" = spiritual crash/Wetigo disease. MMOT restores kinship by maintaining relationship through honest truth-telling.
/creative-orientation): Three creative phases parallel five ceremonial stages/structural-tension-charting): Charts function as ceremonial technology/delayed-resolution): Holds sacred tension against false consensus/kinship-hub): Maps relational structure in projects/performance-truth): MMOT as relational wound acknowledgment