Visual-Privileging: Subjectivity in Collaborative Ethnography Further Conversations with Paula Nicho Cúmez

Abstract

In Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision, Duran states, “In order to have a true integration of thought we must make room for nonlinear thinking, which will yield a true hybrid postcolonial way of expressing subjectivity. As we move into the next millennium, we should not be tolerant of the neocolonialism that runs unchecked through our knowledge-generating systems” (cited in Battiste, 2000, p. 101). Privileging text, as a form for investigation in qualitative inquiry is a knowledge-generating system marked by ethnographic colonialism and Eurocentrism. In this presentation of Paula’s work, we use video as a unique visual form and tool for qualitative inquiry. Through interviews and oratory, Paula describes her paintings. This investigation privileges the visual, thus moving visual inquiry from the margins into the mainstream.