When research is conducted from a Western paradigm alone, the findings and resultant policies often ignore Indigenous peoples’ health practices and fail to align with their health care priorities. There is a need for decolonized approaches within qualitative health research to collaboratively identify intersecting reasons behind troubling health inequities and to integrate Indigenous knowledge into current health care services. We engaged with First Nations women to explore to what extent digital storytelling could be a feasible, acceptable, and meaningful research method to inform culturally safe health care services. This novel approach created a culturally safe and ethical space for authentic patient engagement. Our conversations were profound and provided deep insights into First Nations women’s experiences with breast cancer and guidance for our future qualitative study. We found that the digital storytelling workshop facilitated a Debwewin journey, which is an ancient Anishinabe way of knowing that connects one’s heart knowledge and mind knowledge.

当仅从西方范式进行研究时，研究结果和由此产生的政策往往会忽视原住民的健康实践，无法与他们的医疗保健重点保持一致。需要在定性健康研究中采用非殖民化方法，以协作确定令人不安的健康不平等背后的交叉原因，并将本土知识整合到当前的医疗保健服务中。我们与原住民妇女合作，探讨在何种程度上数字故事讲述是一种可行、可接受且有意义的研究方法，可以为文化安全的医疗保健服务提供信息。这种新颖的方法为真正的患者参与创造了一个文化安全和道德的空间。我们的对话非常深刻，为原住民妇女患乳腺癌的经历提供了深刻的见解，并为我们未来的定性研究提供了指导。我们发现数字讲故事研讨会促进了Debwewin之旅，这是一种古老的 Anishinabe 认识方式，将一个人的心灵知识和头脑知识联系起来。