“A tale of two paths": Approaching difference in game research collaboration through gulahalan

In this article we explore the Sámi educational concept of gulahalan (cf. Boine & Saus 2012) and its role in nurturing Sámi games research through research collaboration. We ask how gulahalan, creating a joint understanding through conversations, can guide research collaboration which involves our different epistemologies as Indigenous and white game scholars. Given the colonial logics inherent in the game studies project, especially in Europe (e.g. Fickle, 2019; Trammell, 2023), collaborations like ours are set up for white epistemic violence in the form of white authority and the undervaluing of Indigenous knowledge (e.g. Liu 2022).
Recent Indigenous games research has explored themes around sovereignty (cf. Laiti 2021, LaPensée 2017), uplifting especially Indigenous methodology with strong ethical guidelines, e.g., the 6 R’s: Respect, Relationship, Relevance, Reciprocity, Responsibility and Representation (Tsosie et al. 2022). However, little attention has been given to racial (in)equity in research collaborations in the field of game studies. The epistemological differences between white-western and Indigenous traditions and the way they are differently valued within academia, can for example, increase ethnostress (Kuokkanen 1999) and push Indigenous researchers to work alone.
In the spirit of ethical guidelines, this begs the question of relationality: How can we forge connections which are supportive and foster solidarity among all its participants before, during, and after the research process? How does pervasive whiteness interfere with this? What does it take to minimize epistemic violence? To answer these questions, we look at our ongoing Indigenous/western research collaboration which started in 2018. By using autoethnography (Adams et al. 2015; Bishop 2020; Ellis 2009; Kettunen 2013) and drawing from our experiences, we explore how gulahalan has manifested in our own research collaboration as a Sámi and a white western researcher.
We visualize our findings through the analogy of walking two separate paths leading to a shared goal whilst staying in ‘touch’ through listening, speaking, and building capacity, discussing how this image might help researchers approach power, solidarity and joy in research collaboration. We further aim to show the value of Indigenous worldviews in leading panepistemological research collaboration, nurturing the growth of all researchers.