{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T15:51:32Z","timestamp":1781797892693,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781654400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The history of AIAN people in the US has been told many times, but Western academic researchers have failed to shift that history into wisdom and uncover teachings for living in the present day. The aim of this paper is to document Indigenous elders\u2019 childhood experiences and stories, and to record the wisdom they wish to pass on to the next generation in an accessible, written form.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study used elder-centered research methods situated within a postcolonial paradigm. Methods centered on the lived experience and values of Indigenous people and a three-step process of identifying data, developing a methodology, and validating wisdom messages in a visual model. Participants were recruited for this study through existing connections and prior research experience. Inclusion criteria for participants were: (1) elder status in their community\/Tribe, (2) willingness to share a story from childhood and wisdom, and (3) validate stories and the visual model presented in this manuscript. There were two open-ended questions asked during the information gathering interviews: (1) \u201cTell me a story from your childhood,\u201d and (2) \u201cWhat is some wisdom you want to pass on?\u201d<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Fourteen stories (vignettes) are presented in this section along with a visual model that highlights primary messages (themes). Past, present, and future messages from stories are illustrated using an Indigenous Life Course timeline against the backdrop of colonial events and American Indian policy.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study supported the transmission and continuation of Indigenous knowledge systems, lifeways, practices, traditions, values, and experiences that are often lost or never recorded. This study illuminates the life stories of elders who possess deep resilience and strength and have experienced the devastating impacts of colonialism and the loss of land, language, values, and family systems. Combined, these wisdom messages have the potential to heal individuals, inform community-based programs, and elevate Indigenous knowledge in public health. Elders\u2019 deep wisdom and legacy are reflected in what they wanted to share with readers, a call to action about how to live: Keep Praying. You Have A Voice. Go Back to the Old Ways, Share Your Stories About How to Live, Walk in Beauty. Love Your Family, Limit Technology, Protect the Land, and Medicines. Deal with Pain, Practice Ceremony and Self-care, Live in Balance. Pray, Help People, Commit to Something. Practice Ceremony, Forgive, Heal from Losses, Be Generous, Help Others, Seek Happiness.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1817753","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T05:56:58Z","timestamp":1781675818000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Telling our history: a narrative study with Indigenous elders, wisdom for the coming generation"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Allyson","family":"Kelley","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Allyson Kelley & Associates PLLC","place":["Sisters, OR, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dolores","family":"BigFoot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Allyson Kelley & Associates PLLC","place":["Sisters, OR, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Clayton","family":"Small","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Native PRIDE","place":["Fleming Island, FL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Phil","family":"Steven","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Doya Natsu Healing Center","place":["Fort Washakie, WY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"William","family":"Snell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council","place":["Billings, MT, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gail","family":"Raines","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consultant","place":["Pryor, MT, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ruth","family":"Cedar Face","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Little Wound School","place":["Kyle, SD, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","year":""},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2053","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2023.22614","article-title":"American Indian and Alaska native life expectancy: writing a new narrative","volume":"330","author":"Parker","year":"2023","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref3","year":""},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"769","DOI":"10.1111\/aman.13293","article-title":"Ethno\/graphic storytelling: communicating research and exploring pedagogical approaches through graphic narratives, drawings, and zines","volume":"121","author":"Atalay","year":"2019","journal-title":"Am Anthropol"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"598","DOI":"10.1080\/10926771.2016.1157843","article-title":"Giving voice to historical trauma through storytelling: the impact of boarding school experience on American Indians","volume":"25","author":"Charbonneau-Dahlen","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Aggress Maltreatment Trauma"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.17125\/plaid.2016.60","article-title":"Narrative inquiry in diabetes research: illuminating the psychosocial aspects of diabetes","volume":"2","author":"Acuff","year":"2016","journal-title":"PLAID People Living Inspired Diabetes"},{"key":"ref7","first-page":"n1","article-title":"The art of storytelling: reshaping and preserving traditions","volume":"24","author":"Sorensen","year":"2012","journal-title":"Tribal College J Am Indian High Educ"},{"key":"ref8","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref9","first-page":"383","volume-title":"The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research","author":"Kovach","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"447","DOI":"10.1177\/11771801231155437","article-title":"Indigenous elder-centered methodology: research that decolonizes and indigenizes","volume":"19","author":"Crouch","year":"2023","journal-title":"AlterNative (Nga Pae Maramatanga (Organ))"},{"key":"ref11","volume-title":"Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact","author":"Deloria","year":"1997"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.5040\/9781350225282","volume-title":"Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples","author":"Smith","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100868","DOI":"10.1016\/j.newideapsych.2021.100868","article-title":"\"Method and meaning\": storytelling as decolonial praxis in the psychology of racialized peoples","volume":"62","author":"Samuel","year":"2021","journal-title":"New Ideas Psychol"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2333393615580764","DOI":"10.1177\/2333393615580764","article-title":"Indigenous storytelling and participatory action research: allies toward decolonization? 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