Negotiating Three Worlds: Academia, Nursing Science, and Tribal Communities

The purpose of this article is to use a cross-cultural model to guide the exploration of common issues and the dynamic interrelationships surrounding entrée to tribal communities as experienced by four nursing research teams. In the article, the members of four research teams discuss the primary lessons learned about successful strategies and challenges encountered during their projects' early stages. It was found that understanding the cultural values of relationship and reciprocity is critical to the success of research projects conducted in Native American communities. Conducting cross-cultural research involves complex negotiations among members of three entities: academia, nursing science, and tribal communities. The lessons learned in these four research projects may be instructive to investigators who have the opportunity to conduct research with tribal communities.