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INQUIRY CONTEXT 260120

IAIP Research
260120-mission-260118075628-cont

INQUIRY CONTEXT 260120

Purpose: Research inquiry for Perplexity.ai agent
Session: Continuation of 260118075628 - Family Circle Recovery & Talking Circle
Date: 20 January 2026
Primary Investigator: Claude (Opus 4.5) serving ceremonial technology design

1. Problem Statement

We are building a ceremonial healing platform that integrates:

  • Indigenous knowledge frameworks (Medicine Wheel, Wellbriety's Four Laws)
  • Developmental psychology (Erikson's 8 stages / "Eight Feelings")
  • Narrative intelligence (NCP-Dramatica story encoding)
  • Structural tension for creative orientation (Robert Fritz)
  • Shawn Wilson's "Research Is Ceremony" framework

The core challenge: How do we create AI-powered talking circles that honor Indigenous protocols, encode healing through story (Six Powers + Eight Feelings), and maintain relational accountability to ancestors, descendants, land, spirit, and community—while respecting data sovereignty (OCAP®)?

2. What We've Already Built

2.1 Structural Infrastructure

  • 2 master structural tension charts with 20 action steps total
  • Relational web with 6 nodes (ancestor, human, land, spirit, future, knowledge) and 5 documented obligation edges
  • Opening ceremony logged in relational memory
  • Wilson Paradigm validation: STRONG ALIGNMENT (3/3)

2.2 Technical Implementation (v0.dev MARROW/FAMC-KB)

  • Neon database with schema for Six Powers and Eight Feelings
  • Upstash vector store for semantic search
  • API endpoints for knowledge entries, search, categories
  • UI components including medicine wheel visualization
  • Elder teachings seeded (Unconscious Triggers, Emotional Divesting)

2.3 MCP Tools Available

  • inquiries-knowledge-beats: Structural tension charts, action steps, narrative beats
  • mcp-medicine-wheel: Wilson paradigm validation, relational nodes/edges, ceremony logging, four-direction protocols

3. Research Questions for Perplexity

3.1 Academic/Theoretical

  1. Indigenous AI Ethics: What academic literature exists on developing AI systems that honor Indigenous knowledge protocols? Specifically, work citing Shawn Wilson's "Research Is Ceremony" (2008) or applying OCAP® principles to AI development.

  2. Developmental Trauma + AI: What research connects Erikson's psychosocial stages with AI-assisted healing interventions? Are there therapeutic chatbots or LLM applications designed around developmental wound healing?

  3. Narrative Medicine + Technology: What peer-reviewed work examines story as healing intervention in digital contexts? Literature on "narrative medicine" (Rita Charon), digital storytelling for trauma, or story circles translated to virtual formats.

  4. Structural Tension in Software Design: Any application of Robert Fritz's creative orientation / structural tension framework to software engineering or AI system design?

  5. Two-Eyed Seeing + Technology: Research on integrating Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in technology design (Mi'kmaq Elder Albert Marshall's "Etuaptmumk" / Two-Eyed Seeing).

3.2 Technical/Implementation

  1. Vector Stores for Ceremonial Content: Best practices for vector database design when content includes sacred/restricted access materials? Seasonal access patterns, consent-based retrieval, role-based access control.

  2. Multi-Agent Systems for Healing: Examples of LLM multi-agent architectures designed for therapeutic or healing contexts? Agents representing different "voices" or powers guiding conversation.

  3. OCAP®-Compliant Data Architecture: Technical implementations of First Nations data sovereignty principles in production systems? On-premise vs cloud trade-offs for Indigenous data governance.

  4. Dramatica Theory + AI: Any implementations of Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley's Dramatica story theory in AI systems? Story encoding, storyform generation, or narrative intelligence applications.

  5. Medicine Wheel as Information Architecture: Examples of using medicine wheel or four-directional frameworks as organizing principles for software, knowledge management, or AI interaction design.

3.3 GitHub/Open Source

  1. Existing Projects: GitHub repositories working on Indigenous knowledge systems + AI, ceremonial technology, trauma-informed chatbots, narrative therapy bots, or Wellbriety-aligned applications.

  2. MCP (Model Context Protocol) Extensions: Any MCPs designed for relational accountability, ceremony logging, or Indigenous research paradigm support?

  3. Vector Store Implementations: Open source projects using Upstash, Pinecone, or similar for therapeutic/healing content with access control patterns.

4. Context for Answers

4.1 We Already Know

  • Shawn Wilson's four aspects: relational ontology, ceremony as epistemology, relational accountability as axiology, methodology as set of tools reflecting paradigm
  • OCAP® principles (Ownership, Control, Access, Possession)
  • Erikson's 8 stages and their wound manifestations
  • Robert Fritz's structural tension vs. emotional tension
  • Medicine wheel directions and their correspondences
  • Wellbriety's Four Laws of Change

4.2 We Need to Discover

  • Who else is working in this space?
  • What academic grounding exists for this approach?
  • What technical patterns have been tried?
  • What failures should we learn from?
  • What community resources exist?

5. Specific Search Requests

5.1 Academic Databases

  • Google Scholar search: "Indigenous AI" OR "decolonizing technology" AND "data sovereignty"
  • Google Scholar search: "narrative medicine" AND ("artificial intelligence" OR "chatbot" OR "LLM")
  • Google Scholar search: "Erikson psychosocial" AND ("digital intervention" OR "AI" OR "therapeutic chatbot")
  • Google Scholar search: "Research Is Ceremony" AND "technology"

5.2 GitHub Searches

  • Repositories with topics: indigenous, healing, therapy-chatbot, narrative-medicine
  • Repositories mentioning: OCAP, "First Nations data", "Indigenous knowledge"
  • Repositories with: medicine-wheel, four-directions, talking-circle

5.3 Web Resources

  • White Bison / Wellbriety technology initiatives
  • First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC) technology guidelines
  • Indigenous AI working groups or conferences
  • Narrative medicine institutes with digital programs

6. Output Format Requested

For each research area, please provide:

  1. Key Papers/Sources (title, authors, year, relevance)
  2. Key Concepts (what we should know)
  3. Key People/Organizations (who to follow/connect with)
  4. Gaps Identified (what doesn't exist yet that we're creating)
  5. Implementation Insights (technical patterns, warnings, recommendations)

7. Relational Context

This research is not extractive. We are:

  • Building for seven generations
  • Honoring ancestors through lineage-informed design
  • Accountable to RCV community and Elder co-investigators
  • Grounded in land relationship (seasonal protocols)
  • Treating knowledge as having spirit (not property)

Any sources found should be cited properly and respected. We do not extract—we relate.

8. Timeline

  • Immediate (260120): Initial survey to inform next implementation cycle
  • Short-term (Week of 260120): Deep dive into most promising areas
  • Medium-term (Q1 2026): Establish relationships with identified researchers/communities
  • Ongoing: Regular academic monitoring for emerging work

This inquiry is part of a ceremonially-grounded research project. The knowledge gathered serves healing, not extraction.

Filed from: EAST Direction (Vision, New Beginnings)
Moving toward: SOUTH Direction (Growth, Implementation)