Decolonizing Research: Indigenous Storywork as Methodology

Description

From Oceania to North America, indigenous peoples have created storytelling traditions of incredible depth and diversity. The term 'indigenous storywork' has come to encompass the sheer breadth of ways in which indigenous storytelling serves as a historical record, as a form of teaching and learning, and as an expression of indigenous culture and identity. But such traditions have too often been relegated to the realm of myth and legend, recorded as fragmented distortions, or erased altogether. Decolonizing Research brings together indigenous researchers and activists from Canada, Australia and New Zealand to assert the unique value of indigenous storywork as a focus of research, and to develop methodologies that rectify the colonial attitudes inherent in much past and current scholarship. By bringing together their own indigenous perspectives, and by treating indigenous storywork on its own terms, the contributors illuminate valuable new avenues for research, and show how such reworked scholarship can contribute to the movement for indigenous rights and self-determination.

Jo-ann Archibald (Q'um Q'um Xiiem) is scholar and educational practitioner from the Sto:lo and St'at'imc First Nations in British Columbia, Canada. She is professor emeritus in the Educational Studies Department at the UBC Faculty of Education. She was previously the Associate Dean of Indigenous Education, and the Director of NITEP (UBC's Indigenous Teacher Education Program). She is the author of Indigenous Storywork: Educating the Heart, Mind, Body, and Spirit (2008). Jenny Bol Jun Lee-Morgan is a Maori scholar and educational practitioner. Her tribal affiliations are to Ngati Mahuta, Waikato-Tainui. She is a Professor of Maori Research, and Director of Nga Wai a te Tui Maori and Indigenous Research, Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand. She previously served as deputy director of the Kotahi Research Institute, The University, and as the head of the School of Maori Education (Te Puna Wananga), The University of Auckland. Her previous works include: co-edited book Decolonisation in Aotearoa: Education, research and practice (Hutchings & Lee-Morgan, 2016) that won Te Korero Pono in the Nga Kupu Ora Aotearoa Maori Book Awards 2017; Oho ake: Rehu Marae (Lee & Selwyn, 2010); and Jade Taniwha: Maori-Chinese Identity and Schooling in Aotearoa (2007). Dr Jason De Santolo is a researcher & creative producer. His tribal affiliations are Garrwa and Barunggam. He is Assoc Professor of Indigenous Research in the School of Design at University of Technology Sydney and an Associate in the Institute for Sustainable Futures. He previously worked as a Senior Researcher in Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research where he led New Media and the Indigenous Research Synergies strategy. Jason co-edited Decolonizing Research: Indigenous storywork as methodology (2019) with Jo-Ann Archibald and Jenny Lee-Morgan (Zed Books). His latest documentary Warburdar Bununu/Water Shield (2019) explores water contamination in his homelands and Borroloola, Northern Territory and will be premiering at the Sydney Film Festival.

"Who controls a culture's stories is both an intellectual and a political issue, and in an age of identity politics, a people's myths and histories have become a focal point of contention as well as scholarship...As a vehicle for hearing the perspective of these voices, this volume will be useful for stimulating further discussion..."--L. Rosen, emeritus, Princeton University "Choice"