Te Kakano

Week 8: Te Kakano: Developing Your Research. 1/5/23

The elements of a Indigenous research paradigm.
Shawn Wilson.

As I read through this chapter I am also preparing for my research (rangahau) project, and have become an absolute sponge in respect of methodology that will assist me advance this rangahau within Indigenous frameworks.
This chapter talks to relationality, a word that sums up the Indigenous research paradigm, where knowledge is relational, and people cease being objectified when researchers for fill their role in the research relationship through their methodology. Within relationality, an accountability is maintained, in that relational ways of being are at the heart of the Indigenous relationship.
Frameworks of interconnectedness will differ, as there may be multiple realities.
Indigenous epistemology is a system of knowledge that is built on relationships between things, rather than on things themselves i.e. the object is not as important as the relationship.

If research doesn’t change you as a person then you are not doing it right.

Chapter 5 of Wilson’s book frames ‘relationality’ as being key to advance respectful, reciprocal and responsible research.

Today I reflect on the importance of ceremony in establishing and advancing the Indigenous relationship and my ongoing rangahau. Ceremony being cited by Wilson, as strengthening an Indigenous relationship, just as research should, where Indigenous relationships are grounded in environment, land, and ancestors.
When RAW first commenced we were heavily reliant on the Waikato Women’s Refuge to support our mahi and guide us though best tikanga practice in Māori hui and on Māori sites. With the benefit of hindsight, I note the many moments that reflected ‘ceremony’ that I continued to find myself in, and repeatedly failed to recognise its importance. I wrote these “ceremonies” off as inefficient use of my limited and allotted timeframes. These protracted moments often meant time set aside to achieve my mahi goals became severely and continually blown out. Only now do I understand the significance and importance of a powhiri, mihi, and karakia, in respect of entry to the Refuge site or commencement of a hui, where we share food and extended relational conversation. Whilst this practice can appear to have little to do with the matter at hand, it is demonstrating the importance of establishing a trusted relationship. As a Pākēha female this all felt incredibly timely and not useful to my end goal, especially when some of the hui participants were allowed to prattle on and on and on. When one finished another would begin, all working in respectful sequence to introduce themselves to the group. Never before had I encountered this respectful level of unconditional inclusion. As the RAW mahi developed, I was guided by many Māori wāhine who gently nurtured me to a place of respect and understanding in regards to ceremony. These wāhine mentors remain in my life today, fully supportive of our mahi, and enabling and encouraging an evolving Māori lens to be applied to our day-to-day practices and behaviours. Key to our successful inclusion in a Māori world, has been acknowledging and effecting respectful, reciprocal and responsible relationships and this simply means affording the time and placing value on the often positively protracted process of relational connection.

References.
Wilson, S. (2008). Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Black Point, Nova Scotia. Fernwood Publishing. Ch.5.