Sit Down, Be Humble: The Influence of the Work of Linda Tuhiwai Smith on Our Research

We explore the introductory chapter of Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s influential text which ‘draw[s] attention to the thousands of ways in which Indigenous languages, knowledges and cultures have been silenced or misrepresented, ridiculed or condemned in academic and popular discourses’ (2012, p. 21). Tuhiwai Smith argues that scholars need a ‘more critical understanding of the underlying assumptions, motivations and values which inform research practices’ (Smith. Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous People (2nd ed.). Zed Books, 2012), paying particular attention to understanding the impacts of imperialism and colonisation, and the past and continued damaging, unethical practices of non-Indigenous academics researching Indigenous peoples. This requires a reflection on power positioning, place and space. In this chapter we discuss our experiences of using Indigenous theories and methodologies as an Indigenous researcher (Gulwanyang) and a non-Indigenous researcher (Amani).