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Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples
From the vantage point of the colonized, the term 'research' is inextricably linked with European colonialism; the ways in which scientific research has been implicated in the worst excesses of imperialism remains a powerful remembered history for many of the world's colonized peoples. Here, an indigenous researcher issues a clarion call for the decolonization of research methods.
The book is divided into two parts. In the first, the author critically examines the historical and philosophical base of Western research. Extending the work of Foucault, she explores the intersections of imperialism, knowledge and research, and the different ways in which imperialism is embedded in disciplines of knowledge and methodologies as 'regimes of truth'. Providing a history of knowledge from the Enlightenment to Postcoloniality, she also discusses the fate of concepts such as 'discovery, 'claiming' and 'naming' through which the west has incorporated and continues to incorporate the indigenous world within its own web.
The second part of the book meets the urgent need for people who are carrying out their own research projects, for literature which validates their frustrations in dealing with various western paradigms, academic traditions and methodologies, which continue to position the indigenous as 'Other'. In setting an agenda for planning and implementing indigenous research, the author shows how such programmes are part of the wider project of reclaiming control over indigenous ways of knowing and being.
Exploring the broad range of issues which have confronted, and continue to confront, indigenous peoples, in their encounters with western knowledge, this book also sets a standard for truly emancipatory research. It brilliantly demonstrates that "when indigenous peoples become the researchers and not merely the researched, the activity of research is transformed."
The book is divided into two parts. In the first, the author critically examines the historical and philosophical base of Western research. Extending the work of Foucault, she explores the intersections of imperialism, knowledge and research, and the different ways in which imperialism is embedded in disciplines of knowledge and methodologies as 'regimes of truth'. Providing a history of knowledge from the Enlightenment to Postcoloniality, she also discusses the fate of concepts such as 'discovery, 'claiming' and 'naming' through which the west has incorporated and continues to incorporate the indigenous world within its own web.
The second part of the book meets the urgent need for people who are carrying out their own research projects, for literature which validates their frustrations in dealing with various western paradigms, academic traditions and methodologies, which continue to position the indigenous as 'Other'. In setting an agenda for planning and implementing indigenous research, the author shows how such programmes are part of the wider project of reclaiming control over indigenous ways of knowing and being.
Exploring the broad range of issues which have confronted, and continue to confront, indigenous peoples, in their encounters with western knowledge, this book also sets a standard for truly emancipatory research. It brilliantly demonstrates that "when indigenous peoples become the researchers and not merely the researched, the activity of research is transformed."
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
544 people are currently reading
8158 people want to read
About the author
Linda Tuhiwai Smith
22books92followersProfessor Smith is Pro Vice-Chancellor Maori with responsibilities for Maori development at the University of Waikato as well as Dean of the School of Maori and Pacific Development and a professor of Education and Maori Development.
Professor Smith has an academic background in education and research and has a long career as an inter-disciplinary scholar. She is well known for her publications, public speaking and research leadership.
Her 1998 book Decolonising Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples has become a seminal text in indigenous studies. Her other publications canvass a wide range of academic disciplines.
She has worked with a number of Maori scholars most notably her husband Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith. Professor Smith has served on a number of New Zealand's national bodies.
She has been President of NZARE the New Zealand Association for Research in Education, a member of the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission, a member of the Health Research Council and Chair of the Maori Health Committee, Chair of the Social Sciences Panel of the Marsden Council and member of the Constitutional Review Panel.
She has also been active in establishing Maori educational initiatives from early childhood to higher education, was an inaugural co-Director of the Maori Research Centre of Excellence, Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga, and is currently the Director of the Te Kotahi Research Institute at the University of Waikato.
Linda is a daughter, a sister and cousin, a mother and aunt and a grandmother in an extended family.
Professor Smith has an academic background in education and research and has a long career as an inter-disciplinary scholar. She is well known for her publications, public speaking and research leadership.
Her 1998 book Decolonising Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples has become a seminal text in indigenous studies. Her other publications canvass a wide range of academic disciplines.
She has worked with a number of Maori scholars most notably her husband Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith. Professor Smith has served on a number of New Zealand's national bodies.
She has been President of NZARE the New Zealand Association for Research in Education, a member of the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission, a member of the Health Research Council and Chair of the Maori Health Committee, Chair of the Social Sciences Panel of the Marsden Council and member of the Constitutional Review Panel.
She has also been active in establishing Maori educational initiatives from early childhood to higher education, was an inaugural co-Director of the Maori Research Centre of Excellence, Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga, and is currently the Director of the Te Kotahi Research Institute at the University of Waikato.
Linda is a daughter, a sister and cousin, a mother and aunt and a grandmother in an extended family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
February 17, 2021
Okay such an amazing and powerful book about decolonizing research that I would recommend to anyone in academia or anyone who feels interested about research, with the caveat that the book is written with an indigenous audience in mind. Linda Tuhiwai Smith writes with firm strength and intelligence about the history of imperialism and colonization and how indigenous communities have been exploited by researchers for a long time. She makes several well-reasoned points about the importance of actually giving research back to communities, as well as how the intention of the researcher doesn’t really matter when considering the impact of research on communities. She provides hope too such as by highlighting examples of indigenous scholarship and how indigenous researchers have formed deep bonds with their communities.
As someone in academia considering an academic career long-term, I definitely want to internalize this book’s messages and act on them. From what I’ve observed and experienced, so much of academia is built on gatekeeping, ego-building (e.g., getting pubs for the sake of lengthening one’s CV and the system rewarding that), and competition and prestige, instead of centering actual community members. Thank you to Tuhiwai Smith for her wisdom and for the indigenous scholars and activists contributing to this movement to center community needs.
As someone in academia considering an academic career long-term, I definitely want to internalize this book’s messages and act on them. From what I’ve observed and experienced, so much of academia is built on gatekeeping, ego-building (e.g., getting pubs for the sake of lengthening one’s CV and the system rewarding that), and competition and prestige, instead of centering actual community members. Thank you to Tuhiwai Smith for her wisdom and for the indigenous scholars and activists contributing to this movement to center community needs.
December 26, 2014
Dense and laborious to get through, but (unlike so many theoretical works) not because it was incomprehensible, but because every sentence seemed vital and applicable to my own work and needed to be mulled over in my mind. As a non-indigenous historian in-training, it felt a bit naughty to be reading the work as the author stated rather sternly in her intro that her intended audience is for indigenous researchers doing indigenous research. In many ways, however, I feel this warning was a ruse intended as a forewarning to her non-indigenous readers that the coming pages would carry messages that are often uncomfortable and discouraging - but these were sentiments that needed to be conveyed and to not state them would be sugar coating the realities of working in this field.
The work itself lays out the past historiography and current approaches of research that have been conducted with the Maori- though the insights are transferable to virtually all native groups/researchers - and provides a positive framework and approaches for those conducting research (scientific, historical, anthropological, health,etc.). It really should be required reading for anyone working with minority populations.
Re-read 1/31/2013 - This is a book that I appreciate more as my understanding of the field grows. I found out today that there is a newer edition that includes additional chapters and updates. I plan on purchasing that version as well.
The work itself lays out the past historiography and current approaches of research that have been conducted with the Maori- though the insights are transferable to virtually all native groups/researchers - and provides a positive framework and approaches for those conducting research (scientific, historical, anthropological, health,etc.). It really should be required reading for anyone working with minority populations.
Re-read 1/31/2013 - This is a book that I appreciate more as my understanding of the field grows. I found out today that there is a newer edition that includes additional chapters and updates. I plan on purchasing that version as well.
December 23, 2010
Smith’s book is split into two parts. The first part addresses the complications of the role of “research� within an indigenous framework and the history of European or Western colonization in using research to commit some of the worst excesses of imperial history. She discusses the major concepts that frame Western approaches to research and how problematic that approach is when applied to an indigenous context. This first half basically gives the background for the need to decolonize Western methodologies.
The second half of the book discusses the ways in which that decolonization can actually take place by what she calls an indigenous researcher. She gives examples of the ways in which indigenous researchers can approach research and the methodologies of the types of projects that they involve themselves with. She then ends with an example of a specific type of research model and how it provides an alternative to dominant models.
My favorite quote from this book was: “the past, our stories local and global, the present, our communities, cultures, languages and social practices—all may be spaces of marginalization, they have also become spaces of resistance and hope.�
The second half of the book discusses the ways in which that decolonization can actually take place by what she calls an indigenous researcher. She gives examples of the ways in which indigenous researchers can approach research and the methodologies of the types of projects that they involve themselves with. She then ends with an example of a specific type of research model and how it provides an alternative to dominant models.
My favorite quote from this book was: “the past, our stories local and global, the present, our communities, cultures, languages and social practices—all may be spaces of marginalization, they have also become spaces of resistance and hope.�
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January 23, 2021Theory. Thinks about research from an Indigenous, and specifically Maori, perspective. A classic. I first read the book about 15 years ago and wrote an extensive review at that time. I re-read it now for work purposes, and I'll keep this brief. The work is divided into two broad parts, one providing an overview of the imperial/colonial histories of Western knowledge production, research, and scholarship, the other looking at Indigenous resistance movements and various initiatives, particularly in the Aotearoa/New Zealand context, to re-envision research in Indigenous ways. My impression from bits and pieces I've seen/heard from people actually doing this work is that things have evolved a lot when it comes to Indigenous research practices in the two decades since this was published, but it remains a landmark � widely read, widely cited, widely taught, and quite important. My own re-engagement with the book was primarily focused on the historical overview and analysis it provides in the first half, which remains powerful, important, and relevant. A valuable resource for anyone interested in thinking critically about how we know the world, and in cultivating ways to know the world that push back against our imperial/colonial past and present.
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For my original 2006 review -- which I have not re-read in 2021, so be kind! -- go .
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For my original 2006 review -- which I have not re-read in 2021, so be kind! -- go .
April 20, 2014
This is an important book for anyone who is interested in research for social justice. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 provides a critique of Western research practices and reveals its colonising underbelly. The author demonstrates the imperialistic impact of racist attitudes and practices on indigenous peoples across the world that continues today. In part two Linda Tuhiwal Smith, a Maori professor of research constructs a radical alternative methodology rooted in commitment to Decolonizing and transforming indigenous peoples from the objects of research to the initiators. I particularly liked chapter 8' a list of twenty five current indigenous research projects that seek to advance indigenous concerns including collecting research evidence to support claims about indigenous rights and dues; collecting testimonial evidence and people's stories. Survivance - celebrating survival and resistance to the imperialist project, re-membering the painful past and indigenising processes. Intervening takes action research to be proactive to work for change; revitalising and regenerating indigenous languages, arts and cultural practices. Other projects are discussed all of which seek to enable indigenous peoples to represent themselves as well as proposing solutions to real-life problems. Reframing means taking control over the ways in which indigenous issues and social problems are discussed and handled. This is a powerful book for anyone who has prior knowledge of the fate of indigenous peoples under colonialism and of their struggles to fight back. Those will little knowledge may find it harder going but should persevere. The academic argument is so strong for alternative methodologies, but smith sounds a note of caution at the power of the academy to undermine alternative methodological approaches by not accepting their worth in the academy. This is tragic as We all have much we can learn from this tremendous book.
April 17, 2025
This is accessible academic writing. For those of us who are not indigenous to the country we live in, the work offers a range of insights to indigenous attitudes to research and the western world view in general. For the most part however, the work offers indigenous peoples ways to counter the often inherent colonialist biases and values of the research world. These proposals and ways are not for me to engage in. In fact I feel that reading deeply in them would actually be an illustration of the unwelcome gaze the author depicts earlier in the work. It is not for me to direct indigenous people to this research, to recommend it, or even just highlight it. That would already be an intrusion to a private conversation - between indigenous scholars. And perhaps that's the most powerful message of this work to non-indigenes. Leave it alone.
I reread this in 2025 after a 5 year gap, prior to reading the recently released 20th year commemorative volume featuring multiple chapters by Indigenous scholars inspired by Tuhiwai Smith. Having worked the last 5 years with her writing in mind, the precipience of her thinking becomes ever more apparent.
I reread this in 2025 after a 5 year gap, prior to reading the recently released 20th year commemorative volume featuring multiple chapters by Indigenous scholars inspired by Tuhiwai Smith. Having worked the last 5 years with her writing in mind, the precipience of her thinking becomes ever more apparent.
December 2, 2016
Very overrated book on social science methodology and epistemology which, apart from endorsing the problematic legacy of Foucauldian relativism, articulates the ambivalent contradiction at the heart of most indigenous and 'decolonial' theories: one wants to preserve their apparent 'authenticity' (in this case a kind of shrewd nativist essence) but simultaneously repudiates the notion of 'authenticity' as an imperialist imposition. The latter is obviously the correct interpretation, but Smith proliferates arguments for the former as well, including the racist trope of indigenous autochthony spread in the colonial age. She also, problematically, posits the category of indigeneity as a kind of universal, or rather, writes about indigeneity if this were so. It is a truism that social science has not served Maori well (Smith is Maori). But, arguably, neither does this book.
January 19, 2021
There are many aspects of this work which are very useful to any researcher working with indigenous peoples; likewise, there are many parts of the book which are very specific to the Maori peoples of New Zealand or the Australian Aboriginese. The Maori focus is not unexpected from a Maori woman, but sometimes narrows the view - the author does, however, admit that every people is different and struggles with unique issues, necessitating an individual approach. Overall, the book contains golden nuggets but Smith's writing style can be dry at times; furthermore, it does not acknowledge the indigineous peoples in Europe and only sees Europe for its period of colonialist conquest (although perhaps that is the perceived reality from a Maori perspective), despite acknowledging at some points the movements for cultural revitalisation in places like Wales or Scotland.
August 6, 2008
what a pain in the ass
February 19, 2021
منذ قراءتي الأولى لهذا الكتاب وأنا لا أستطيع تجاوزه.
كتاب مهم، يبحث في سُبل تفكيك الاستعمار ونزعه عن المناهج البحثية التي تحاول مقاربة مجتمعات مابعد الاستعمار و/أو المجتمعات الأصلية.
تناقش فيه الكاتبة تاريخ المقاربات البحثية للمجتمعات الأصلية، وتختصر هذه التجربة بالقول أن ”البح� كلمة قذرة� (Research is a dirty word)، واصفةً تاريخ الحقول الأكاديمية في بحث المسائل المتعلقة بالمجتمعات المهمشة: بأنها عنيفة، وعليه تقدم سميث مقاربات منهجية بديلة للباحث/ة في المسائل المتعلقة بمجتمعات الهامش/السكان الأصليين، أقل عنفًا وتخففًا من النزعة الاستعمارية المهيمنة على الحقل والمؤسسات الأكاديمية.
كتاب مهم، يبحث في سُبل تفكيك الاستعمار ونزعه عن المناهج البحثية التي تحاول مقاربة مجتمعات مابعد الاستعمار و/أو المجتمعات الأصلية.
تناقش فيه الكاتبة تاريخ المقاربات البحثية للمجتمعات الأصلية، وتختصر هذه التجربة بالقول أن ”البح� كلمة قذرة� (Research is a dirty word)، واصفةً تاريخ الحقول الأكاديمية في بحث المسائل المتعلقة بالمجتمعات المهمشة: بأنها عنيفة، وعليه تقدم سميث مقاربات منهجية بديلة للباحث/ة في المسائل المتعلقة بمجتمعات الهامش/السكان الأصليين، أقل عنفًا وتخففًا من النزعة الاستعمارية المهيمنة على الحقل والمؤسسات الأكاديمية.
April 20, 2021
I knew literally nothing about Maori struggles for self determination before reading this book. The topics herein were approached with so much love, care, heart, and at times (when appropriate) with humor. This book is one that is so full of information that I’ll likely revisit it in the future. It’s been very helpful in my understanding of ongoing colonial violence, and in describing sites of action for a decolonial future!
August 31, 2013
Woah.
The speed with which I gobbled this book up (a matter of hours) - tells any reader more than enough about my capacity for knowledge acquisition and knowing-power, the message the book sends to me, however, I need the rest of my life to work out and enact, of that I'm sure. This may be the most important book that I've read about my position in this life (as a scholar) and my own research... ever. I'm a white colonial about to embark upon a Euro-centric research project that attempts a decolonized, post-humanist approach...I'm in big trouble...
Note: return to this book in September when considering the conceptual model of my project.
The speed with which I gobbled this book up (a matter of hours) - tells any reader more than enough about my capacity for knowledge acquisition and knowing-power, the message the book sends to me, however, I need the rest of my life to work out and enact, of that I'm sure. This may be the most important book that I've read about my position in this life (as a scholar) and my own research... ever. I'm a white colonial about to embark upon a Euro-centric research project that attempts a decolonized, post-humanist approach...I'm in big trouble...
Note: return to this book in September when considering the conceptual model of my project.
September 1, 2023
It's good, but it's long on theory and short on story telling examples of colonizing and decolonizing.
Lots of redundancy. I think Smith could accomplish the same message with half the number of pages.
I particularly recommend chapter three and her discussion of authenticity. I have so many stories to share about people defining how "authentic" I am. You're not really Mexican. You're not really Black. You're not really American... yadda yadda... people who are mixed understand this pretension of being defined by the other.
Lots of redundancy. I think Smith could accomplish the same message with half the number of pages.
I particularly recommend chapter three and her discussion of authenticity. I have so many stories to share about people defining how "authentic" I am. You're not really Mexican. You're not really Black. You're not really American... yadda yadda... people who are mixed understand this pretension of being defined by the other.
May 3, 2020
Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s decolonial methodology is centered around the politics of sovereignty and self-determination for indigenous peoples. She mentions that for indigenous peoples it is important to resist “being thrown in� with every other minority group by making claims based on prior rights.
Walter Mignolo included this book in his graduate seminar. For Mignolo, it is always revealing to see in the discussion who is feeling empowered by the book and who is feeling threatened and bothered. Writers such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Edward Said, Fanon, Trinh T. Minh-ha, and Foucault have shaped Smith’s theoretical approach to research. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Glen Sean Coulthard are among other researchers and activists who have been influenced by this iconic book.
Similar to other postcolonial writers, Smith’s work is also preoccupied with the question of knowledge (epistemology) and power. Her Maori perspective makes these questions much more complicated and challenging. She reminds us that indigenous peoples have been, in many ways, ”oppressed by theory�. The scientific (or pseudoscientific) research of the colonizers puts them in a peculiar position in relation to the indigenous peoples. The anthropological studies conducted on indigenous peoples have been not only contradictory to their cultural knowledge, but it has also been quite violent. The Western research methods and their long-term damages are still fresh in indigenous peoples� consciousness. Therefore, Western notions of ”writing history� and conducting scientific research have been very much against the indigenous livelihood and knowledge. She writes on the notion of history and modernity:
She continues by asking;
Even today, 20 years after the publication of the book, we see the same issues in the literature and research conducted “on� indigenous culture, history and peoples. For example, you can read any random article or essay on colonialization and find the difference in tone and positionality. Take, for example, “smallpox� as a biological weapon during the indigenous genocide in North America. When we read the History Chanel, the usually white writer’s position towards this issue is easily detectable compared with indigenous activists or researchers writing on the same topic. The outsider researcher is arguing about the effectiveness of government programs in fighting the natives during the 18th Century. The insider researcher, for example, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and her book: An Indigenous Peoples� History of the United States is choosing to talk about the first occurrence of smallpox in 1620 by the English trade ships. A simple comparison between these two modes of historiography and research can help us a lot to understand the decolonizing methodology. Dunbar-Ortiz gives us a context in which a huge amount of native lives was lost due to English trading ships off the coast to the Pequot. King James attributed the epidemic to God’s “great goodness and bounty toward us.�
In a recently published series of essays edited by Jo-Ann Archibald Q’um Q’um Xiiem, “Decolonizing Research: Indigenous Storywork As Methodology�, the editors have collected insider research focusing on what Archibald called Indigenous Storywork. The term highlight multiple ways in which indigenous peoples using storytelling as a method of documenting generational events, form of teaching and learning, and as an expression of indigenous culture and identity.
Indigenous knowledge didn’t consider as ‘real knowledge� by colonizers. This struggle continues today both inside the academy as well as in real life outside the walls of the institution. If you are one of those students in liberal universities in the West, you are probably familiar with at least one of liberal positives (progressive) theories of the enlightenment project. Take for example the neo-colonial liberal theories of Steven Pinker. Aside from the recent news about Pinker’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein even after his sex trafficking conviction, Pinker has been an advocate of Western scientific progress and return to concepts such as human nature and enlightenment. (5) In his recent book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, we can basically replace the word Human with Westerners or white men in order to be accurate. His binary theories completely dismiss the fact that European progress was based on the genocide, slavery, and suffering of millions of colonial subjects, which to a lesser degree still continues today. For many indigenous peoples today, the word “research� basically means “being a problem�.
We are all familiar with the Western origin of Humanism, manifest destiny, age of reason and doctrine of discovery. There is a direct connection between these concepts and the simultaneous exploitation of the people and the production of concepts such as racism, nation-state, and the Orient. Both Christianity and Western science played a vital role in this framework and indigenous peoples were left with either extermination or assimilation. The Europeans privatized the land that indigenous peoples once owned. The colonization was accompanied with ideological drive to paint the commoners who resisted as violent, stupid and lazy.
Western-Centered ‘Collaborative Research�
Smith often mentions that writing research is more important than writing theory. Research produces results that are more immediate and useful for farmers, economists, industries and sick people. (1) From Kant to Badiou, white theoreticians have been utilizing Western anthropological material as fuel for their theories. There is a lot of fancy vocabulary that generates things such as “collaborative research�, or “research with the aim of reconciliation�. In reality, these methodologies are NOT beneficial for the indigenous peoples. However, they continue to be used because they are well-known and they generate a lot of scholarship and capital for white state-ideal subjects.
At the same time research historically has not been neutral in its objectification of the Other. Smith reminds us that from indigenous perspective objectivation of research is also a process of dehumanization. She identifies the contributions of second-wave feminism more beneficial to the indigenous cause compared to the Marxist methodologies introduced in the first half of the twentieth century. The reason for this distinction is the challenges that feminism has introduced to the presumably neutral position of Western philosophy, academic practice and research.
Decolonize This Place
The latter part of the book tracks the transition from Maori as the ”researched� to Maori as the ”researcher�. Smith acknowledges that the academic institutions� eco-system is toxic for non-white folks. Crystal Fraser, a Gwichyà Gwich'in Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta, among many other indigenous peoples agrees. Fraser, belives that Western Academic institutions are not made for indigenous peoples and there are numerous barriers on the way. Regarding research, Smith uses the term ”insider� research to highlight the work conducted by indigenous community members who are part of the culture and understand the aim of the research as self-determination. Similar to Said, she is skeptical about the role of Western ”experts� especially in relation to imperialism and power relations.
While indigenous voices have been silenced for many decades by Western researchers, the role of the insider researcher is very important. Addressing the indigenous communities, Smith writes that many of the issues in indigenous communities are in fact internalized stress factors that are not voiced. Therefore, insider research must be ethical, respectful and reflexive. It also needs to be humble, because the researcher belongs to the same community but with a different set of roles, relationships, status, and position.
On a more personal note, I want to briefly review the state-funded higher education that I received in the United States and Finland. They are both white-majority countries, yet they might seem far apart in every sense. In both of my art schools, there was an obvious gap in terms of understanding of indigenous subjects and worldviews, as well as an absence of curriculum on postcolonial topics. There were no Indigenous students, staff, and teachers at either school which I study for over 6 years.
There are many contemporary examples that show the intersectionality of migrant struggle with the indigenous struggle over self-determination and sovereignty. A perfect example of this solidarity is the Numerus Haka dances in honor of the victims of the white-terror attacks in Christchurch.
***
Walter Mignolo included this book in his graduate seminar. For Mignolo, it is always revealing to see in the discussion who is feeling empowered by the book and who is feeling threatened and bothered. Writers such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Edward Said, Fanon, Trinh T. Minh-ha, and Foucault have shaped Smith’s theoretical approach to research. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Glen Sean Coulthard are among other researchers and activists who have been influenced by this iconic book.
Similar to other postcolonial writers, Smith’s work is also preoccupied with the question of knowledge (epistemology) and power. Her Maori perspective makes these questions much more complicated and challenging. She reminds us that indigenous peoples have been, in many ways, ”oppressed by theory�. The scientific (or pseudoscientific) research of the colonizers puts them in a peculiar position in relation to the indigenous peoples. The anthropological studies conducted on indigenous peoples have been not only contradictory to their cultural knowledge, but it has also been quite violent. The Western research methods and their long-term damages are still fresh in indigenous peoples� consciousness. Therefore, Western notions of ”writing history� and conducting scientific research have been very much against the indigenous livelihood and knowledge. She writes on the notion of history and modernity:
”It is because of this relationship with power that we have been excluded, marginalized and ‘Othered�. In this sense, history is not important for indigenous peoples because a thousand accounts of the ‘truth� will not alter the ‘fact� that indigenous peoples are still marginal and do not possess the power to transform history into justice.�
She continues by asking;
”Why then has revisiting history been a significant part of decolonization?� The answer, I suggest, lies in the intersection of indigenous approaches to the past, of the modernist history project itself and of the resistance strategies which have been employed. Our colonial experience traps us in the project of modernity. There can be no ‘postmodern� for us until we have settled some business of the modern. This does not mean that we do not understand or employ multiple discourses, or act in incredibly contradictory ways, or exercise power ourselves in multiple ways. It means that there is unfinished business, that we are still being colonized (and know it), and that we are still searching for justice.
Even today, 20 years after the publication of the book, we see the same issues in the literature and research conducted “on� indigenous culture, history and peoples. For example, you can read any random article or essay on colonialization and find the difference in tone and positionality. Take, for example, “smallpox� as a biological weapon during the indigenous genocide in North America. When we read the History Chanel, the usually white writer’s position towards this issue is easily detectable compared with indigenous activists or researchers writing on the same topic. The outsider researcher is arguing about the effectiveness of government programs in fighting the natives during the 18th Century. The insider researcher, for example, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and her book: An Indigenous Peoples� History of the United States is choosing to talk about the first occurrence of smallpox in 1620 by the English trade ships. A simple comparison between these two modes of historiography and research can help us a lot to understand the decolonizing methodology. Dunbar-Ortiz gives us a context in which a huge amount of native lives was lost due to English trading ships off the coast to the Pequot. King James attributed the epidemic to God’s “great goodness and bounty toward us.�
“In each place, after figures such as Columbus and Cook had long departed, there came a vast array of military personnel, imperial administrators, priests, explorers, missionaries, colonial officials, artists, entrepreneurs and settlers, who cut a devastating swathe, and left a permanent wound, on the societies and communities who occupied the lands named and claimed under imperialism .�
The critique of Western history argues that history is a modernist project which has developed alongside imperial beliefs about the Other. Implicit in the notion of development is the notion of progress. This assumes that societies move forward in stages of development much as an infant grows into a fully developed adult human being. The earliest phase of human development is regarded as primitive, simple and emotional. As societies develop they become less primitive, more civilized, more rational, and their social structures become more complex and bureaucratic.
In a recently published series of essays edited by Jo-Ann Archibald Q’um Q’um Xiiem, “Decolonizing Research: Indigenous Storywork As Methodology�, the editors have collected insider research focusing on what Archibald called Indigenous Storywork. The term highlight multiple ways in which indigenous peoples using storytelling as a method of documenting generational events, form of teaching and learning, and as an expression of indigenous culture and identity.
Indigenous knowledge didn’t consider as ‘real knowledge� by colonizers. This struggle continues today both inside the academy as well as in real life outside the walls of the institution. If you are one of those students in liberal universities in the West, you are probably familiar with at least one of liberal positives (progressive) theories of the enlightenment project. Take for example the neo-colonial liberal theories of Steven Pinker. Aside from the recent news about Pinker’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein even after his sex trafficking conviction, Pinker has been an advocate of Western scientific progress and return to concepts such as human nature and enlightenment. (5) In his recent book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, we can basically replace the word Human with Westerners or white men in order to be accurate. His binary theories completely dismiss the fact that European progress was based on the genocide, slavery, and suffering of millions of colonial subjects, which to a lesser degree still continues today. For many indigenous peoples today, the word “research� basically means “being a problem�.
Literacy, as one example, was used as a criterion for assessing the development of a society and its progress to a stage where history can be said to begin. Even places such as India, China and Japan, however, which were very literate cultures prior to their ‘discovery� by the West, were invoked through other categories which defined them as uncivilized. Their literacy, in other words, did not count as a record of legitimate knowledge.
We are all familiar with the Western origin of Humanism, manifest destiny, age of reason and doctrine of discovery. There is a direct connection between these concepts and the simultaneous exploitation of the people and the production of concepts such as racism, nation-state, and the Orient. Both Christianity and Western science played a vital role in this framework and indigenous peoples were left with either extermination or assimilation. The Europeans privatized the land that indigenous peoples once owned. The colonization was accompanied with ideological drive to paint the commoners who resisted as violent, stupid and lazy.
Western-Centered ‘Collaborative Research�
We did not practice the ‘arts� of civilization. By lacking such virtues, we disqualified ourselves, not just from civilization but from humanity itself.
What researchers may call methodology, for example, Maori researchers in New Zealand call Kaupapa Maori research or Maori-centred research. This form of naming is about bringing to the centre and privileging indigenous values, attitudes and practices rather than disguising them within Westernized labels such as ‘collaborative research�.
Smith often mentions that writing research is more important than writing theory. Research produces results that are more immediate and useful for farmers, economists, industries and sick people. (1) From Kant to Badiou, white theoreticians have been utilizing Western anthropological material as fuel for their theories. There is a lot of fancy vocabulary that generates things such as “collaborative research�, or “research with the aim of reconciliation�. In reality, these methodologies are NOT beneficial for the indigenous peoples. However, they continue to be used because they are well-known and they generate a lot of scholarship and capital for white state-ideal subjects.
At the same time research historically has not been neutral in its objectification of the Other. Smith reminds us that from indigenous perspective objectivation of research is also a process of dehumanization. She identifies the contributions of second-wave feminism more beneficial to the indigenous cause compared to the Marxist methodologies introduced in the first half of the twentieth century. The reason for this distinction is the challenges that feminism has introduced to the presumably neutral position of Western philosophy, academic practice and research.
Decolonize This Place
Rather than see ourselves as existing in the margins as minorities, resistance initiatives have assumed that Aotearoa, New Zealand is ‘our place�, all of it, and that there is little difference, except in the mind, between, for example, a Te Kohanga Reo where Maori are the majority but the state is there, and a university, where Maori are the minority and the state is there.
The latter part of the book tracks the transition from Maori as the ”researched� to Maori as the ”researcher�. Smith acknowledges that the academic institutions� eco-system is toxic for non-white folks. Crystal Fraser, a Gwichyà Gwich'in Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta, among many other indigenous peoples agrees. Fraser, belives that Western Academic institutions are not made for indigenous peoples and there are numerous barriers on the way. Regarding research, Smith uses the term ”insider� research to highlight the work conducted by indigenous community members who are part of the culture and understand the aim of the research as self-determination. Similar to Said, she is skeptical about the role of Western ”experts� especially in relation to imperialism and power relations.
While indigenous voices have been silenced for many decades by Western researchers, the role of the insider researcher is very important. Addressing the indigenous communities, Smith writes that many of the issues in indigenous communities are in fact internalized stress factors that are not voiced. Therefore, insider research must be ethical, respectful and reflexive. It also needs to be humble, because the researcher belongs to the same community but with a different set of roles, relationships, status, and position.
On a more personal note, I want to briefly review the state-funded higher education that I received in the United States and Finland. They are both white-majority countries, yet they might seem far apart in every sense. In both of my art schools, there was an obvious gap in terms of understanding of indigenous subjects and worldviews, as well as an absence of curriculum on postcolonial topics. There were no Indigenous students, staff, and teachers at either school which I study for over 6 years.
There are many contemporary examples that show the intersectionality of migrant struggle with the indigenous struggle over self-determination and sovereignty. A perfect example of this solidarity is the Numerus Haka dances in honor of the victims of the white-terror attacks in Christchurch.
***
August 30, 2020
"The whole process of colonization can be viewed as a stripping away of mana (our standing in our own eyes), and an undermining of rangatiratanga (our ability and right to determine our destinies). Research is an important part of the colonization process because it is concerned
with defining legitimate knowledge."
"Research methodology is based on the skill of matching the problem with an 'appropriate' set of investigative strategies. It is concerned with ensuring that information is accessed in such a way as to guarantee validity and reliability. This requires having a theoretical understanding, either explicitly or implicitly, of the world, the problem, and the method. When studying how to go about doing research, it is very easy to overlook the realm of common sense, the basic beliefs that not only help people identify research problems that are relevant and worthy, but also accompany them throughout the research process. Researchers must go further than simply recognizing personal beliefs and assumptions, and the effect they have when interacting with people. In a cross-cultural context, the questions that need to be asked are ones such as:
It's not often that a book on research methodologies feels this enriching to the soul. It is not often that you read an unapologetic call for research to be beneficial to the oppressed. Especially given how research has been the tool that legitimized imperialism and colonialism. Highly recommended.
with defining legitimate knowledge."
"Research methodology is based on the skill of matching the problem with an 'appropriate' set of investigative strategies. It is concerned with ensuring that information is accessed in such a way as to guarantee validity and reliability. This requires having a theoretical understanding, either explicitly or implicitly, of the world, the problem, and the method. When studying how to go about doing research, it is very easy to overlook the realm of common sense, the basic beliefs that not only help people identify research problems that are relevant and worthy, but also accompany them throughout the research process. Researchers must go further than simply recognizing personal beliefs and assumptions, and the effect they have when interacting with people. In a cross-cultural context, the questions that need to be asked are ones such as:
Who defined the research problem?
For whom is this study worthy and relevant? Who says so?
What knowledge will the community gain from this study?
What knowledge will the researcher · from this study?
What are some likely positive outcomes from this study?
What are some possible negative outcomes?
How can the negative outcomes be eliminated?
To whom is the researcher accountable?
What processes are in place to support the research, the researched and the researcher?
It's not often that a book on research methodologies feels this enriching to the soul. It is not often that you read an unapologetic call for research to be beneficial to the oppressed. Especially given how research has been the tool that legitimized imperialism and colonialism. Highly recommended.
February 12, 2019
There is some good food for thought, and I pulled other books I will want to read from here.
It was a little less accessible for me. That is not in terms of language and avoiding jargon or overdoing the academic speech, because for that is was great. However, the knowledge does relate to some fairly specific fields, and if you have no background in anthropology, academics, or indigenous rights, the material can be harder to grasp.
Despite that, one thing that was really helpful was some of the information that is more cross-disciplinary, like how programs for preserving Welsh language can be helpful for looking at other language issues, and the ways in which it is not exactly comparable.
ETA: I realized where my knowledge was lacking is literally the methodologies part. If that is something you have thought about or worked on, the book should make a lot more sense.
It was a little less accessible for me. That is not in terms of language and avoiding jargon or overdoing the academic speech, because for that is was great. However, the knowledge does relate to some fairly specific fields, and if you have no background in anthropology, academics, or indigenous rights, the material can be harder to grasp.
Despite that, one thing that was really helpful was some of the information that is more cross-disciplinary, like how programs for preserving Welsh language can be helpful for looking at other language issues, and the ways in which it is not exactly comparable.
ETA: I realized where my knowledge was lacking is literally the methodologies part. If that is something you have thought about or worked on, the book should make a lot more sense.
November 3, 2024
A must read for anyone (interested in) doing research. Gives a great overview of how Western imperialism and colonialism has shaped academia and the way scientific communities reinforce colonialism through implicit background assumptions that get integrates into their methodologies. The second part of the book also dives into Māori research projects, which reimagine and reclaim what ´research� can/should mean.
Read
November 26, 2020Excellent resource, I only wish Tuhiwai Smith had given the reader a more formulated idea of just what western forms of thought are in this context (or in general). I know this is more of an epistemological issue, but it is also necessary to have some broad idea of what western thought and it's framework entail is when attempting to dismantle them.
September 20, 2024
This is a fantastic book, though I'd most recommend it for people in academia, particularly anthropology or the natural sciences, since it's pretty dense. There are probably better "decolonizing 101" books out there, but this is a great one for people involved in research to learn about the history of research on and about (and without) indigenous peoples.
January 31, 2021
Title: Decolonising methodologies
Author: Prof Linda Tuhiwai Smith - Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou
🌟🌟🌟🌟
📚 He arotake pukapuka - a book review📚
Reading this book was rollercoaster ride. I began reading it in 2018 and after finishing chapter one I didn’t pick it up again. I found the academic-style very intimidating and difficult to digest. This time round I allowed the words to flow through me like a wave, and if I came across words I didn’t fully understand, I didn’t make a big fuss. After listening to Tina Ngata’s review of this book, she taught me that Whaea Linda’s book is one that you must constantly refer back to, not a one-and-done type of book.
This month, there were times when I couldn’t put the book down, and also times when I couldn’t pick it up. I appreciate how unapologetic and staunch Whaea Linda’s writing is. She is a great orator too, I highly recommend her lectures and podcast where she talks about this book. Only now that I’ve finished reading, I can appreciate the academic nature of the book, because Whaea Linda uses her academic tongue to hold the academy accountable, they are the target audience and she challenges those in the academic space to decolonise. Similarly to how we compose, critique, analyse and discuss waiata, mōteatea & haka for the Marae or kapa haka spaces, this book is directed at the academic and political space. I trust that many non-indigenous academics have felt very uncomfortable reading this book lol
This is a must-read for those who are occupying or wanting to occupy academic or research spaces, especially indigenous people who occupy these spaces. Topics include Imperialism, History, Writing, Research through imperial eyes, colonising knowledge, developing indigenous methodologies, & kaupapa Māori Research. My fave chapters were the last 2 chapters which were the kaupapa Māori research chapters. They don’t call this book the indigenous-academic-bible for nothing! I am now inspired to write a thesis in te reo Māori, maybe in the next 5yrs or so.
Have you read this? What did you think about it?
Let me know in the comments :)
#Arotake #Pukapuka #BookReview #bookstagram #bookstagramnz #antiracismbookclub #antiracism #māori #maori #tereo #decolinse #decolonize #decolonisingmethodologies #lindatuhiwaismith #colonisation #racism #whitesupremacy #newzealand #nz #aotearoa
Author: Prof Linda Tuhiwai Smith - Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou
🌟🌟🌟🌟
📚 He arotake pukapuka - a book review📚
Reading this book was rollercoaster ride. I began reading it in 2018 and after finishing chapter one I didn’t pick it up again. I found the academic-style very intimidating and difficult to digest. This time round I allowed the words to flow through me like a wave, and if I came across words I didn’t fully understand, I didn’t make a big fuss. After listening to Tina Ngata’s review of this book, she taught me that Whaea Linda’s book is one that you must constantly refer back to, not a one-and-done type of book.
This month, there were times when I couldn’t put the book down, and also times when I couldn’t pick it up. I appreciate how unapologetic and staunch Whaea Linda’s writing is. She is a great orator too, I highly recommend her lectures and podcast where she talks about this book. Only now that I’ve finished reading, I can appreciate the academic nature of the book, because Whaea Linda uses her academic tongue to hold the academy accountable, they are the target audience and she challenges those in the academic space to decolonise. Similarly to how we compose, critique, analyse and discuss waiata, mōteatea & haka for the Marae or kapa haka spaces, this book is directed at the academic and political space. I trust that many non-indigenous academics have felt very uncomfortable reading this book lol
This is a must-read for those who are occupying or wanting to occupy academic or research spaces, especially indigenous people who occupy these spaces. Topics include Imperialism, History, Writing, Research through imperial eyes, colonising knowledge, developing indigenous methodologies, & kaupapa Māori Research. My fave chapters were the last 2 chapters which were the kaupapa Māori research chapters. They don’t call this book the indigenous-academic-bible for nothing! I am now inspired to write a thesis in te reo Māori, maybe in the next 5yrs or so.
Have you read this? What did you think about it?
Let me know in the comments :)
#Arotake #Pukapuka #BookReview #bookstagram #bookstagramnz #antiracismbookclub #antiracism #māori #maori #tereo #decolinse #decolonize #decolonisingmethodologies #lindatuhiwaismith #colonisation #racism #whitesupremacy #newzealand #nz #aotearoa
June 13, 2024
Some books change you to your core. This is one of those. Read it, take frequent pauses to stop and stare into the middle distance as you hear your internal built world catch fire and collapse in on itself, and then continue on with your reading.
August 1, 2024
This is one of the best books I've read during my university studies. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in research, regardless of their field of study, but especially if your discipline is related to the humanities or social sciences.
December 27, 2023
The Bible
February 15, 2024
Completely changed how I thought about research and information studies. Would recommend to any academic, teacher, or librarian.
February 13, 2023
Yes, always yes
August 18, 2021
An insightful history of the development of reserach, the flaws of Western traditions of reserach, and the need to reflect on more favorable conditions for research of indigenous people.
This case study presents strategies for culturally senstive research through the lens of the Maori people as they move from the researched to the researcher.
“research failed to improve the conditions of the people who are researched�
"Maori struggles for social justice in New Zealand are messy, noisy, simultaneously celebratory and demoralizing, hopeful and desperate."
A call to action for "getting the story right, telling the story well"
This case study presents strategies for culturally senstive research through the lens of the Maori people as they move from the researched to the researcher.
“research failed to improve the conditions of the people who are researched�
"Maori struggles for social justice in New Zealand are messy, noisy, simultaneously celebratory and demoralizing, hopeful and desperate."
A call to action for "getting the story right, telling the story well"
August 28, 2022
Linda Tuhiwai Smith is an amazing author and scholar, and this book is a masterpiece. It got me interested in epistemology and indigenous ways of knowing, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. This book still guides how I view knowledge and research to this day.
November 15, 2022
Researchers of all disciplines, especially psychology and psychiatry, must read this book and reflect on their practices. Drawing from ideas developed by Fanon, Freire, and international philosophers and scholars, the author engages the reader in discussion about the origin of knowledge, the harm of “traditional� research, the value of Indigenous knowledges and practices and how Imperialism and Colonialism have shaped academic structures.
The book provides ground for researchers to question their assumptions and biases and the way they conduct research, as well as their beliefs on what constitutes knowledge and history. Decolonising research goes far beyond an outcome, an end goal; is identifying ways as the outsider researcher in my case (or insider as a member of a community in other instances) to build partnerships and collaborate with Indigenous people. I loved Chapter 8 & 9 in particular, as the author introduces ‘projects� (or what I would probably be more drawn to name as values or ethos) important to this work, including but not limited to ideas of love, collectiveness, storytelling, positionality, and social justice.
The poems included in the book are also beautiful. It’s a hopeful read to help us reimagine research in the modern world.
The book provides ground for researchers to question their assumptions and biases and the way they conduct research, as well as their beliefs on what constitutes knowledge and history. Decolonising research goes far beyond an outcome, an end goal; is identifying ways as the outsider researcher in my case (or insider as a member of a community in other instances) to build partnerships and collaborate with Indigenous people. I loved Chapter 8 & 9 in particular, as the author introduces ‘projects� (or what I would probably be more drawn to name as values or ethos) important to this work, including but not limited to ideas of love, collectiveness, storytelling, positionality, and social justice.
The poems included in the book are also beautiful. It’s a hopeful read to help us reimagine research in the modern world.
November 26, 2010
This is a great book; a must read for anyone involved in racial justice. Linda Tuhiwai Smith eloquently and succinctly makes the case for an anti-colonial methodology that runs counter to the history of colonizing research that has been so central to the oppression of native peoples. Drawing upon Ngugi wa Thong'o, Michel Foucault, Edward Said, and numerous indigenous scholars, Smith formulates a critique of the imperial world view and of scientism that, while not entirely novel, is rarely so well stated before providing one of the best presentations of the world indigenous political agenda I've yet read. Still contemporary and groundbreaking though originally published in 1999, it is one of the few books I've encountered to address these issues so well and from a point of view so well informed by but entirely outside of western academia. Truly a breath of fresh air.
September 8, 2022
As an aspiring linguistic researcher, this was a great read that I hope I can use to better situate myself as a researcher, and has taught me a lot about what research should aim to represent and accomplish. Although written to an indigenous audience, I think this book would be useful for anyone trying to do research with any group of people, and looking to check their privilege, understand the harmful history of colonial research, and looking to navigate themselves better with regards to others in general.
One quote that slapped for me (as an *n*rchist and language contact guy): Spaces created by intersecting ideas, tendencies or issues are sites of struggle that offer possibilities for people to resist.
One quote that slapped for me (as an *n*rchist and language contact guy): Spaces created by intersecting ideas, tendencies or issues are sites of struggle that offer possibilities for people to resist.
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