Day 2 - Engagement keynote address: transformative research and self-determination

Indigenous Peoples have long been the objects and subjects of research as part of the colonising project. Indeed finding out about the “other” and then co-opting or reinterpreting the information gained has been a fundamental part of denying indigenous self determination – the freedom to determine what should be known about themselves and what knowledge may be shared.

Transformative indigenous research requires not just a project that might lead to innovative and meaningful change but an ethical approach to the research itself. One that acknowledges and seeks to promote the right of self determination within an ethical framework that is consistent with indigenous values and aspirations.