Indigenous Autoethnography

Tirohanga Whānui (Abstract) : Traditional knowledge systems have been at the core of our existence as indigenous peoples since time immemorial. As an oral/aural-based society, our ancestors frequently engaged in opportunities to not only test their knowledge at different times and in different situations but also to recall knowledge through the art of story-telling. This paper seeks to (re)position autoethnography from an indigenous perspective. This will be achieved by referring to autoethnography as a culturally informed research practice that is not only explicit to Māori ways of knowing but can be readily validated and legitimated as an authentic “Native” method of inquiry. Grounded within a resistance-based discourse, indigenous autoethnography aims to address issues of social justice and to develop social change by engaging indigenous researchers in rediscovering their own voices as “culturally liberating human-beings.” Implicit in this process is also the desire to ground one’s sense of “self” in what remains “sacred” to us as indigenous peoples in the world we live, and in the way we choose to construct our identity, as Māori.