Indigenous essays in honour of Linda TuhiwaiSmith celebrate the positive, shifting ground of how Indigenouswriters are shaping the post-colonial research world
This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.
When Linda Tuhiwai Smith's Decolonizing Methodologies was first published, it ignited a passion for research change that respected Indigenous peoples and knowledges, and campaigned to reclaim Indigenous ways of knowing and being. At a time when Indigenous voices were profoundly marginalised, the book advocated for an Indigenous viewpoint which represented a daily struggle to be heard, and to find its place in academia.
Twenty years on, this collection celebrates the breadth and depth of how Indigenous writers are shaping the decolonizing research world today. With contributions from Indigenous female researchers, this collection offers the much needed academic space to distinguish methodological approaches, and overcome the novelty confines of being marginal voices.
Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples written by Linda Tuhiwai Smith is a seminal text that changed the way in which Indigenous research is contextualised in higher education. The editors, Emma Lee and Jennifer Evans have skilfully compiled a series of essays that pay tribute to Smith's work and in doing so demonstrate the longevity of influence and impact this work continues to have. The volume includes contributions from Aboriginal, First Nations, Maori and Sámi scholars opening with a forward by Linda Tuhiwai Smith herself and finishing with reflections from Palawa scholar Maggie Walter. The collection of essays is a celebration as much as it constitutes a scholarly text. The essays provide messages of Indigenous women's strength and endurance, love and joy. The collection speaks of Country and connections, of the difficult and complex navigation of colonial structures forced upon us and of our own wisdom and knowledge that sustains us to do this work. The book is not only a tribute to Linda Tuhiwai Smith's work, it is a tribute to Indigenous women across the globe and their tenacity to survive and build a legacy in the academy.