Paper short abstract:

I query parts of the decolonisation endeavour after encountering some methodological limits during my doctoral fieldwork. I argue for a sensitivity to the realities of participants' lives and the need to strike a balance between these and the researcher's own intellectual and political goals.

Paper long abstract:

The decolonisation of anthropology aims to disrupt and reorient knowledge and power systems within the academy. In this paper, I query elements of the academic decolonising endeavour after encountering some limits to applying an indigenous research methodology during my doctoral fieldwork. The fieldwork was conducted throughout 2017 in Whakatāne, a small town in the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, where I primarily worked with non-indigenous adult students of the Māori language. In exploring the question, 'Would it be appropriate to employ an indigenous research methodology in this project?,' for nearly a year I consulted widely with participants, locals, lay activists, and academics in different disciplines at a number of institutions. My intention in wanting to engage with kaupapa Māori research methodology, which is centred on Māori values and promotes the Māori voice within the research design, was to show respect and support for te ao Māori, and in so doing, make this study a contribution to the decolonisation of anthropology in Aotearoa. However, because of the mixed responses I received and a lack of participant engagement with this part of the work, it became apparent to me that it would be more culturally sensitive to abandon this aim and instead employ another methodology. I argue that when working to decolonise the discipline, anthropologists need to be sensitive to the realities of participants' lives and mindful of striking a balance between these and the researcher's own intellectual and political goals.