The intellectual project of Decolonising and Kaupapa Māori methodologies; reporting from new research
Linda Tuhiwai Smith

This paper starts with a reminder of the big picture ideas and challenges of Decolonising Methodologies and Kaupapa Māori research and theory and then moves into the discussion of my current research projects. The paper explores the challenges and relevance of decolonising and indigenous research in the context of 21^st century anxieties in places such as New Zealand. My current research involves subject matters that may seem unrelated and disparate from investigating indigenous approaches to tribal well-being, trauma informed care to deconstructing academic work to imagining new ways to educate tribal governance. All these projects are driven by a desire to join up what we do at multiple levels and across diverse contexts to ensure that indigenous communities flourish. The paper speaks to the noisy, optimistic and messiness of indigenous realities.

Dr. Tuhiwai Smith, author of the bestselling book Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples, is Professor of Education and Māori Development, Pro-Vice Chancellor Māori, Dean of the School of Māori and Pacific Development, and Director of Te Kotahi Research Institute at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. She is Chairperson of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) International Research Advisory Board and Principal Investigator on the NPM Project “In Pursuit of the Possible: Indigenous Well-being.