Review of Smith's 'Decolonising Methodologies'

Smith has articulated one of the most impressive and informative writings I have ever come across. Research, as her book articulates, “it stirs up silence, it conjures up bad memories, it raises a smile that is knowing and distrustful.” The relevance resounds arguably in many ‘indigenous’ communities as they cannot but agree with subconscious contempt. Having imperialism as the driving force that has and continues to enable research to infiltrate and to an extent ‘colonise’ indigenous groups throughout the world, implies only of the West’s arrogance towards structures and systems that have been established and practiced for thousands of years by indigenous peoples throughout the world.

For Bougainville, research is a well-known term in many communities, villages, hamlets, etc. And as a region coming out of two big waves of colonization and then the bloody 10-year civil war, the region has seen much outside influence as much from within their own. Conceptions of outside influence are much treated with contempt and also debated as solutions to problems within. It is a no brainer to point out the issue of mining as one contentious example, with indigenous communities being continually talked down to about knowing what is best for them without understanding or even inquiring into what they want or need. 

Going back to the intention of Smith’s writing, research in this aspect tends to overlook the subtle nuances that can interpret a peoples understanding. And at many instances, interpretations are taken from a point of view not representative of the people concerned, hence misrepresentation becomes the representative of the concerned people.

In indigenous research, an important element is to allow for the researched or participants to partake in the research itself, as articulated in the twenty-five indigenous projects, “the survival of peoples, cultures and languages; the struggle to become self-determining, the need to take back control of our destinies.” This allows for accurate collection of data, even better takes out elements of distrust and contempt as the people and their beliefs, stories, legends, and their cultures are given the space express or articulate themselves.