Traiyimbat olkainbala wei ov dum tings | trying out all kinds of ways of doing things: co-creative multisensory methods in collaborative research

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we invite you on a recuperative story-finding journey across the Roper Region of the Northern Territory, Australia. The stories we are tracking are scattered across Ngalakgan Country, embedded in places, actions, memories and song. Engaging with these stories in a recuperative mode requires diverse methods that help us respond to our entanglements and responsibilities as part of more-than-human worlds. As we lead you across the hills and riverbanks of Ngalakgan Country, we discuss our way of working together as an Indigenous, non-Indigenous and more-than-human collaboration, focusing on our co-creative multisensory methods for engaging with each other, with Country and with research. The stories we share highlight the transformative potential of co-creative multisensory methods to contribute to decolonizing processes and refresh the practice of geography. The strategies we use to communicate these methods include images interwoven with text, interspersed links leading to videos and soundscapes of Country, use of Roper Kriol language wherever possible and quotes spaced to reflect their spoken form.

En este artículo, le invitamos aun viaje de recuperación de historias através de la región de Roper del Territorio del Norte, Australia. Las historias que estamos rastreando están esparcidas por el país de Ngalakgan, incrustadas en lugares, acciones, recuerdos ycanciones. Comprometerse con estas historias en un modo recuperativo requiere diversosmétodos que nos ayuden aresponder anuestros enredos yresponsabilidades como parte de mundosmás que humanos. Mientras le guiamos através de las colinas yriberas de los ríos del país Ngalakgan, discutimos nuestra forma de trabajar juntos como una colaboración indígena, no indígena ymás que humana, enfocándonos en nuestrosmétodos co-creativos ymultisensoriales para relacionarnos entre nosotros, con el País ycon la investigación. Las historias que compartimos destacan el potencial transformador de losmétodos co-creativos multisensoriales para contribuir adescolonizar los procesos yrefrescar la práctica de la geografía. Las estrategias que utilizamos para comunicar estosmétodos incluyen imágenes entretejidas con texto, enlaces intercalados que conducen avideos ypaisajes sonoros del País, uso del lenguaje Roper Kriol siempre que sea posible ycitas espaciadas para reflejar su forma hablada.

Dans cette communication, nous vous invitons à un voyage de récupération à la recherche de récits dans la région du fleuve Roper dans le Territoire du Nord, en Australie. Ces récits que nous suivons sont éparpillés sur la terre du Ngalakgan, ancrés dans les lieux, les événements, lesmémoires et les chants. S’engager dans ces récits au moyen d’un mode de récupération nécessite une variété deméthodes nous permettant de répondre à nos enchevêtrements et nos responsabilités ancrés dans les mondes plus qu’humains. Tandis que nous vous guidons à travers les collines et les berges de la terre du Ngalakgan, nous vous dévoilons la manière dont nous travaillons de manière collaborative: indigène, non indigène et plus qu’humaine, en nous concentrant sur nosméthodes multisensorielles de co-création pour œuvrer les uns avec les autres, avec la terre et avec la recherche. Les récits que nous partageons mettent en valeur les possibilités transformatrices desméthodes multisensorielles de cocréation pour contribuer aux processus de décolonisation et pour rafraîchir les pratiques géographiques. Les stratégies dont nous nous servons pour communiquer cesméthodes comprennent des images imbriquées avec du texte, des liens entrecoupés quimènent à des films et des sons de la terre, et, dans la mesure du possible, l’utilisation de la langue Roper Kriol (créole Roper) et de citations dispersées pour refléter sa forme orale.

KEYWORDS:

• Co-creative multisensory methods
• recuperative research
• decolonizing approaches
• indigenous methodologies
• roper Kriol
• participatory research

Palabras clave:

• métodos co-creativos multisensoriales
• investigación recuperativa
• enfoques descolonizantes
• metodologías indígenas
• Roper Kriol
• investigación participativa

Mots clefs:

• méthodes multisensorielles de cocréation
• recherche de récupération
• approches de décolonisation
• méthodologies indigènes
• Roper Kriol
• recherche participative

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the generosity of storytellers and the rest of the Duncan family in welcoming Lillian on this journey with you. Thanks to Sandie Suchet-Pearson, Miriam Williams and Kate Lloyd for their on-going supervision and support for this project, as well as feedback on this paper; thanks to Jenny Cameron for her expert culling advice; thanks to the three anonymous reviewers for their encouraging and thoughtful feedback on this article; and thanks also to Jackie Van Den Bos for providing excellent linguistic services in proof-reading our stories. We acknowledge our connections to Awabakal, Worimi and Jawoyn Country where we live and work while away from Ngalakgan Country.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Country is a term used in Aboriginal English to refer not only to the land but more broadly the trees, water, animals and everything that ‘exists in and makes up a place,’ including the connections between them (Bawaka Country et al., 2019, p. 3).

2. For those who prefer visual learning, and as another layer of refreshing geography, see https://youtu.be/RTnT7StNhhQ for an audio-visual account of this journey.

3. Song link: https://youtu.be/uV3g8D6XIuA.

4. This video was produced as part of the ‘Roper Muster’, a participatory film project developed by Katherine Regional Arts in collaboration with local directors from Urapunga, Ngukurr, Numbulwar and Minyerri.

5. The adoption of non-Indigenous people into Aboriginal kinship systems is a generous act that places the person being adopted into familial relationships and provides a cultural framework for how to relate to others including specific roles and responsibilities (Suchet-Pearson et al., 2013, p. 17).

6. http://bawakacollective.com/.

7. In this paper Jidan la Kantri is used to mean ‘Sharing’ on Country, another translation would be ‘Being’ on Country.

8. Sugarbag fly is a stingless native bee that makes honey inside holes in trees or under rocks.

9. Recorded sounds of Ngalakgan Country https://youtu.be/049A70lq9LM.

10. Coolamon (depicted in Figure 4) is a shallow curved vessel made of wood or bark used to carry things such as water, fruits, nuts.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been supported by the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund, as well as in-kind support from Katherine Regional Arts and a research stipend from the Discipline of Geography and Planning, Macquarie University, Australia. Lillian is currently a PhD candidate in the Discipline of Geography and Planning, Macquarie School of Social Science and is supported by Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship.