Problematizing Replicable Design to Practice Respectful, Reciprocal, and Relational Co-designing with Indigenous People

Abstract

Designing among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is turbulent because we are all working within differing legacies of colonialism and entrenched systems of “othering.” When design enters this space through widely popular methods like the Double Diamond or Human-Centered Design (HCD) toolkits, it often carries legacies of its industrialized, Eurocentric origins. These origins emphasize problem-solving, replicable methods and outcomes, pursue simplicity and efficiency, and detach knowledge, people, and relationality from the sites of design’s embodiment. This risks perpetuating acts of colonialism, inadvertently displacing Indigenous practices, knowledges, and world views. Instead, we propose respectful, reciprocal, and relational approaches as an ontology of co-designing social innovation. This ontology requires a sensitivity to design’s location within multi-layered sites of power, knowledge, practices, cultural values, and precarious asymmetries as the condition of collaboration. We provide personal, reflexive stories as Māori, Pākehā, and Japanese designers negotiating the legacies of colonialism, laying bare our whole selves to show accountability and articulate pluralities of practices. In respecting design that is already rooted in local practices, we learn from these foundations and construct our practices in relation to them. For us, respect, reciprocity, and relationships are required dimensions of co-design as an engaged consciousness for Indigenous self-determination.

Keywords:

• co-design
• respect
• reciprocity
• relational
• reflexivity
• Indigenous
• Māori
• Pākehā
• Japanese

Acknowledgments

Please note that the authors are listed alphabetically. We thank the reviewers and editors for their assistance in the paper, and all our project collaborators and supporters for enabling the work we draw upon.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

Notes

1 Read full commentary on Penny Hagen’s blog, Smallfire, at www.smallfire.co.nz/2016/07/31/ethics-in-social-design-and-innovation-practice/.

2 Developed by Karl Wixon, Jacob Scott and Carin Wilson in 2007, the AWATORU approach viewed mātauranga—the Māori system of knowledge encapsulated within collective wisdoms and cultural intuition—as containing ngā kākano—the seeds of untapped potential.

3 Ngā Aho was established in 2007. Find more information at http://www.ngaaho.maori.nz.

4 Find the full Auckland Design Manual at http://www.aucklanddesignmanual.co.nz/design-thinking/maori-design/te_aranga_principles.

5 Kaupapa whanau are philosophically aligned, non-Māori, or non-design members who contribute significantly to Ngā Aho Inc. Soc objects. (Sourced from http://www.ngaaho.maori.nz)

6 Watsuji Tetsuro is a prominent scholar of Japanese philosophy, active in the early twentieth-century. Alongside many of his Japanese contemporaries, such as Suzuki Daisetz and Nishida Kitaro, whose work aimed to bridge philosophies in Japan and Europe, they have been criticized for being infected by Western fascination for ‘Oriental mysticism’ and promoting nihonjinron “that touts the cultural homogeneity as well as the moral and spiritual superiority of the Japanese” (Sharf 1993, 35). The situated and historical sociopolitical contexts of these scholars are hard to fully grasp now, a century later. Thus, while exercising vigilance in ethnocentrism and cultural exoticism, I have approached their texts hermeneutically here and in the past, to interpret their articulation of complex philosophies and ontologies through practices I have observed in my vicinity.

7 See Adriasola, Teasley and Traganou (2016). My article in this issue, “Ba of emptiness,” shows nascent thinking and clumsy language (written in 2013, published in 2016), where I am referring to the dominant understanding of design with Euro-US origins while attempting to explain my observations through a philosophy of Ba. This evidences how unlearning entrenched paradigms can take many years.

8 "In Aboriginal English, a person’s land, sea, sky, rivers, sites, seasons, plants and animals; place of heritage, belonging and spirituality; is called ‘Country.’” (From the Australian Museum’s Glossary of Indigenous Terms, https://tinyurl.com/y958oyzx)

9 Pākehā refers to a “New Zealander of European descent—probably originally applied to English-speaking Europeans living in Aotearoa/New Zealand. According to Mohi Tūrei, an acknowledged expert in Ngāti Porou tribal lore, the term is a shortened form of pakepakehā, which was a Māori rendition of a word or words remembered from a chant used in a very early visit by foreign sailors for raising their anchor… Others claim that pakepakehā was another name for tūrehu or patupairehe. Despite the claims of some non-Māori speakers, the term does not normally have negative connotations.” (From Māori Dictionary, maoridictionary.co.nz. Full definition at https://tinyurl.com/yc4qh59o)

10 Te Reo Māori is the Māori language.

11 “The Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document, was meant to be a partnership between Māori and the British Crown. Although intended to create unity, different understandings of the Treaty, and breaches of it, have caused conflict. From the 1970s, the general public gradually came to know more about the Treaty, and efforts to honor the treaty and its principles expanded” (Orange, 2012).

12 “Rangatiratanga is most often defined as chieftainship, and tino-rangatiratanga as full chieftainship. Tino-rangatiratanga, as it was used in the Treaty of Waitangi and interpreted today, has connotations of sovereignty, and of self-determination.” (From http://maaori.com/misc/power.htm)

13 This includes Stanford d.School, the Double Diamond model and also the National Health Service's experience-based co-design model which has been influential in health settings.

14 We would like to acknowledge the many people who contributed to the kaupapa (agenda or purpose) of Ngā Uri Ō and were central to its development. 

15 Read more about Ngā Uri Ō at https://lifehackhq.co/nga-uri-o-descendants/.

16 Whakapapa is defined as “genealogy, genealogical table, lineage, descent - reciting whakapapa was, and is, an important skill and reflected the importance of genealogies in Māori society in terms of leadership, land and fishing rights, kinship, and status. It is central to all Māori institutions." (From Māori Dictionary, maoridictionary.co.nz. Full definition at https://tinyurl.com/y7dd9so3)

17 Note that these are not actual quotes, but summarized anecdotes of conversations.

18 See Penny Hagen’s slide presentation featuring this quote at https://tinyurl.com/y85okpzt.

19 Kaupapa Maori is a Māori approach, topic, customary practice, institution, agenda, principles, ideology—“a philosophical doctrine, incorporating the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values of Māori society.” (From Māori Dictionary, maoridictionary.co.nz. Full definition at https://tinyurl.com/y7tb2s5f)

20 Tikanga is the act of interpreting and practicing Māori philosophy through principles, appropriate protocol, or systems of value.

21 Manaakitanga is defined as “hospitality, kindness, generosity, support—the process of showing respect, generosity and care for others.” (From Māori Dictionary, maoridictionary.co.nz. Full definition at https://tinyurl.com/y7v968v5)

22 Pā is defined as a fortified village, or ancestral Māori occupation sites.

23 Onenui Station: As early as 1909, incorporations were made legal bodies by parliament … In the beginning, incorporations were family affairs; the owners would meet, make all the necessary decisions and do the work themselves. Gradually, this co-operative spirit lessened, and incorporations now often resemble private companies far more than communal enterprises.

24 Tawapata is possibly a variation of Taupata—an abundant coastal shrub or small tree (Coprosma repens) in the Māhia Peninsula region. Tawapata was also the name of a kainga (settlement) on a stream which also held the name (Tairāwhiti Māori Land Court, 1925).

25 “Hawaiiki is the traditional Māori place of origin. The first Māori are said to have sailed to New Zealand from Hawaiki." (From the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/hawaiki)

26 Kāinga means home. Tūturu means to be “fixed, permanent, real, true, actual, authentic, original.” (From Māori Dictionary, maoridictionary.co.nz. Full definition at https://tinyurl.com/y9q73389)

27 Marae is a complex of buildings constituting Māori community meeting houses. (From the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/glossary#marae)

28 Kaupapa Māori research and practice is guided through tikanga, the act of interpreting and practicing Māori philosophy through principles, appropriate protocol, or systems of value. Kaupapa Māori is concerned with Māori communities achieving cultural, educational, and social liberation, thereby supporting a process of decolonization (Whaanga-Schollum 2016a).

29 Mātauranga Māori is a living and evolving body of belief systems and knowledge, often context-specific and inseparable from practice. Approaches and understandings of cultural knowledge may vary between iwi, hapū and whānau (tribal groupings) as they are heavily influenced by the immediate environment and associated resources of the defined grouping of people.

30 Māoritanga comprises “Māori culture, Māori practices and beliefs, Māoriness, Māori way of life.” (From Māori Dictionary, maoridictionary.co.nz. Full definition at https://tinyurl.com/ych82ddw)

31 Historically, whare wānanga were schools of learning where highly valued oral traditions, lore and mauri were preserved. This knowledge was passed on to rangatira who were considered to be able to hold responsibility for that mātauranga. As with other concepts in Māori society, researchers and practitioners have re-interpreted the term wānanga for new applications within the contemporary context (Whaanga-Schollum 2016a).

32 To read notes from the first Tikanga Māori co-design wānanga, visit http://www.ngaaho.maori.nz/page.php?m=187.

33 Read more about Angie Tangaere’s research at https://tinyurl.com/y8affe3w.

34 See Penny Hagen’s slide presentation featuring this quote at https://tinyurl.com/y85okpzt.

35 Event description for Toi Poto Webinar: Co-design by Rangimārie Mules, http://toitangata.co.nz/events/toi-poto-webinar-co-design-by-rangimaarie-mules.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yoko Akama

Yoko Akama is an Associate Professor in the School of Design, RMIT University, Australia. She co-leads the Design and Social Innovation in Asia-Pacific network (http://desiap.org/) with Joyce Yee. Yoko’s Japanese heritage has embedded a Zen-informed relational practice to carve a tao (path) in design and she has published extensively on this topic. This practice is shaped by working with regional communities in Australia in strengthening their resilience for disaster preparedness, and with Indigenous nations to enact their sovereignty and self-determination. [email protected]Penny Hagen is Co-design Lead at Auckland Co-Design Lab, Auckland Council. She supports the development of co-design and social innovation practice across teams and communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. A Pākehā New Zealander, Penny has co-organized a range of events in Aotearoa exploring co-design, wellbeing, social innovation, evaluation, and policy. Working with and learning alongside Indigenous practitioners and Ngā Aho colleagues, she has a particular focus on supporting the development of place-based approaches that reflect and draw on the knowledge and strengths of Aotearoa New Zealand. [email protected]Desna Whaanga-Schollum: Iwi Māori/Tribal Affiliations: Rongomaiwahine, Kahungunu, Pahauwera. Desna’s work is connected through the exploration and articulation of cultural identity. She collaborates with a wide variety of communities, business and design professionals, artists, and academics to achieve results which effect change in people, practice, and place. Desna is actively involved in Māori identity design, discourse, and stakeholder engagement in New Zealand, via design consulting, research, exhibitions, wānanga, speaking engagements, and governance roles. [email protected]