Indigenous Epistemology

Indigenous Epistemology problematizes the self-reflexive inquiry between two researchers engaged in transnational collaboration that asserts experiential pedagogy as a tool to decolonize research methodology and honor the inter-generational stories that empower Indigenous people across the globe. The authors demonstrate the direct connection between Black Lives Matter, SOSBlakAustralia and the Maroons of Jamaica as examples of contemporary Indigenous people disrupting hegemony through agentive action that inspires global awareness and pushes for systemic change. In elevating the critical epistemologies of the ancient cultures of the Aboriginals of Australia and the African Diaspora, the authors assert that the legacies and current operations of colonialism must be disrupted and replaced with an emancipatory epistemology.

Marva McClean is a public-school educator and teacher-researcher whose research agenda focuses on social justice & equity in education; the sociology of middle school; transnationalism and post-colonial studies; and Indigenous/Aboriginal/Maroon cultures. She engages in collaborative inquiry with international scholars to explore Indigeneity across the globe and create strategies to build the historical consciousness of youth in schools. She is the author of From the Middle Passage to Black Lives Matter: Ancestral Writing as a Pedagogy of Hope (Peter Lang, 2019).

Marcus Waters is a Kamilaroi First Nation Aboriginal ceremonial keeper who speaks and writes in his Kamilaroi Aboriginal language. His research agenda focuses on surviving Kamilaroi epistemologies essential to cultural maintenance and trans-generational pedagogy. A published playwright, screenwriter, journalist and academic, he is Program Director of Creative and Professional Writing and Convener of Screenwriting at Griffith University, Australia. He is also a recipient of the Griffith University Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Waters is the author of Indigenous Knowledge Production: Navigating Humanity Within a Western World (2018).