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Progress in Human Geography


2019, Vol. 43(2) 276–294
Beyond the sham of the ª The Author(s) 2017
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emancipatory Enlightenment: sagepub.com/journals-permissions


DOI: 10.1177/0309132517747315
journals.sagepub.com/home/phg
Rethinking the relationship of
Indigenous epistemologies,
knowledges, and geography
through decolonizing paths

Vincent Clement
University of New Caledonia, New Caledonia

Abstract
This article contributes to the current debate on decolonizing geography. It explores rethinking the rela-
tionship of Indigenous epistemologies, knowledges, and geography from Indigenous perspectives. After
deconstructing the Enlightenment as an illusory way towards emancipation and critically exploring the
heritage of geography regarding Indigenous peoples, this paper examines the Indigenous epistemologies that
are considered counter-discourses that challenge western ‘regimes of truth’. It approaches Indigenous
knowledges through decolonizing paths to capture the originality and strength of Indigenous epistemologies
more fully, and re-centre Indigenous conceptual frameworks as offering new possibilities to write the ‘dif-
ference differently’ in human geography.

Keywords
decolonizing turn, Indigenous epistemologies, Indigenous knowledges, Indigenous geographies, Indigenous
ontologies, postcolonial geographies

I Introduction was not a new concept; ancient Greek philoso-


phers had already done that. The innovative
The idea of emancipation is embedded in the
aspect of the Enlightenment was the expectation
modern philosophical tradition originating in
that reason would bring universal emancipation
the Enlightenment. In his essay Answering the
and social benefits to the whole of humankind
Question: What is Enlightenment? (1784), Ger-
(Withers, 2007: 2). However, it must be asked
man physical geographer and philosopher
why the Enlightenment did not provide
Immanuel Kant observes that the Enlighten-
ment created the conditions for emancipation,
particularly in five major areas: liberty, prog-
Corresponding author:
ress, equality, reason, and dignity. For Kant,
Vincent Clement, Department of Humanities, University
knowledge was the only way to escape from the of New Caledonia, James Cook Avenue, BP. R4, South
‘state of minority’ (ignorance) and enter into the Province, Noumea 98851, New Caledonia.
‘age of reason’. Focusing on reason, however, Email: vincent.clement@univ-nc.nc
Clement 277

Indigenous people with ‘liberty, progress, deconstructed the mechanism of the fabric of
equality, reason, and dignity’, as Kant argued Other adopted by western travellers, explorers,
it should. and scientists (2006 [1978]). In doing so, he
Kant’s assertion is indeed contradicted by the highlights how, since the Enlightenment, the
colonial past and present. During my years of West imposed its ‘positional superiority’ in the
teaching on a Pacific island, I have gathered production and diffusion of knowledge. A few
reflections from my Indigenous students that years later, Kenyan writer Ngũgı̃ Wa Thiong’o,
illustrate to some extent how Kant was mistaken in his essay Decolonizing the Mind (1986),
in arguing for the universally emancipatory espoused the thesis that colonialism did not con-
nature of modern knowledge. For instance, sist only of the appropriation of lands, but also
some students recently explained to me that of dominating the mental universe of the colo-
after reading the texts of Enlightenment philo- nized through language. Māori scholar Linda
sophers, they felt disconcerted because of the Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies
disparaging views therein of Oceanic peoples. (2012 [1999]) is a third authoritative piece. In
Other students wondered why European coloni- this formative book, one of Tuhiwai Smith’s
zers consider themselves ‘knowers’ despite aims is ‘researching back’, in the sense of the
knowing almost nothing about local customs. ‘writing back’ that postcolonial writers did
These examples express a broad, diffused unea- (Smith, 2012: 8). Adopting a critical approach
siness of Indigenous students faced with Euro- towards the western concept of ‘research’, she
centric knowledge that marginalizes their own shows how the production and diffusion of
ways of knowing and being. More than merely a knowledge on/about Indigenous peoples have
rejection of western worldviews, their discom- long been grounded in relationships of domina-
fort results from the fact that they must con- tion supported by imperial structures of power
stantly navigate within an inter-between space such as the academy, scientific societies, scho-
of competing knowledges. Indeed, the academy larly networks, and other institutions trans-
is not the only place where knowledge is found. planted from European centres. Lastly,
In my students’ communities, people teach the Bengali historian Dipesh Chakrabarty’s source
genealogies, values, rituals, songs, dances, and essay Provincializing Europe (2007 [2000])
knowledges embodied in their land. Many Indi- challenges the conception of these European
genous scholars experience similar difficulties, centres as unique, privileged places of knowl-
as Kwakwaka’wakw (Canada) geographer edge. His book contributes to deconstructing the
Sarah Hunt claimed when attending the 2011 western imaginaries of otherness built in the
Annual Meeting of the American Association 19th and 20th centuries.
of Geographers: ‘My work entails moving from Yet the domination of Indigenous knowl-
rural communities to university classrooms, edges is not a thing of the distant past. Despite
from conferences such as these to sacred sites efforts over the last two decades to decolonize
of ceremony, as well as spaces that are simulta- social sciences, including geography (Howitt
neously ceremonial and educational’ (Hunt, and Jackson, 1998; Sidaway, 2000; Nash,
2014: 28; Smith, 2012: 14; Louis, 2007: 136; 2002; McEwan, 2003; Castree, 2004; Shaw
Martin and Mirraboopa, 2003: 205; Larsen and et al., 2006; Gilmartin and Berg, 2007; Panelli,
Johnson, 2012: 1). 2008; Wright et al., 2012; Sundberg, 2014; Rad-
Thinkers and Indigenous scholars have put cliffe, 2014, 2017a, 2017b), it would be prema-
this ingrained uneasiness into words. In his ture to assert that a full decolonizing turn has
foundational 1978 book Orientalism, Palesti- been accomplished. Opening new spaces for
nian American scholar Edward W. Said Indigenous knowledges and racialized groups
278 Progress in Human Geography 43(2)

still requires struggling against many obstacles approaches (Radcliffe, 2017c; Jazeel, 2017).
in the academy (Radcliffe, 2017c: 3; Esson Both are inhabited by the common desire to
et al., 2017: 385; Escobar, 2016: 13; Oliveira unsettle the westernization of the world and
et al., 2015: 34–35). Indigenous knowledges adopt decentred worldviews in order to ‘provin-
remain to a large degree illegitimate in the acad- cialize’ Europe (Robinson, 2003: 274–5; Harris,
emy because they do not conform to the ‘pre- 2004: 166). Flowing from feminist, racial, Indi-
established mode of inquiry’ (Hunt, 2014: 29). genous, queer, and radical critical theories, the
To be viewed as legitimate, Indigenous geogra- decolonizing turn reflects a challenging
phical knowledges are expected to adopt west- research position deconstructing the coloniality
ern epistemologies, concepts, categorizations, of power, knowledge, and being that is central to
worldviews, and mainstream disciplinary codes. the modernity-coloniality-decoloniality school
This presents an ironic contradiction because (Radcliffe, 2017c: 1; Brown and Strega, 2005:
the imposition of western academic expecta- 7; Mignolo, 2002). However, from a more
tions entails the simultaneous erasure of the restricted view, the decolonizing turn is a criti-
very Indigenous knowledges and ways of know- cism of criticisms. In the late 1990s and early
ing that are supposed to be studied. Addition- 2000s, postcolonialism as a theoretical frame-
ally, not only do Indigenous geographical work has been criticized, particularly as locat-
knowledges remain ‘peripheral to broader geo- ing ‘all the world in the traumatic but ultimately
graphic theory’ (Hunt, 2014: 29), but voices of progressive trajectory of Western develop-
Indigenous scholars are also kept ‘outside of the ment’, according to geographer Catherine Nash
project’ (Christopherson, 1989; McDowell, (2002: 220; Sidaway, 2000). Additionally, the
1992; Shaw et al., 2006: 269; Smith, 2012: 5). prefix post in postcolonial/postcolonialism sug-
Echoing Indian postcolonial feminist Gayatri gests that colonialism is a thing of the past and
Chakravorty Spivak’s paper ‘Can the subaltern thereby masks present coloniality (Smith, 2012:
speak?’, Hawaiian geographer Renee Pualani 14; Louis, 2007: 131; Radcliffe, 2017b; Nash,
Louis’s article ‘Can you hear us now?’ force- 2002: 220; Shaw et al., 2006: 271–2; Rose,
fully denounces the academy’s penchant to 1996a: 6). Recently, other criticisms have arisen
ignore the voices of Indigenous scholars (Louis, from the fact that postcolonial approach has
2007; Spivak, 1988). She converges with Sarah been established as an imperative and theoreti-
Hunt in her view that epistemic violence con- cal orthodoxy in geography as well as from the
tinues due to the overlooking of voices speaking tendency sometimes of postcolonial works to
from the margin (Louis, 2007; Hunt, 2014). unconsciously replicate westernized schemes
The theme of the Royal Geographical Soci- (Jazeel, 2014, 2017). For geographer Sarah
ety with the Institute of British Geographers Radcliffe, a decolonizing approach ‘switches
2017 Annual International Conference, ‘Deco- away from a postcolonial provincialising of
lonising geographical knowledges: Opening Western claims’, urging re-thinking the world
geography to the world’, illustrates the growing ‘from Indigenous places and from the margin-
interest in decolonizing concepts, methods, and alised academia in the global South’, in greater
concerns in geography and clarifies the decolo- than usual depth (2017c: 1).
nizing turn, along with recent contributions The point of this article is to adopt a decolo-
from sociologists and anthropologists (Grosfo- nizing approach towards Indigenous epistemol-
guel, 2013; Escobar, 2016; Maldonado-Torres, ogies related to geography from Indigenous
2016). It is not easy to define the decolonizing perspectives. However, as a non-Indigenous
turn. From a broad perspective, it could be said scholar, I must ask myself how best to situate
to encapsulate the subaltern and postcolonial my voice and what pitfalls to avoid. My
Clement 279

intentionality must be understood as a situated, engage and learn from Indigenous ways of
personal journey undertaken with humility and knowing.
respect for Indigenous knowledges, values, and How could geography respond to Renee Pua-
customs. I am concerned that my article could lani Louis’s question about hearing what Indi-
unintentionally reproduce some aspects of genous scholars are saying so loudly? For her,
coloniality, and I sincerely apologize if some research within Indigenous contexts using west-
readers or communities feel hurt by my words. ern approaches and those using Indigenous per-
I do not pretend to speak on behalf of Indigen- spectives do not have the same significance
ous peoples, but instead wish to nourish my own (Louis, 2007: 134). This does not mean a rejec-
reflections with Indigenous voices and epis- tion of current western theories, but a call for
temologies. Mine is not an artificial, rhetorical geographers to change focus, approaches, and
position. From the Pacific island where I reside priorities (Louis, 2007: 132). Indeed, it is not
and work, surrounded by endless miles of ocean an easy pathway because employing unusual
and located tens of thousands of kilometres frameworks of thought entails the risk of not
away from Europe, my everyday ‘decentred being fully understood. It is thus important to
geographicity’ might have made me permeable detail the four major steps that inform this
to the question of how to write the ‘difference paper. First, before exploring Indigenous epis-
differently’ (Fisher et al., 2015). By saying temologies, I espouse the Indigenous
this, I acknowledge the risk of categorizing and approaches of prioritizing the ‘genealogy’ of all
thus marginalizing Indigenous geographies. topics. I engage with the Enlightenment, which
This is not my intention. Instead, in this paper is systematically criticized by Indigenous scho-
I seek to contribute to re-centring Indigenous lars because many distorted concepts related to
epistemologies as part of the theoretical corpus Indigenous peoples are inherited from it. Addi-
of geographical knowledge. However, this is tionally, those concepts have the harmful poten-
clearly another potential pitfall; for Tuhiwai tial to be reinvented, the resurgence since the
Smith, research on Indigenous knowledges is 1990s of the (ecologically) ‘noble savage’ being
an oppressive practice done solely for the prog- an alarming example (Lee, 2016; Howitt and
ress of western science (Smith, 2012: 1). Yet Suchet-Pearson, 2006). Thus, it is critical to
recently, Sarah Hunt offered a new perspective deconstruct the alleged emancipatory character
by saying that ‘there is a danger in ghettoizing of the Enlightenment. Second, I undertake a
Indigenous geographic knowledge as “other” reflexive examination of the accountability of
or a curiosity, rather than engaging this knowl- geography for the oppression and dispossession
edge in broader efforts to actively decolonize of Indigenous peoples (Smith, 2012: 70). Geo-
geography’ (Hunt, 2014: 31; Louis, 2007: 133; graphy often tends to neglect the past. Our dis-
Shaw et al., 2006: 267). In other words, deco- cipline has been more attracted by moves
lonizing geography is a process that requires signalled by the addition of post prefix, rather
integrating Indigenous knowledges in our dis- than by actual explorations of memories and
cipline. Following this, the challenge I wish to situated pasts. Indeed, to capture the world in
raise concerns not only avoiding reproducing motion is certainly one of the roles of geogra-
the one-way circulation of Indigenous knowl- phy. However, exploring experienced pasts is
edges as in the colonial scheme, but also trying essential for approaching Indigenous geogra-
to highlight the strength of Indigenous epis- phies. The past is not only a backwards time
temologies in their own right while exploring axis; in colonial contexts, it is also a ‘duration’
how the discipline of geography could incor- that infuses the present and is inhabited by an
porate them in order to be more prepared to awareness of domination over Indigenous
280 Progress in Human Geography 43(2)

peoples (Hunt, 2014; Louis, 2007; Rose, 1996a; academics. Tuhiwai Smith, for example, claims,
Hiwi, 2008: 14–15; Gough, 2001: 3, 13–14). It ‘Views of the Other had already existed for cen-
is thus also crucial to develop reflexivity regard- turies in Europe, but during the Enlightenment
ing the relatively under-researched ‘colonial these views became more formalized through
memories’ and avoid colonial amnesia and nos- science, philosophy and imperialism, into expli-
talgia (Gregory, 2004: 9–10; Radcliffe, 2017c: cit systems of classification and “regimes of
3; Harris, 2004). Third, I focus on Indigenous truth”’ (Smith, 2012: 33). For her part, Pualani
epistemologies, understood as the processes Louis emphasizes the destructive effect of west-
through which knowledges are elaborated, vali- ern knowledge and the obsession with rational-
dated, transmitted, and theorized by Indigenous ity inherited from the Enlightenment:
peoples (Kovach, 2012: 56–63; Gegeo and
Watson-Gegeo, 2001: 59). Indigenous epis- We have been pathologised by Western research
temologies are counter-discourses that chal- methods that have found us deficient either as
lenge what Foucault calls ‘regimes of truth’ genetically inferior or culturally deviant for gen-
erations. We have been dismembered, objectified
(Smith, 2012), providing new theoretical and
and problematised via Western scientific ration-
methodological frameworks for decolonizing
ality and reason. We have been politically,
geography. I show that Indigenous epistemolo- socially, and economically dominated by colonial
gies explore the lines of tension crossing the forces and marginalized through armed struggle,
dialectical space between ‘truth’ and ‘knowl- biased legislation, and educational initiatives and
edge’ (Kovach, 2012: 24); one of their mean- policies that promote Western knowledge sys-
ingful contributions is challenging the concepts tems at the expense of our own. (Louis, 2007:
of ‘objectivity’ and ‘universalism’ anchored in 131)
positive science. Fourth, I explore Indigenous
geographical knowledges, re-centring attention By claiming the superiority of ‘enlightened
both on the holistic articulation between time reason’, modern philosophers in fact created the
and space and the Indigenous more-than- conditions for the rejection of other ways of
human geographies (Louis, 2007; Bawaka knowing (Hiwi, 2008; Kovach, 2012: 77; Smith,
Country et al., 2016; Wright, 2015; Castree and 2012: 67–8; Pulido, 2016: 4). Since the
Nash, 2006; Panelli, 2010); following recent watershed of the 18th and 19th centuries, the
works highlighting how Indigenous knowledges racism inherent in global coloniality has
offer opportunities for human geography to emerged from the convergence of two trajec-
become more progressive, I discuss the challen- tories, that of European philosophy’s debate
ging and controversial question of what could over the monogenism or polygenism of human-
be the practical implications of Indigenous ways ity and that of the European expansionism sti-
of knowing for our discipline. mulated by modern capitalism and the broader
narrative of progress. Racism also germinates
from the myth of ‘human rights’ inherited from
II Missed emancipation the English (1688), American (1763), and
My purpose here is not to discuss the emanci- French (1789) revolutions, as such ‘human
patory character of the Enlightenment for many rights’ have never been meant for all humans
Europeans, nor to detail the scope of the at any time in history. It is well known that
Enlightenment for geography (Withers, 2007), racism did not originate in the 19th century. In
but to understand why it has been the source of Christian Europe, racial categories already
epistemic violence towards Indigenous peoples, existed in the Middle Ages (Bethencourt,
leading to harsh criticism from Indigenous 2013: 60–61). However, racism reached an
Clement 281

unprecedented level in the 19th century, to the construction of the nature/culture interface in
point of creating a radical division of the world the colonial context moved the boundaries
into two humanities, according to Portuguese between ‘humanity’ and ‘animality’, creating
sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos. The a restricted conception of who can be regarded
dialectical relationship between dominating as fully human, as the tragic destiny of Mbuti
centres and dominated peripheries is rendered Pygmy Ota Benga illustrates (Newkirk, 2016).
by Santos’s image of the ‘abyssal line’ separat- Captured in the Congo, close to the Kasai River,
ing the zone of being and the zone of not-being Ota Benga was subsequently exhibited at the
(Santos, 2014: 124–125). This geographical pat- 1904 Saint Louis World’s Fair (Missouri); in
tern, underpinned by a reformulation of the 1906 he was later caged in the Bronx Zoo of
equator line and the division between the hemi- New York in the ‘Monkey House’, with the
sphere of ‘being’ and that of ‘not-being’, quite racist intentionality of showing the evolution
efficiently articulates two asymmetrical posi- of primates. Considering such exhibitions
tions, superiority and inferiority, that have oper- attracted millions of people (33 million people
ated since colonial times and persist in the in six months for the 1931 Parisian Colonial
colonial present (Gregory, 2004; Radcliffe, Exhibition, for instance) (Groo, 2016: 44),
2017a: 224). Most often, Eurocentred positional human zoos clearly had a geopolitical purpose.
superiority came to be associated with immedi- They posited the imperial order as a unique
ately positive descriptors such as ‘scientific, vision of the world by reaffirming European
advanced, global, universal, and productive’, ‘superiority’ over colonized peoples and legiti-
whereas the positional inferiority of non- mizing their colonization.
western humans was associated with qualifiers Nor has European science aided the liberty
such as ‘ignorant, backward, local, marginal, and dignity of Indigenous peoples (Smith, 2012;
and unfruitful’. Such oppositional superiority Louis, 2007). Insidiously, scientific Enlighten-
and inferiority has served as a moral pretext for ment thought was used to ‘rationally’ explain
immoral attitudes, violence, and politics against how infrahuman they were. Buffon (1707–
Indigenous peoples, as the stolen Aboriginal 1788), for example, developed a biological the-
generations in Australia exemplify (Van Krie- ory in order to elucidate the ‘human varieties’
ken, 2004). whose basis was ‘degeneration’. African, Amer-
Below Santos’s abyssal line, in the hemi- indian, Asiatic, and Oceanic peoples were
sphere of ‘not-being’, the humanity/animality regarded as ‘degenerated’ humans whose
dichotomy was widely circulated in western evolution had stopped. Expressions such as ‘pri-
minds when referring to Indigenous peoples mitive’ or ‘backwards’, used to refer to Indigen-
(Anderson, 2000; Plumwood, 2002: 102, 118). ous peoples, were originally not of a cultural
Racism was a differentiated commonality nature, as it is often thought. They came from
among colonized countries, and it took different the division between ‘progress’ and ‘regress’
shapes, from routine racism to so-called ethno- applied to supposed differentiated biological
graphic expositions (Blanchard et al., 2008). evolutions of white people and Others. The
Those expositions were in fact ‘human zoos’ influence of such a conception of alterity deeply
in which Indigenous peoples were exhibited in infused academic circles. It is revealing that
similar conditions to animals; that is, they were even French anarchist geographer Elisée
kept in menagerie-style cages or enclosed in Reclus, in his book L’Homme et la Terre
alleged domestic spaces dubbed ‘Indigenous (1905), titled the chapter dedicated to Indigen-
villages’, particularly at world’s fairs and inter- ous peoples ‘Backwards peoples’ (Peuples
national colonial exhibitions. The racialized attarde´s). While Reclus was not establishing a
282 Progress in Human Geography 43(2)

hierarchy between ‘backwards’ and ‘civilized’ voices of the discipline in France. He held the
peoples (Springer, 2016: 5–6; Pelletier, 2013), first chair on ‘colonial geography’ created in
like most academics of the time, he was uncon- 1895 at Sorbonne University, which was prob-
sciously influenced by evolutionist theories. ably the oldest in Europe. At his inaugural con-
ference in 1896, Dubois claimed a close
solidarity between geographical science and
III Oppressive geographies colonial concerns (1896: 3). He emphasized that
This raises the more general question of the role French geographers had long had their ‘glorious
of geography in European imperialism, and part’ in the conquest of colonies (Dubois, 1896:
more specifically in geographical research on/ 6). For Dubois, geography was an applied dis-
about Indigenous peoples. According to Tuhi- cipline aiming to serve French imperialism
wai Smith, the production of knowledge on/ (Singaravelou, 2011).
about the colonized is conducted within an ideo- Despite differences in spatiality, temporality,
logical framework that arose with 19th-century and politics between European imperial proj-
imperialism and remains dominant in the acad- ects, two main kinds of geographies emerged
emy. Tuhiwai Smith stresses the point by claim- in Europe from the close link of the discipline
ing that ‘research’ resonates as ‘one of the with colonialism: geographies of the ‘plentiful
dirtiest words’ for Indigenous peoples (Smith, world’ and those of ‘empty worlds’. The former
2012: 1). Following upon this notion, we can are most widely known. Because of the dra-
explore the dark side of geography concerning matic European ‘discovery’ of new spaces,
research on/about Indigenous peoples. Indeed, countless accounts, exploration reports, sur-
critical reflexivity on the origins of modern geo- veys, academic dissertations, maps, photos,
graphy cannot overlook the central question of drawings, etc., overfilled geography with new
the intersectionality between imperialism and information. The most evident purpose of the
‘dirty’ geographies related to Indigenous peo- geographies of the ‘plentiful world’ was to draw
ples in the Global South, where ‘the discipline up a full inventory of the ‘discovered’ territories
of geography has a past littered with the skele- and to improve the geographical knowledge of
tons of murderous neglect and encounter’ the world in order to dominate it (Howitt and
(Robinson, 2003: 277). Jackson, 1998: 157). Those geographies con-
As a discipline that had to fight for academic sisted of a collection of delightful countries with
legitimacy and independence in the late 19th such gorgeous landscapes and untapped
and early 29th centuries (Mayhew, 2001: 390), resources that they resembled earthly paradises.
geography sought to appear able to produce use- As Tuhiwai Smith stresses, this new knowledge
ful knowledge for European nations. At that only served the interests of European powers,
time, one way was to prove how geography academics, and science (Smith, 2012: 62). These
could be useful for imperial projects. Geogra- sources also included many descriptions of Indi-
phy was frequently purposed to meet the needs genous peoples, often inspired by physical
of British imperialism and colonial governance, anthropology, as Staum asserts concerning Ocea-
which coincided with the rise of modern geo- nic peoples: ‘The geographers and explorers
graphy (Hudson, 1977; Livingstone, 1993; tended to view Indigenous Australians and Mel-
Clayton, 2004). The assignation of this role to anesians as incorrigibly mired in a savage state,
geography was not limited to the British often on the basis of the measurement of facial
Empire. Geographer Marcel Dubois highlights angles’ (2003: 89). Physical features were
how geography and French imperialism were regarded as a solid scientific basis for categoriz-
entwined. Dubois was one of the authoritative ing Indigenous peoples around the world.
Clement 283

In parallel, and somewhat paradoxically, metageography of dispossession. The apparent


another way to strengthen geography’s place non-exploitation of lands and resources in the
within the academy was to legitimize the terra conquered territories was regarded as an Indi-
nullius doctrine and elaborate geographies of genous moral fault by European colonizers
‘empty worlds’ in colonized territories. Usually within the context of growing capitalism and
associated with Australia, the doctrine of terra ‘the spatial imaginaries of “progress”,
nullius, which literally means ‘empty land’ or “civilisation” and “development”’ (Nash,
‘no body’s land’, was applied to territories colo- 2002: 222; Stewart-Harawira, 2005: 61). Bar-
nized and settled by European powers. Created barizing Indigenous peoples and developing the
at the beginning of the Crusades (Council of legal fiction of terra nullius allowed the coloni-
Clermont, 1095), the concept was later extended zers to dispossess them in the name of ‘prog-
to the entire globe by Pope Alexander VI (Papal ress’ (Ryan, 2012: 44; Nash, 2002: 224). In
bull Inter Caetera, 1493). This doctrine offered addition, the colonial, metageographical dis-
legal and divine moral bases to dispossess non- course not only justified dispossession, but also
Christians of their lands. From the 19th century contributed to making experiences of domina-
onwards, the concept moved from a religious tion and violence invisible. The new metageo-
towards a global and cultural understanding. It graphy consisted of a ‘tenurial revolution’ of the
was not restricted to non-Christians, but applied land (Stokes, 2013), while also encapsulating a
to what Europeans deemed ‘uncivilized’ peo- new spatial order that enmeshed the metaphori-
ples, as theorized by Swiss Enlightenment philo- cal, material, cultural, and even physical elim-
sopher Emmerich de Vattel in his book Law of ination of Others. Among countless other cases,
Nations (1759) (Ryan, 2012: 44). According to the genocide of the Tasmanian Trouwunna peo-
British geographer Sarah Whatmore, the 19th ple from 1803 onwards provides a striking
century saw the romanticized ‘state of nature’, example of this (Ryan, 2012; Litster and Wallis,
once seen as a ‘Godly estate of divine moral 2011; Taylor, 2013; Gough, 2001). The meta-
order’, become ‘an offensive waste in the juris- geography of dispossession was the basic ideol-
diction of enlightenment reason’ (2006a: 64–65). ogy underpinning the ‘ethnocentric assumption
It was then that geographers started to largely of Might and Right’ over lands and Indigenous
categorize the people they met not as ‘noble peoples (Gregory, 2004: 10–11). Dispossession
savages’ but instead ‘nuisance fauna’ (What- of land deeply affected Indigenous knowledges
more, 2006a: 65). Geographer and Surveyor Gen- that were intertwined with their peoples’ ways
eral of Tasmania James Erskine Calder (1808– of dwelling in the world (Murton, 2012).
1882) remarkably exemplifies this widespread
conception of Other. In his book Some account
of the wars, extirpation, habits, &c. of the Native IV Disrupting epistemologies
tribes of Tasmania (1875), he considered the As Māori scholar Makere Stewart-Harawira
Aboriginal people to be ‘unsophisticated children claims, ‘Indigenous peoples were not passive
of the wilderness’ (p. 62), ‘a horde of stark naked victims’ (2005: 81). Indigenous critical epis-
blacks, more like demons than beings of this temologies are one of the ways of resistance
world’ (p. 75). Calder also repeatedly compared against the colonial processes of dispossession.
them to animals, for instance when mentioning ‘a Although Indigenous epistemologies are exten-
large body of captured blacks, all as wild as sively diverse, they share a common desire to
wolves’ (1875: 103; see also 49 and 94). call into question both the positivist epistemol-
The geographies of the ‘plentiful world’ ogy inherited from the Enlightenment and the
and ‘empty worlds’ are two facets of a socio-historical experiences of domination,
284 Progress in Human Geography 43(2)

violence, and dispossession. They prompt culture, and personal experiences (Sen, 1992).
emancipation from the dominant, Eurocentred Knowledges are always situated within a single
monocultural monologue (Rose, 2004: 21; San- ‘cultural archive’ proper to a given system of
tos, 2014) by creating new spaces of thought values, spatiotemporal patterns, and social
that will not be trapped within the gravitational representations (Smith, 2012: 44–6).
system of knowledge centred on the First Similarly, ‘universalism’ can be regarded as
World. Like the works of feminist and postmo- another epistemic mirage. As British feminist
dernist scholars, Indigenous epistemologies geographer Linda McDowell asserts, ‘univers-
assert the need to avoid epistemic pitfalls, par- alism’ presupposes the existence of knowledge
ticularly dead-end concepts such as ‘objectiv- based on a ‘natural order’, thus excluding con-
ity’ and ‘universalism’. sideration of gender interactions as ‘relations of
Generally viewed as two pillars of positive power’. It is also based on the false doctrine of
science, ‘objectivity’ and ‘universalism’ are ‘unity of reason’ over universal subjects
rejected as the unique fabric of truths (Smith, (McDowell, 1992: 60–1). McDowell’s view
2012: 61, 168–9; Kovach, 2012: 33, 77–8). The clearly intersects with Indigenous critical epis-
invention of Other, for instance, is not an ‘objec- temologies. Tuhiwai Smith sees ‘universal’
tive truth’, but a social construction of alterity knowledge as being constantly reaffirmed by
mainly built on western observers’, travellers’, globalization due to ‘the West’s view of itself
and scientists’ views (Said, 2006). For Tuhiwai as the centre of legitimate knowledge’ (Smith,
Smith, far from reflecting a hypothesized neu- 2012: 66; Stewart-Harawira, 2005). Similarly,
tral observation, ‘objectivity’ is normative and American anthropologist Deborah Bird Rose
performative at the same time: normative in that metaphorically compares the Eurocentric self
it is measured only by ‘imperial eyes’, that is, and universalism to a ‘hall of mirrors’:
according to the western understanding of what
are ‘fundamental things’, what are ‘rational it mistakes its reflexion for the world, sees its own
ideas’ and what ‘makes sense’, and performa- reflections endlessly, talks endlessly to itself, and,
not surprisingly, finds continual verification of
tive in that despite authoritatively declaring
itself and its worldview [ . . . ] it is a narcissism
what is ‘objective’ and ‘truth’, positive science
so profound that it purports to provide a universal
is used to relegate other forms of thought out- knowledge when in fact its violent erasures are
side the area of knowledge (2012: 58). Indigen- universalising its own singular and powerful iso-
ous ways of thinking are considered irrational lation. (Rose, 2004: 20)
and consequently devalued as mythical, magi-
cal, superstitious, naı̈ve and unsophisticated As observed by French philosopher Etienne
(Smith, 2012: 172; Deloria, 1997: 35; Cameron Balibar, ‘universalism’ is a circumstantial con-
et al., 2014: 21; Sundberg, 2014). Additionally, cept because it is always enunciated within a
it is important to pay attention to the resonance particular geographical and historical context.
the term ‘objectivity’ can have. It is semanti- In order to further his analysis, Balibar provo-
cally related to ‘object’ and ‘objectification’, catively interrogates the extent to which racism
which in the context of research with Indigen- can be regarded as a universalism. For him,
ous peoples revives the colonial ‘positional when examining the history of European colo-
superiority’ of the researcher over the nization, racism was an institutionalized uni-
researched. Indian philosopher Amartya Sen versalism (Balibar, 1989).
argues that ‘objectivity’ is in fact a ‘positional Conversely, in the present day, when Indi-
objectivity’ that is conditioned on many factors, genous scholars, activists, or artists aspire to
such as the researcher’s class, race, gender, proper formulations of ‘universal’ knowledge,
Clement 285

ideas, concerns, and agendas, their claims are references to real facts, spaces, places, and
most often patronized and considered to be landscapes, such traditions are fundamentally
particularisms or communitarianisms. This subjective (Kovach, 2012: 111; Gegeo and
illustrates the circumstantial character of ‘uni- Watson-Gegeo, 2001; Cajete, 2004).
versalism’, which appears to be a unique privi-
lege of the First World (Smith, 2012: 66).
Foucault’s assertion that knowledge is power V Decolonizing paths
(Gregory et al., 2015) is particularly true when Having invalidated the concepts of ‘objectivity’
one power assumes the right to state what can be and ‘universalism’ based on the criticisms of
regarded as ‘universal’. In this respect, Said’s Indigenous scholars, the next step is to confront
example is illustrative: ‘Orientalism’, as an concerns regarding how to approach Indigenous
established field of research in western acade- knowledges in decolonized ways. In this sec-
mies, is viewed with an evident normality and tion, I do not pretend to propose an exhaustive
universality, whereas the notion of ‘Occidental- view of Indigenous epistemologies, nor do I
ism’ as a symmetric field is inconceivable essentialize different epistemologies to illus-
(2006: 50). trate an alleged unique Indigenous way of
Other major issues addressed by Indigenous knowing (Shaw et al., 2006: 268). Through the
epistemologies are oral traditions, transmission use of some significant examples, I aim to
of knowledge and ethics. As Cree scholar Fyre explore paths that can more fully capture the
Jean Graveline claims, drawing attention to the originality of Indigenous geographies while
form of a message is vital to becoming emanci- also illuminating the strength of Indigenous
pated from the oppressive Eurocentric practices conceptual frameworks based on holistic under-
and norms in research (Graveline, 2000: 361– standings of the world.
362; Fisher et al., 2015: 29). Thus, whatever the The first epistemological insight to be aware
academic, disciplinary filiations of the research of when approaching Indigenous knowledge is
project may be, approaching oral traditions that it consists of an intellectual journey rather
entails ethical dimensions. A respectful attitude than a collection of facts or an ‘archive of infor-
towards Indigenous forms of expression is the mation’ (Mead, 2003: 306; Louis, 2007: 134).
minimum, indispensable condition (Louis, Indeed, understanding the process by which one
2007: 131). Oral traditions are not merely comes to know is as relevant as the knowledge
‘data’. They most often hold sacred knowledge itself is to grasping the very essence of Indigen-
transmitted from generation to generation, ous understandings of landscapes, territories,
which is why some oral traditions are kept secret and places (Rose, 1996b; Gegeo and Watson-
(Rose, 1996b: 33). Furthermore, reflexivity is Gegeo, 2001; Martin and Mirraboopa, 2003:
required and can be articulated around two 2010; Hunt, 2014: 31; Cajete, 2004: 46; Fisher
questions: Why do you do that research, and et al., 2015: 29; Johnson, 2010: 3–4; Berkes,
why do you do it in that way (Kovach, 2012: 2009: 153; Murton, 2012: 91). As the Aborigi-
109)? Using oral traditions in research projects nal dreaming tracks and the Melanesian Papuan
is not epistemologically neutral. It should be songpaths illustrate, the way to know is deeply
done without puzzling and senseless question- related to particular shapes of discourses (for-
ing of its ‘scientificity’ that often leads to dis- mal greetings, poetry, song, story, etc.) and to
torted views and disqualifications of oral tribal land, which is viewed as the support for
traditions according to positive science criteria. existence and knowledge (Stella, 2007: 34–38;
It is more relevant to attempt to discern the very Rose, 1996b: 31–32). In his research with the
nature of oral traditions; although they include Foi people (Papua New Guinea), Australian
286 Progress in Human Geography 43(2)

anthropologist James F. Weiner explains that it world and the world into oneself. In the earth-
was not possible for him to collect songpaths based experience of life, the self is never sepa-
outside connections with the land; it was only rate from things, objects, or the materiality of
by travelling through landscapes and towards the real, as claimed by Māori philosopher Carl
places that the Foi people performed songpaths Te Hira Mika: ‘For Māori, the thing in its most
(Weiner, 2015: xi). For them, the action of basic sense is like the self: it is immediately
walking cannot be divorced from the songpaths connected to everything else, so discussion
themselves. Songpaths provide culturally about “things” itself constitutes some sort of
encoded knowledge of itineraries and place- materiality that links to the thing and the self’
names, creating singing maps of routes, terri- (2015: 61–62). Neither is the self limited to indi-
tories, distances, resources, and sacred places viduality. The self results above all from a gen-
(Ross, 1986: 238; Ingold, 2016: 51, 82). Beyond erative process of relating between ‘the world of
this, however, they are also nodes of interrela- matter and the world of spirit’ (Stewart-
tions between places and beings, present and Harawira, 2005: 37; Gegeo and Watson-
past, powers and elders, resulting in expressions Gegeo, 2001; Martin and Mirraboopa, 2003:
such as ‘Ways of custom/kastom’, ‘Ways of 207). Individual self is imbued with a collective
law’, and ‘Footprints of Ancestors’, which Mel- self, including the invisible ancestors whose
anesian and Aboriginal peoples use to refer to spirit gives depth and substance to nature,
songpaths and dreaming tracks. American places, landscapes, soundscapes, seascapes, and
anthropologist Deborah Bird Rose details this skyscapes (Smith, 2004). Such spirits live in
in her insightful, critical approach to Australian objects, environments, and non-human things.
Aboriginal views of landscape and wilderness: Because of the connectedness of all forms of
being (including rocks, volcanoes, rivers, and
These tracks and sites, and the Dreamings associ- the like), places are seen as being alive, and as
ated with them, make up the sacred geography of such they are one of the principal sources of
Australia; they are visible in paintings and knowledge (Bawaka Country et al., 2014). For
engravings; they are sung in the songs, depicted
example, the Bawaka Country people (Yolsu)
in body painting and sacred objects; they form the
of northern Australia claim, ‘In a Yolsu world,
basis of a major dimension of the land tenure
system for most Aboriginal people. To know the everything is not only connected but everything
country is to know the story of how it came into is alive. Things like animals, birds, and insects,
being, and that story also carries the knowledge of the winds, the clouds, the rains and the flowers
how the human owners of that country came into think and act and can communicate with us in
being. (Rose, 1996b: 36) different ways’ (Burarrwanga et al., 2012: 9).
Thus, knowledge comes from the ‘things’ of
Another path for exploration deals with how the land that are more-than-natural entities and
Indigenous epistemologies articulate earthly are involved in the ‘process of inter-action and
experience, self, and non-human things. Earthly co-becoming’ with the people of the land
experience is central to Indigenous epistemolo- (Wright, 2015: 403; Martin and Mirraboopa,
gies (Kovach, 2012: 61–62; Fisher et al., 2015: 2003: 207–208).
29; Graveline, 2000: 366). The articulation Attempting to understand Indigenous geo-
between dwelling and knowledge is not only graphies requires the deconstruction of binaries
anchored in a particular relation to the surround- that are deeply embedded in human geography,
ing lived space. Being and knowing are associ- such as nature and culture, space and time,
ated by the principle of reciprocity, which human and non-human, and mind and body,
allows a double writing process of oneself in the among others (Lee, 2016: 356; Smith, 2012:
Clement 287

50; Wright, 2015: 392; Descola, 2013; Plum- human and more-than-human beings’ relation-
wood, 2002). Thus, as a third possible path, the ships that are continuously regenerated
phenomenological approach makes it possible (Bawaka Country et al., 2016: 456). This con-
to overcome epistemological obstacles. For ceptual frame not only highlights a different
instance, space and time are not considered to way of addressing place, but also provides two
be essentially different. In the Māori language major insights: that knowledges about place are
(Te reo), both terms are referred to by the same always situated, and that Indigenous lands are
word, wā. Mika considers Kant’s proposal for alive, can speak to humans, and include multi-
defining space and time as an impasse. Time ple time scales, life forms, and relationalities of
does not exist a priori, conceived from non- co-being, co-belonging and co-becoming
empirical intuition and regarded as infinite, as (Bawaka Country et al., 2016: 469).
stated by Kant. Mika highlights that ‘Māori the- A further question needs to be addressed con-
ory about space and time is that they have their cerning the practical implications of Indigenous
own ability to present themselves as both sub- epistemologies in human geography. This is a
stance and relation’. They are not passive, but controversial point that requires clarification.
animate and creative entities. This clarifies why Several pitfalls appear immediately behind this
Māori space and time ‘are entities in their own apparently legitimate question, whose initial
right that even have some ability to construct us purpose is to make human geography more pro-
through their manifestation’ (Mika, 2015: 63). gressive. To approach the question that way
To override space/time and other binaries, Indi- updates colonial attitudes for at least two rea-
genous scholars have re-configured workable sons, as claimed by Tuhiwai Smith and Pualani
conceptual tools according to their proper ontol- Louis (Smith, 2012; Louis, 2007). The first pit-
ogies, as the two subsequent examples illustrate. fall is that the search for practical implications
Makere Stewart-Harawira shows that the con- implicitly contains an injunction of utility: Indi-
ceptual framework of the ‘double spiral’ (koru) genous knowledges and ways of knowing ought
so embedded in Māori ontology can be used to to be ‘useful’ to be considered of interest and
think from Indigenous perspectives (taha consequently are not valued for themselves.
Māori) about ‘the interrelationship of past, pres- Reasoning backwards like Said did (2006: 50),
ent, and future, of time and space, of spirit and when making human geography in the academic
matter’ (2012: 82). Representing the unfurling centres, a majority of geographers pay no atten-
frond of the silver fern, the ‘double spiral’ con- tion to the potential consequences of their work
veys the idea that everything exists and interacts for Indigenous epistemologies and peoples.
simultaneously, particularly the essential Thus, to seek the practical implications of Indi-
energy of pre-creation (Te Kore, the void), the genous epistemologies incurs the risk of repro-
possibility of coming into being (Te Pō, the ducing the positional superiority of western
darkness and before dawn) and the emergence knowledge over any other. The second pitfall
into existence (Te Ao Mārama, the world of life concerns for whom Indigenous epistemologies
and light) (Stewart-Harawira, 2005: 34, 2012: are supposed to be ‘useful’. Here also, to won-
74). In the Bawaka Country (northern Austra- der about their practical implications suggests
lia), digging for yam (ganguri) serves as a con- that the addressees of the collected information
ceptual guide that illustrates Yolsu ontology are the academic centres. Tuhiwai Smith and
‘within which everything exists in a state of Pualani Louis clearly posit that doing research
emergence and relationality’ (Bawaka Country on Indigenous peoples for the unique benefit of
et al., 2016: 456); to dig for yam at Bawaka also western knowledge is still a colonizing practice,
expresses how place/country is the result of establishing as ‘normal’ the transfer of
288 Progress in Human Geography 43(2)

knowledges from the margins towards the aca- between, and across different time-space scales.
demic centres. Rewarding encounters can also be achieved
The question of practical implications should with new epistemological directions in human
be rephrased as follows: How can human geo- geography. For example, posthuman geogra-
graphy negotiate its colonial heritage regarding phies and Indigenous epistemologies converge
Indigenous peoples and the need to decolonize in their shift away from human-centred geogra-
our discipline by taking into due consideration phies. They explore reassessing the distance
Indigenous epistemologies? This is a very sen- between humans and non-human things and
sitive issue. I recognize my uneasiness and my rethinking the ‘wild’ in order to write more-
own limitation in answering this question and than-human geographies (Bawaka Country
confine myself to a few suggestions. Before et al., 2014; Wright et al., 2012; Castree and
being an issue related to big theories, it is first Nash, 2006; Whatmore, 2006a; Panelli, 2010;
a matter of respect and humility (Louis, 2007: Sundberg, 2014; Larsen and Johnson, 2016,
133), compelling geographers to avoid choosing 2017; Jones, 2016; Wilcock et al., 2013; Col-
at will which Indigenous knowledges academic lignon, 2006; Plumwood, 2002; Robert, 2000).
centres should consider important for their own Some Indigenous epistemologies based on
inquiries and agendas. Indigenous epistemolo- relationalities of co-being, co-belonging, and
gies should not be places of occasional visits in co-becoming provide original conceptual fra-
search of possible answers to punctual question- meworks to think differently about interconnec-
ings, an attitude which ultimately contributes to tions between humans and earthly natural
‘ghettoizing’ Indigenous knowledges (Louis, beings (Bawaka Country et al., 2014, 2016; Bur-
2007: 133; Hunt, 2014; Shaw et al., 2006: arrwanga et al., 2012; De la Cadena, 2015;
267). Writing the difference differently in Fisher et al., 2015). Thus, Indigenous geogra-
human geography could not be done without phies offer opportunities to our discipline to
legitimate Indigenous epistemologies as part ‘denaturalize nature’ and to re-materialize the
of the broader theoretical corpus within our dis- human experience of life, intersecting with
cipline, and this supposes geographers to be recent trends in human geography (Castree and
willing to write ‘more-than-white’ geographies Nash, 2006: 502; Castree, 2009: 942; Anderson,
(Panelli, 2008; Hunt, 2014). According to recent 2014: 5–7; Whatmore, 2006b).
works, solutions for creating spaces in human These ongoing examples of convergences
geography to Indigenous epistemologies may between Indigenous epistemologies and human
be found by thinking in terms of multivocality geography represent significant conceptual pro-
as regards converging areas of interest. For gresses. However, they are also part of the pol-
instance, the central concept of ‘place’ in human itics of difference and could prevent new risks.
geography has been revisited from Māori under- To acknowledge the relationalities between
standings in a productive dialogue with western peoples, places, and non-human entities bene-
phenomenological approaches (Smith, 2004; fits Indigenous peoples within their claims
Murton, 2012; Larsen and Johnson, 2012); regarding land, resource, and wildlife manage-
‘place’ appears to be not only an abstract, ment (Lee, 2016; Lee and Tran Tran, 2016;
academic concept, but also a crucial part of the Howitt and Suchet-Pearson, 2006; Shaw et al.,
way of being-in-the-world, the expression of 2006; Castree, 2004; Rose, 1999). Furthermore,
the materialization of existence, and the loca- this recognition gives powerful arguments for
tion for a holistic perspective in which matters, contesting reinvented stereotypes like the ‘eco-
objects, spirits, and natural environments con- logically noble savage’ (Redford, 1991).
stitute interconnected, woven worlds through, Inspired by the enlightened figure of the ‘noble
Clement 289

savage’, this stereotype contains implicit moral and Radcliffe (2017c), among other geogra-
judgments leading to distinguishing of ‘bad’ phers, only the decision to prioritize Indigenous
and ‘good’ Indigenous communities according epistemologies can allow a genuine move
to what conservation practitioners consider towards the production of decolonizing
more or less ecological friendly attitudes and research, which also presupposes moving away
eventually producing new situations of domina- from an overhanging vision of Indigenous epis-
tion, disempowerment, and dispossession, as temologies as unfathomable oddities.
recently denounced by Trouwunna geographer In fact, Indigenous epistemologies offer
Emma Lee (Lee, 2016: 369; Nash, 2002: 224; compelling frameworks for rethinking reality
Howitt and Suchet-Pearson, 2006: 325–6; and have to be valued as such. Three main rela-
Hames, 2007: 185–6; Chapin, 2004: 20–1; tionships articulated in Oceanic people’s epis-
Plumwood, 2002: 68; Buege, 1996). temologies appear to be crucial: knowing and
doing, knowledge and land, and knowledge and
relationalities. First, knowledge cannot be sepa-
VI Conclusion rated from the way to know, which is often
This article demonstrates that, for Indigenous related to ‘doings’ such as dancing, singing, and
peoples, the shadow of colonial oppression is walking, as the Aboriginal and Melanesian
always there, residing in their everyday lives songpaths illustrate (Martin and Mirraboopa,
and marginalizing their knowledges. Thus, 2003: 210–11; Howitt, 2011). Second, the
engaging in decolonizing paths means ceasing earth-based experience of life is a source of
to feed colonial amnesia by considering pro- powerful links between land and knowledge.
cesses of dispossession as aspects of a distant, The land is not merely the material support for
forgotten past (Gregory, 2004; Nash, 2002). the individual and collective self. As a result of
Instead of remaining part of silenced histories, the communication between humans and more-
the colonial heritage of our discipline has to be than-natural entities, the land of the people is the
engaged critically, along with reflexivity on the people themselves and, in turn, the people are
existence of epistemic violence in geography the human face of the land (Wright, 2015: 403).
regarding research on/about Indigenous peo- This is why the land is the fundamental place of
ples. Indigenous epistemologies provide oppor- knowledge. Third, the articulation of knowl-
tunities to think and write the difference edge and relationalities is also essential. Indi-
differently. One of the merits of Indigenous genous geographies not only communicate the
epistemologies is to unsettle the concepts of relational ‘being’ associated with the idea of the
‘objectivity’ and ‘universalism’ stemming from ‘being-in-the-place-world’, but also express the
the Enlightenment and positive science. Trans- relational ‘co-belonging’ and relational ‘co-
gressing these twin epistemes is one of the most becoming’ embodied in places and earthly
difficult things to accomplish in the academy experiences (Bawaka Country et al., 2016:
(Oliveira et al., 2015: 23–4). However, it is crit- 458–9; Whatmore, 2006a: 161; Wright, 2015:
ical to consider that ‘the understanding of the 393, 396; Larson and Johnson, 2017).
world by far exceeds the Western understanding Lastly, geographers should no longer con-
of the world’ (Santos, 2014: 19). This implies sider Indigenous epistemologies as ‘outside’ or
not only acknowledging the multivocality of ‘peripheral’, but should consider them as part of
knowledge and critically reconsidering the the theoretical corpus of human geography on
western ‘positional superiority’, but also open- the basis of convergences regarding, for exam-
ing spaces for other ways of knowing. Accord- ple, current reflections on revisited concepts
ing to Louis (2007), Hunt (2014), Lee (2016), (place, space, etc.), criticism of binaries (nature
290 Progress in Human Geography 43(2)

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more-than-human geographies. However, it is Burarrwanga L, Ganambarr R, Ganambarr-Stubbs M,
Ganambarr B and Maymuru D (2014) Working with
a difficult question because of the danger of
and learning from Country: Decentring human author-
reproducing aspects of coloniality. In order to
ity. Cultural Geographies 22(2): 269–283.
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The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of inter- Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press, 1–17.
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