I Try to Keep Quiet but My Ancestors don’t Let Me¹

Abstract

Ethics for Indigenous peoples come from ancestral knowledge, from the ways we exist in creation and the ways that we are urged to respond to the whole of creation. As people grown from ancestors who we believe are always with us, we look to our own teachings to strengthen our ethics of living, being and undertaking research. These teachings still speak to us through chants, songs, stories and many other forms of belief. This chapter outlines Māori beliefs and the power of Māori belief by examining how ancestors continue to inform and speak. Research ethics are assumed to reside within a living human world, but Māori ethics includes both the seen and unseen worlds. These beliefs create a powerful challenge to the notion of sovereignty and offer powerful counterhegemonic views to racism and exploitative regimes of power. They also inform the ways that we understand ethical approaches to all our relations in the world.

Citation

Smith, C.W.-i. (2020), "I Try to Keep Quiet but My Ancestors don’t Let Me¹", George, L., Tauri, J. and MacDonald, L.T.A.o.T. (Ed.) Indigenous Research Ethics: Claiming Research Sovereignty Beyond Deficit and the Colonial Legacy (Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity, Vol. 6), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 127-140. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-601820200000006009