Paper short abstract:

While Pacific peoples have long embraced researchers’ needs with generosity and openness, there is contention as to whether these relationships are exploitative or mutually beneficial. This paper advocates for the use of ethical collaborative methods that embody indigenous epistemologies and values.

Paper long abstract:

In recent years, there has been a growing movement within a variety of disciplines (including indigenous studies, cultural studies, engaged anthropology and applied ethnomusicology) towards utilising more ethical research methods and approaches. This has involved engaging with indigenous peoples in collaborative research projects that consider human rights as well as indigenous perspectives, values and practices, and that are egalitarian in principle. As a bicultural scholar (Solomon Islands, New Zealand), knowledge of this movement has encouraged me to explore the complexities of indigenous philosophies and cultures that have been previously overlooked in North Malaita, Solomon Islands.

I am an ethnomusicologist working with my own North Malaitan Lau-Baelelea peoples. Working within my own communities requires great care, diplomacy and negotiation. However, this opportunity to explore the depths of our music cultures, our ways of thinking and our heritage, emerges from solid trust relationships built over lifetimes. As a blood relative, I will maintain many of these relationships for the rest of my life. Therefore, actively seeking ethical ways to conduct research is a necessity for me. This paper will explore how we have navigated fieldwork to engage, communicate and work in communal and community-oriented ways that benefit everyone involved.