Working divides between indigenous and non-indigenous: disruptions of identity

It is impossible to teach well or conduct good research without some personal sense of involvement. Without attending to these apparently extraneous emotional aspects our work is impoverished. At the same time it is the needs of indigenous peoples as subjects in research and teaching which are paramount. The author touches on the relevance of cross-cultural hybridisation to such interchanges: creative and risky processes with attendant emotions of trauma and loss (Anzaldua, 1987; Bhabha, 1994). This paper addresses how this can be daunting for the teacher/researcher and lead to premature abandonment of projects. The author touches on the guilt of non-indigenous peoples as an often unacknowledged part of the relational dynamics and as such relevant to how we create significant insight into indigenous life and experiences.