What is relationality? Indigenous knowledges, practices and responsibilities with kin

Abstract

This paper delves into the concept of relationality and pairs academic literature with stories and lessons from Country. Bringing together majority Indigenous scholarship on relationality, the paper describes three main ideas: (1) How does a relational reality operate? (2) Relationality as a living practice and, (3) Relationality as responsibilities with kin. Many examples are provided to explain relationality in practical and concrete ways. As a trawlwulwuy woman, I weave the stories and lessons from Country throughout the paper, with a particular focus on research. I consider an inverse of relationality, extractivism, and identify how many dominant research practices are deeply extractive. The paper concludes with prompts for the reader on how research can be a more relational process. Overall, the paper demonstrates a relational ethos in (and out of) practice.