Mirrwana and wurrkama: applying an Indigenous knowledge framework to collaborative research on ceremonies

Abstract

This chapter outlines how Ford, Barwick and Marett have collaborated to develop, implement, and critically evaluate a research project that integrates and remains true to both Indigenous and western academic knowledge systems. The context is the ceremonies of the Tyikim people from remote, rural and urban areas in the Wagait-Daly region of the Top End of Northern Territory, and in particular, the series of ceremonies that followed the death of Ford’s mother in 2007. We outline the processes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous collaboration that underpinned the performance and documentation of the ceremonies and, more specifically, how this process can be seen through the Indigenous knowledge framework mirrwana-wurrkama, developed by Ford based on her family’s traditional cycad nut processing practices.