Researcher Positionality Approach in Indigenous Research: A Contextual Autoethnography

Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) is continuously advancing in academia and research, respectively. However, the role of indigenous researchers in research that is directly linked to indigenous peoples is often understated in research. This study uses Researcher Positionality Approach (RPA) as a theoretical framework upon which the central argument is built. The study further uses RPA to argue-the stance of an indigenous researcher in indigenous research, and the implications of indigenous researchers' position in indigenous research. Researcher Positionality Approach is fairly new in indigenous research as a framework upon which protocols and policy can be structured in indigenous research to strengthen the role of researchers in indigenous-scientific research. Moreover, the study preferentially uses an autoethnography to account for the author's acknowledgement of positionality, particularly in qualitative research. Therefore, the study fundamentally seeks to critique the role of indigenous researchers in research that directly links to their livelihoods, backgrounds and cultural contexts. Moreover, this study aims to highlight the relationship between indigenous research, relationality and positionality, as well as the interplay between the researcher, researched and research influence. The author is an indigenous person (one of the indigenous tribes of South Africa) and a trained indigenous researcher and scholar in contemporary western institutions. Thus, Researcher Positionality Approach is used ideally in this study in attempts to positioning the author and illuminating the potential of bias of conventional research methods in indigenous research. Therefore, this study is situated in the large body of decolonising research, advancing African scholarship and philosophies, as well as the discourse of indigenous protocols and policy in research implementation.