Indigenisation statement

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An indigenisation statement is a short declaration in which a person or organisation states its relationship to Indigenous peoples and their knowledges. It names whose knowledge the work draws on, the author’s position in relation to that community, and the commitments that guide the work, such as respect for sovereignty, cultural protocols and community benefit. It differs from a land acknowledgement, which recognises the custodians of a place, and from a positionality statement, which describes the researcher’s identity more broadly. Some journals, such as the Journal of Indigenous Social Development, ask authors to include one.

Publisher

[Publisher name] publishes work by and with African and Indigenous peoples. We recognise their sovereignty over their knowledges, languages and stories. We keep publication costs low, credit communities as knowledge holders and seek consent before publishing cultural material.

Journal

The [journal name] centres Indigenous knowledge systems as valid sources of theory and method. We welcome work in Indigenous languages and forms. Authors are expected to show how their work respects community protocols and benefits the people involved.

Book

This book draws on knowledge held by [community or people]. The author is a member of this community and writes with the guidance of its elders. Any wisdom here belongs to them. Any errors are mine.

Researcher

I am a [community] researcher studying issues that affect my own people. I respect their sovereignty and cultural protocols. I use methods that centre their voices and I will return the findings to them in forms they can use.

Academic

As an African academic, I teach and write from Ubuntu and other Indigenous African knowledge systems. I treat these as core frameworks in my subjects, not optional extras. I invite students to bring the knowledges of their own families and communities into the classroom.

Training institution

[Institution name] trains practitioners to work with Indigenous communities on their own terms. Our curriculum includes Indigenous knowledge holders as teachers. We commit to cultural safety, local languages and practice that the community recognises as its own.

Research group

The [group name] brings together Indigenous and allied researchers. We follow community protocols, share authorship with knowledge holders and use ethics guidance such as the San Code of Research Ethics. Communities decide how their knowledge is recorded and shared.

Student

I am a student from [community]. This assignment draws on what my family and elders taught me. I share it with respect and only to the extent my community allows.

Western or Eastern scholar

I am a non-Indigenous scholar from [country or region]. I do not speak for the communities in this work. I learnt from their knowledge holders, who guided and checked my interpretations. I acknowledge the colonial history of research in this field and I commit to sharing benefits, credit and control of the knowledge with the community.

Mtandao’s Indigenisation Statement as well as the Ubuntu Acknowledgment are fund on the footer of the website and in some of its publications.

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