Methods of “Literacy” in Indigenising Research Education: Transformative Methods Used in the Kalahari

Within the current South African “research education” context, characterised by the call for decolonisation, massification of education (yet a lack of resources) and neoliberal managerialism, graduate students and academics face challenges in conducting “culturally literate” research that is transformative. This article establishes that language, in rethinking indigeneity, means more than just linguistic symbolic expression, and extends to include local, cultural and spiritual expressions by research participants. It outlines a set of participatory, transformative methods that allow both indigenous and non-indigenous researchers to become literate in conducting research with indigenous communities. It demonstrates that it is imperative that researchers are well-versed in these expressions in order to make contextual sense of data.