What does an indigenous-Māori scholar and university leader from Aotearoa New Zealand want to say to European educationists and leaders interested in indigenous thinking and knowledges? Indigenous-Māori ontological approaches always begin with establishing relationships, with tracing/making connections between people, ancestors, places, ideas, events, objects, culture and language. These entanglements may have been forged by encounters, war, colonisation, marriage or the place of a grave (Jones & Hoskins, 2016). Re/establishing connections works to catalyse commitments and enliven relationships. A genuine and respectful interest in indigenous knowledges requires relationships with our own social identities, with indigenous knowledge holders and scholars, and must involve commitments to indigenous contexts and priorities (Hoskins & Jones, 2022; 2024). We are helped in relationship building by asking two simple questions: Who are we, and why do we matter to each other? These questions, asked iteratively, can open possibilities for shared and productive educational, social and theoretical projects.

Jones, A., & Hoskins, T. K. (2016). A mark on paper: The matter of indigenous-settler history. In C. Hughes & C. A. Taylor (Eds.), Post-human Research practices in education (pp. 75-92). London, England: Palgrave MacMillan. Hoskins, T. K., & Jones, A. (2024). What is ‘indigenising the academy’ and why attempt it?  Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2024.2363349 Hoskins, T. K., & Jones, A. (2022). Indigenous inclusion and indigenising the university. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 57(2), 305-320. https://doi.org/10.1007/S40841-022-00264-1