What might a ‘European New Zealander’ have to say to European educationists in Europe about their interest in Indigenous knowledges? Using autoethnography as method, I interrogate my tricky role as a non-Indigenous teacher of Indigenous knowledge and language to non-Indigenous people (Jones, 2012; 2020). My starting point is the New Zealand identity ‘Pākehā’, an ancient Indigenous Māori name for fair-skinned folk. This identity is deeply relational and located in place—two essential characteristics of Indigenous knowledges. My autoethnographic method makes use of philosophical concepts of ontology (logic of reality) and teleology (logic of purpose) to speak about the significance of relationality and place for European educators looking to engage authentically with Indigenous knowledges (Mead, 2025; Salmond, 2012). My 40-year experience as a Pākehā teacher and researcher in New Zealand provides a position from which to talk about two ontological worlds, and the complexity as well as necessity of a teleological understanding. Grounded in examples from my own experience, I argue that commonly-used terms like ‘different perspectives’, ‘inclusion’, ‘equity’ and ‘diversity’ can be antithetical to a proper engagement with indigenous knowledges (Hoskins and Jones, 2024).

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 Jones, A. (2012). Dangerous Liaisons: Pākehā, kaupapa Māori, and educational research. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 47 (2), 101-113. Jones, A. (2020). This Pākehā Life: An Unsettled Memoir. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 240pp. Mead, H.M (2025). Mātauranga Māori. Huia Publishers Wellington, New Zealand Salmond, A. (2012). Ontological Quarrels: Indigeneity, exclusion and citizenship in a relational world. Anthropological Theory, 12: 115 http://ant.sagepub.com/content/12/2/115 DOI: 10.1177/1463499612454119