Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...

Moving Forward TogetherJanet Kelly(1972) and Belenky and colleagues (1973) Together, co-researchers and Ideveloped a model of collaborative practice that allowed us to share power,knowledge and decision making as much as possible. We co-wrote and copresentedat conferences and workshops to ensure that our diverse andcollaborative knowledge could be effectively shared with a wider audience,although at times we were constrained by time, setting and presentation styleexpectations (a ten minute time slot with a ‘punchy’ power point presentation).When it came to writing this thesis however, I was faced with a dilemma. Thisthesis, by its very nature, is my own work. While academically this isacceptable and expected, as a white researcher guided by postcolonialfeminism and the repeated stories of Aboriginal women colleagues and coresearchers,I became concerned that my (salt water) perspective of ourcollaborative process would inevitably be privileged. No matter how much Itried to include Aboriginal women’s and co-researchers’ voices, and askedtheir opinions, the dominant writing influence, the decisions underpinning howthis research would be written, would always be mine. As I reflected on this Ifelt a growing need to create spaces where co-researchers could activelydiscuss their views with others in a range of learning and sharing styles of theirchoice, before I finished writing this thesis. My thesis could then be anotherform of knowledge sharing about this research, rather than the only anddominant form.Envisioning a knowledge sharing conferenceRecognising the significance that the Aboriginal community women inCollaboration Area One placed on their involvement in co-presenting atconferences and workshops, I sought ways to further and extend thisopportunity. One of the Aboriginal women mentoring me, Kim O Donnell, andI began to envision an event that could enable Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal,community and professional co-researchers and stakeholder to come togetherand share knowledge, regardless and regardful of culture, gender, Englishliteracy, location and background. We imagined enacting Ganma more broadlyacross sectors of society, while addressing Aboriginal health research ethicsand co researcher expectations of information sharing in real and pragmatic299