Waya Yindyamarra

A Wiradjuri Songspiral Methodology for Indigenous Poetic Inquiry

Bibliographic Data

ID2971612
AuthorsJessa Rogers (0000-0003-2651-773X)
Year2025
Volume24
Publication date2025-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Qualitative Methods (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1609-4069 • E-ISSN: 1609-4069
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/16094069251379104
OpenAlexW4414099885
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited5

The decolonisation and Indigenisation of research continue to shape global methodological conversations. In Australian contexts, Wiradjuri-led methodologies are emerging as relational, Country-based approaches that honour responsibilities to kin, Ancestors, and place. This article introduces Waya Yindyamarra , a Wiradjuri songspiral methodology developed through poetic inquiry, visual storying, and digital yarning with Aboriginal boarding school graduates. Rooted in yindyamarra (to act with respect, care, and responsibility) this methodology ties together Indigenous methods such as photoyarn, found poetry, and dialogical exchange to centre Indigenous voice and uphold story sovereignty. Three key methodological contributions are proposed. First, the method affirms poetic and visual forms as legitimate modes of Indigenous knowledge-making, reflecting the everyday storytelling practices of Aboriginal youth. Second, it reimagines the research process as a songspiral, drawing on Gay'wu Group of Women's theory to emphasise cyclical, layered, and embodied knowledge through kin and Country. Third, Waya Yindyamarra offers a culturally determined research framework that supports researcher reflexivity, intergenerational honouring, and methodological sovereignty. Developed through an ARC-funded study on the outcomes of Indigenous boarding school graduates, the methodology contributes to Indigenous qualitative scholarship by demonstrating how Wiradjuri ways of knowing, being, and doing guide research with rigour, accountability, and creative relationality. I share this publication, to add to the literature regarding new and emerging Indigenous Australian methodologies that move expand yarning practices, and to present Waya Yindyamarra methodology in action

Anthropological Studies and Insights · Diverse Musicological Studies · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights