Leaps in the dark

Abstract

This study investigates how the desire to ascertain a sense of place for Black, Caribbean diasporic subjects living on Indigenous lands can be pursued through respectful engagement with Indigenous literary art. Although returning to our own ancestral homes may not be possible, I argue, as a diasporic person myself, that it is possible for diasporic subjects to find meaning and belonging on the Indigenous lands of Aotearoa, New Zealand and what is now known as Canada through analysis of works like the bone people by Māori author Keri Hulme and Monkey Beach by Haisla author Eden Robinson. Drawing upon each text’s use of narrative, incorporation of Indigenous language, and depiction of tradition, I develop frameworks towards finding belonging whilst respecting Māori and Haisla lifeways. Both personal experience and textual analysis colour this research, which was spurred by a longing for place as a subject of the Black, Caribbean diaspora. This paper argues that humble engagement with Māori and Haisla knowledges, as elicited by Hulme and Robinson’s novels, can contribute to a greater sense of belonging for such diasporic subjects to decolonizing ends. The paper focuses on place as a fluid concept, the importance of humility when engaging with Indigenous knowledge and practices, and the acceptance of Indigenous education without expectation of mastery. Belonging is not a rigid concept, and this paper is not a guidebook, but a launching pad towards a lifetime of learning, unlearning, change and acceptance.