Sitting Together, Thinking Together: Knowledge Creation on Country
- Dr Sarah Ireland
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Yolŋu Country, NT, 1 April, 2026
One of the privileges of academic work is the opportunity to participate in the creation of knowledge. In our context, this process is inherently relational. It involves sustained intellectual work to negotiate, reflect, compare, and integrate Yolŋu and Western knowledge systems in ways that are both respectful and accountable.
This work is rarely abstract. It is often undertaken together, sitting on the ground, where connections to place, to each other, and to the work itself are made more visible. In these settings, knowledge is not simply produced. It is shared, tested, and explored through relationship.
In this blog, guest writers Dr Emily Armstrong, Bettina Chaseling and Jessica Davis from the Molly Wardaguga Institute, reflect on the team’s recent visit to Galiwin’ku and offer insights into how this approach to knowledge creation is put into practice.
Through these examples, they illustrate how relational, on-Country engagement continues to shape the way we work, learn, and generate knowledge together. Over to the team now.
Journal Article Writing
The team have been drafting two articles called:
Nhä mayali dhuwal yäku riskku? Gana’gana birrka’yunawuy limurruŋ. What’s this word risk mean? We all have different-different thinking
The problem with numbers in health care communication: exploring Yolŋu perspectives on challenges to communicating numbers during healthcare in a remote First Nations community in Northern Australia
Photo credit: Reviewing draft resources for alternatives to using the word ’risk’. Guyupul, Emily and Ḻäwurrpa. Location: Galiwin’ku Township. Photo credit Jessica Davis
These articles have eight Yolŋu authors and three - four Balanda authors each. Everyone needs time to check over the content. We’ve been sitting together in small groups, reading drafts out-loud, discussing the clarity of key messages, making edits, additions and corrections.
Photo credit - Emily Armstrong..Ḻäwurrpa and Gundjarranbuy reviewing our draft article about risk. Location: Djäkamirr Office, Galiwin’ku Township.
This process confirms and deepens the analysis of qualitative data. We discuss our choices of words, use words that are clear to multiple generations of Yolŋu language speakers, and check English interpretations of Yolŋu matha terms to develop shared understandings.
'This way of checking articles is good team work and it’s a good way of sitting together and learning together. It’s harder over the phone but face to face really helps us work together, Balanda and Yolŋu, to achieve the project goals with teamwork. We make it clear for each other and double check everything before we share it.' (B. Muthamulawuy, Yolŋu Researcher)
Talking and Problem Solving
Discussions with Yolŋu researchers always move quickly from discussing issues to developing solutions. This is the nature of Yolŋu methodology and also the cycle of participatory action research.
Our research found that the English word ‘risk’ is not easily translated into Yolŋu languages and is perceived by Yolŋu as an offensive, frightening and confusing word. Therefore we should not use it.
Instead, healthcare providers should explain the ideas in another way. Based on the suggestions of interview participants, our team and the Gumurr’dhaŋgiyunmirr Board are working on co-design of resources for ways to break down the meanings of risk.
There will be no one-size-fits most option because the English word ‘risk’ has different meanings in different contexts. We are developing and trialling a variety of metaphors, Yolŋu words and culturally-congruent images to match these different meanings.
Similarly, our work on developing shared understanding of quantitative maternal and newborn health measures has identified many challenges to communicating number-related information between Yolŋu and Balanda.
In response, our team is taking action by co-designing and testing a range of resources that support communication of numerical data with Yolŋu (such as the number and proportion of pregnant women in Galiwin’ku who engage a djäkamirr or the proportion of babies born prematurely in Galiwin’ku), while also sourcing or developing resources that support Yolŋu to address health challenges addressed in this numerical data.
Building Capacity
As well as discussing risk in relation to clinical care, we considered risks the Djäkamirr Co-Op might need to manage as an organisation.
Senior members of the Gumurr’dhaŋgiyunmirr Board explored Enterprise Risk Management concepts in plain, strength-based language, using real local examples to assess the Co-Op's resilience against hazards and determine actions to reduce the likelihood or severity of harm.
Photo credit - Emily Armstrong. Ḻäwurrpa, Gundjarranbuy and Bettina discussing probability/chance using coloured rice. Location: Galiwin’ku Township
Using these stories, we were able to begin to build a shared picture of risk rating and practical steps for mitigation that was grounded in Yolŋu priorities and experience. These initial discussions represent a significant step towards nurturing and maturing a safe and sustainable Birthing on Country service, underpinned by formal risk management tools shaped by Yolŋu leadership, cultural knowledge, and the realities of the remote context.
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Fascinating !