(references to my publications can be followed up by clicking here)

Sometimes the obvious questions are the difficult ones: what do the words "indigenous" and "religions" mean? And what do they mean when they're put together — as in "indigenous religions"?

As if those questions weren't difficult enough, I'm also interested in words like "animism" that have annoyed some people and obsessed others, and in testing what happens when "indigenous" is put together with other words like "diaspora".

Academic research should not be like collecting "facts" that might help us to win a pub quiz or a trivia game. Nor should it be an arrogant attempt, pretense or self-delusion that academics can or should "represent" other people. It is made difficult because of its involvement in colonialism and its entanglement with Western, Enlightenment culture.

At its best academia is a collaborative, dialogical, conversational engagement between people who respect each other and are willing to explore questions and test possibilities. If its only just getting to be like that for many people, this is largely because feminists and indigenous people have made a difference and caused important changes in recent years. Tired old positions and methods have been challenged and more just, respectful and relational ways of doing academic work have demonstrated their value. This is especially true of research and teaching - administration is still weighed down by modernist bureaucracy.

My own small contribution to this is in collaborating with others to produce what I hope are some useful books - that illustrate a range of approaches that deserve consideration and discussion. I've also written a bit about "guesthood" as a method that better expresses the possibility that indigenous and other people have often offered academics as a means of participation and learning.

My research among indigenous people has so far resulted in discussions of "indigenous diasporas", especially considering the activities and performances of Ngati Ranana, London's Maori club, and of "animism" among some Maori, Ojibwe and Aboriginal Australian people.

Among the things that I'd like to do next is a larger survey of what Harry Garuba calls "animist realism". And if I had the funding I'd initiate an even bigger project about indigenous diaspora groups in Britain - especially the amazing and talented performers (poets, musicians, dancers, story-tellers ...)