Towards Braiding

This thoughtful guide can help you understand how to move beyond 'business as usual' and undertake the deep work of decolonising your organisation. It starts by telling a common story of how decolonising efforts often fail, and then centers on how to take a new approach to disrupt this cycle. It outlines the differences between western and Indigenous perspectives and the importance of coming to a shared understanding and describes the emergent practice of “braiding” these two perspectives as a means to open up new possibilities for engagement. It provides guiding questions and red flags to consider when seeking out Indigenous perspectives; provides guidance for times when the process goes off track; and considers the risks of inappropriate and appropriative engagement. It also offers recommendations on how to sustain generative engagement. This resource will be most useful to anyone working with or hiring Indigenous Peoples, such as community relations and HR professionals.