Practising design in response to indigenous sovereignty: a narrative of designing lawfully on country

This research explores the ways in which the designer and design practice is challenged by Indigenous sovereignty. Focusing on the entanglement of Design within socio-political contexts in Australia, what follows is a narrative of deep interrogation of both Western Eurocentric Design and the design practitioner's racialised logic.<br><br> By drawing on the scholarship of Service Design, Human-centred Design and Participatory Design, as well as the body of knowledge from critical race, whiteness and Indigeneity discourse, this research sheds light on the racialised logic and power dynamics that often remain elusive and unacknowledged within Design. I propose that whiteness in Design is a globalising, homogenising practice and endemic across all Western Design disciplines. I further contend that critical reflection is essential as a means to recognise and respond to Indigenous sovereignties as a lawful design practice foundation. This is a practice position dependent on and ontologically bound to Indigenous sovereignty. Through design projects in collaboration with three Indigenous Nations - Gunditjmara, Ngarrindjeri and Wiradjuri - in Australia, I outline critical practice frameworks that have transferable application for non-Indigenous designers practising in relation with Indigenous or First Nations peoples in international contexts. The broader applicability is in understanding the universalising effects of Design. This research then counters this effect through the researcher's localised, critical journey of design in response to Indigenous sovereignty. The researcher is located on the unceded lands of the Kulin Nations; therefore, the findings of this dissertation are grounded by Kulin sovereignty.