“Becoming subjects together”: Reflections on co-creating knowledge with Indigenous peoples

Amid escalating sustainability crises, academia has increasingly turned toward knowledge co-creation. This trend is reflected in the growing number of collaborative research initiatives with Indigenous peoples, whose knowledge and perspectives are often regarded as offering valuable contributions to addressing global challenges. In this article, we – five female researchers, who study knowledge creation and strive to conduct research in collaboration with Indigenous groups – reflect on and unpack our own experiences in light of our diverse positionalities. Our aim is to pull back the curtain on the realities of these methodologies. By exposing these ‘behind-the-scenes’ perspectives, we hope to deepen the understanding of what co-creation with Indigenous groups entails and to highlight the challenges and its possibilities in practice. As we reflect on our experiences through the lenses of dialogism, feminist epistemologies, critical STS studies, and perspectives from Indigenous thinkers, we (re)discover co-creation as a process of “becoming subjects together”, one in which the personal, professional, and political are intertwined, sustained by reciprocal engagement, shared values, and the recognition of Indigenous peoples as subjects in their own right. Our experiences underscore both the difficulties and the transformative possibilities of moving beyond established methodologies and confronting the epistemic and institutional constraints that hinder such collaborations. • Resistance from Indigenous Peoples is an invitation to reflexivity and the pursuit of more ethical relationships. • Co-creation as “becoming subjects together” centers reciprocity and moves beyond objectifying practices. • Acts of “being with” are central to building trust and sustaining meaningful collaboration. • Academia’s speed and metrics clash with co-creation’s slow, relational nature, risking instrumentalization. • Co-creation needs openness to transformation and to sustaining difference while seeking common ground for just futures.