Kunga Tjukurpa – guiding research and methodology with Aboriginal women

Kungka (Kunga) Tjukurpa, roughly translated as ‘women’s story’, is an enduring part of Anangu (people or human beings in the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara language) women’s culture. Descending from the Tjukuritja (ancestors), Tjukurpa is a vital cultural framework informing Anangu women’s way of being, living, and knowledge sharing. Kunga Tjukurpa therefore provided a lens to guide a study examining the relationship between 12 participants who identified as Aboriginal women. The study uncovered the hidden educational inequality, exploring the way this is normalised as a policy and social problem, characterised in Australia as a ‘gap’ in the federal policy Closing the Gap in Aboriginal Disadvantage . Qualitative methods were used without subscribing to any specific qualitative philosophy, as the foundation of this research was strongly supported by Indigenist theory methodologies. The study identified a clear disconnect existing in that which is defined, supported, and most significantly controlled by university policy – what it means to be Aboriginal and a woman.