The Significance of Stories

Abstract

In my view, indigeneity can be defined as the identity of indigenous people which embodies land, ocean, culture, language, spirituality, knowledge and history. In this article, I will discuss how storytelling enhances and maintains the understanding of this definition of indigeneity, and I will compare other views of indigeneity with my own. My mother-in-law Elisapeta Tano (Peta) has gifted me numerous stories about Tonga and her Tongan identity, which Taungapeau (2010) calls “Tongan-ness”. As the mother of my wife, I consider Peta to be like another mother to me. She has become a part of my personal knowledge development. Therefore, I will utilise autoethnography and tell my story of discovery and learning with Peta and demonstrate the significance of stories to strengthening the understanding of indigeneity.