We detail an Indigenous research methodology capturing community-based truth-telling in an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory, Australia. We present Dadirri—a deep contemplative process of listening to one another—as a research methodology and a co-developed research model from the Nauiyu community. Dadirri is applied on the Country, with the cultural custodians to which it belongs, the Ngan’gikurunggkurr people from the Daly River region, Northern Territory. Dadirri links critical theory with reflective practice and is increasingly applied in Indigenous research. Insights into the synergies between Dadirri and traditional Eurocentric methodologies along with the successes and challenges of bringing Indigenous ways of knowing and Western ways of conducting research is presented as an interwoven praxis and governance/s. We conclude that the research outcomes demonstrate the interconnectedness and relational epistemologies as a framework between Dadirri and Western methodologies in a way that transforms and reconfigures futures, participants, and researchers alike.

The Edge of Sacred project was conducted with the Nauiyu community in northern Australia and investigated trauma and traditional healing practices. Study participants from the community identified negative social changes and an escalation in anti-social behaviour, such as higher rates of bullying, violence, risky sexual behaviour and children accessing pornography, when mobile phones and social networking sites were used inappropriately. The research utilised Dadirri, a place-based, performative healing praxis that engaged community members in a truth-telling journey. Shared stories revealed social impacts derived from accessing mobile technologies and the ensuing cultural colonisation affected all aspects of Nauiyu community life. We present the findings of mobile phone use behaviours in this remote context and the performance of negative, traumatised and harmful identities that occupy social media and are enabled through social networking sites. Despite the corrosive effects of colonisation, the community unanimously believed that empowerment through truth-telling exists within and belongs to Nauiyu. The traditional holistic healing practice of Dadirri reframes identities, reclaiming Indigenous Lore.