In this chapter we identify some aspects of Indigenous epistemologies (ways of knowing) and ontologies (ways of being) and apply them to the re-imagining of social work, grounded in contributions, experiences and knowledges shared by Indigenous scholars in the field. Social work has too often been part of the colonial project rather than the decolonising project, though in the twenty-first century the decolonisation of social work has emerged as a more important agenda. This chapter is concerned with Indigenous ways of knowing and being as representing important alternatives to Western modernity. We argue that to achieve re-imagining of social work requires social workers to adopt an epistemological shift that centres and values Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies as core, consciously and intentionally removing them from the margins that they have occupied in social work education and practice. We start the chapter with some notes on its authorship. We then briefly describe colonialism’s stifling of Indigenous epistemologies, after which we explore Indigenous ways of knowing and being and how they inform the re-imagining of social work.

From the late 1990s onwards, contemporary Australian Indigenous literary culture has expanded to include a strong body of literary fiction novels. This includes a more recent significant deepening of Australian Indigenous literary culture, as Indigenous writers use the literary novel form to express long-existing Indigenous stories, storytelling modes, knowledges, paradigms, and perspectives. Australian Indigenous literary culture is now at a nexus point, having built a strong body of fiction novels that are both important to Indigenous readers, critics and scholars, and recognised through Australian literary award lists and increasing global reach. How do we engage with this body of work in expansive ways? This chapter argues for the use of Indigenous-centred approaches – framed around Indigenous ways of being, knowing and doing – to engage with Australian Indigenous literary fiction novels and thereby shift power within the majority non-indigenous literary sector.