This thesis undertakes an autoethnographic interview analysis of the cultural identity experiences of myself and other participants working in decolonisation and Treaty settings. Embracing the personal in academic work is a crucial step in the journey toward decolonising the academy and society at large. Through critical autoethnographic analysis that centres on themes of identity and belonging, I juxtapose myself alongside interview participants: as both researcher and the researched, and as a student-not-yet-professional in the field of Treaty and decolonisation work. I engage with settler identity theories, indigenous perspectives, and the voices of other non-Māori in considering what it means to belong in Aotearoa, and how we might engage in our responsibilities to and with Others, toward ethical relations. I argue that a decolonisation of the self is a necessary step that settlers and their descendants must take in the journey toward a collective sense of belonging as tangata Tiriti in Aotearoa New Zealand. I perform some of the doubts, responsibilities, and privileges experienced on my pathway toward a career in decolonisation work, exploring the settler-indigenous relation along the way. I capture, confront, and converse with identity tensions recorded in my own and others' words to illustrate the case for autoethnographic decolonisation within the academy and beyond. In so doing, I maintain that the ethical relationships required for improving cross-cultural relations begin with a decolonisation of the self as the first step in attending to the Other.
