ABSTRACT. In preparing a presentation for a sociology conference, the author was invited to engage with the introductory paper ‘Between the All and the Immanent’ for this special issue of Knowledge Cultures. Drawn to its framing of darkness and not-knowing as generative forces in higher education, she wove these ideas into her exploration of how a storytelling methodology of loose ends can illuminate how peace for Indigenous people of Oceania is understood as a state of being in and living with conflict. Stories from her experiences in a Pasifika ‘whole of life’ philosophies course and efforts to ‘decolonise’ an academic discipline show that the emergent nature of this methodology matters more than any fixed framework. Still, several key aspects emerged: distinct embodied and relational Oceania and colonial and settler narratives; the matasawa (‘foreshore’) as a site of productive tension when these narratives meet; and moments of immanence when Indigenous people reshape storytelling to assert Indigenous sovereignty and balance. From this, a provisional framework for reimagining Indigenous peace in Oceania through a storytelling methodology of loose ends took shape. Here, peace is not an abstract concept studied from a distance, but a living practice, examined and enacted through a methodology of loose ends, continually made and remade in the act of articulation.

Keywords: Indigenous methodologies; decolonisation; peace and conflict studies; storytelling; autoethnography; loose ends

How to cite: MacDonald, L. (2025). Restoring/restorying Indigenous peace in Oceania through a storytelling methodology of loose ends. Knowledge Cultures, 13(3), 57–73. https://doi.org/10.22381/kc13320255

Received November 2, 2025 • Received in revised form November 23, 2025
Accepted November 23, 2025 • Available online December 1, 2025