ABSTRACT
I reflect on my doctoral autoethnographic fieldwork practice from 2015 as an example of wayfinding by United States (U.S.) citizen and New Zealand-funded researcher in the Marianas Archipelago. My journey began with an invitation from the indigenous CHamoru famalåo’an (women) of the islands to use my privileged platform as a form of resistance. Micronesian women offer a dozen instructions for researchers in their communities to ensure Oceanic spaces are decolonized. Through my “settler responsibility” (Garrison, 2019) approach I ensure I am accountable to my academic aunties and resister sisters. Through participatory action (re)search, I offer possible collaborative (re)search methods for other non-indigenous scholars. I provide two examples from my critical autoethnographic fieldwork as self-reflective footnotes that include emotions and observations. I conclude that contemporary wayfinding is (re)search in fluidarity (solidarity) with communities across Oceania resisting contemporary political colonization and expanding U.S. militarization. Through new media technologies, I created and continue the research-oriented Facebook page, Oceania Resistance.
