The PhD creative and exegesis is informed by Aboriginal Women's Standpoint Theory (Moreton-Robinson, 2013), and Indigenous Research Methodology (Phillips & Bunda; 2018; Smith, 1999).
Stage one of the research walked with the guidance of the Boorai Dreaming Women’s Collective, who formed as a steering committee for the project. Comprised of Aboriginal Elders and senior women from across the state of Victoria, the Collective directed the researcher, creating cultural safety for the women who participated in the initial study.
 As an integrative PhD over 4 years the first stage of the research gathered a preliminary understanding of the voice as it elevated participant voices in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs and Gippsland. As the study progressed over the next three years, Lowitja Institute supported this progression through a Seeding Grant, which enabled the researcher to engage with the River and Bush Women’s of Mildura and Robinvale. The research moving parallel with grassroots healing and evaluation was supported through a Lowitja Big Grant that continued the work of River and Bush Women, enabling the study to record Blak Matriarchy Turnaround Time.  
Through yarns, digital art, oil paintings, and digital storytelling the voice of the women who joined the research over the four-year period is recorded in the Sovereign Voices Report (McNally, 2021); the Possum Mama Digital Story (McNally, 2001); Assimilation the Story Continues Digital Story (McNally, 2023); and Blak Matriarchy Turnaround Time (McNally 2024).
By Aboriginal Women, for Aboriginal Women: Holding a focus on local solutions, the PhD thesis draws knowledge from Aboriginal writers and academics who have recorded the history of this country. The writings are centric to experiences of oppression stemming from forced inter-generational removal (Atkinson, 2001; 2002; Dodson et al., 2012; Dudgeon & Bray, 2017; Dudgeon & Walker, 2015;  Dudgeon et al., 2020; Moreton-Robinson, 2009; 2013; 2017; 2020;  Milroy et al., 2014).
Aunty Jemmes Handy, Aunty Barb Gibson-Thorpe, and Aunty Patsy Doolan coming from the Mildura and Wentworth areas, and Aunty Annabelle Sharman from the Robinvale area are the River and Bush Women who led the healing experiences for women in their communities. The participants are the women they invited into their healing structures where rhythmic experiences of cultural immersion happened.