Indigenous Research
Discovering new alliances
The UNESCO Chair – The Transmission of First Peoples’ Culture to Foster Well-Being and Empowerment is an Indigenous research Chair. Like any scientific or academic research, Indigenous research must identify a specific scientific issue and attempt to resolve it by applying demanding protocols and exemplary ethical codes evaluated and approved by a community of peers. However, it bears a distinctive aspect of First Nations and Inuit, their wisdom, their concerns, their cultures, their experiences and their forms of knowledge. Indigenous research encompasses intellectual, material and spiritual dimensions, and develops among relations based on equality and mutual respect.
Developed and implemented with, by and for the members of the nations involved, the UNESCO Chair seeks to:
- mobilize knowledge and attest to the results;
- achieve excellence in Indigenous research;
- meet the communities’ expectations.
Mobilize knowledge and attest to the results
Indigenous research involves two types of knowledge interacting in mutual respect and trust: that of customary experts, bearers of culture from First Peoples, having acquired their knowledge through practice, experience and the visit of their physical and symbolic territory, and that of academic researchers, specialists in their disciplinary and conceptual field.
This merger, rich in promise, can only take place in an egalitarian relationship, an integral component to developing a sense of security and a prerequisite for all projects of cultural transmission. This pairing of complementary expertise, favourable to both groups and to the progress of research, mobilizes knowledge and improves results. It enhances the ability to grasp the complexity of the situations encountered and to respond effectively.
This desire for collaboration while striving for the empowerment of First Peoples involves establishing an environment conducive to developing the potential of Indigenous leaders within a research setting. It is based on the credibility of culture-holders, the recognition of their knowledge and their ability to actively participate in the development and management of projects. It is initially occurs when intercultural teams are established.
The harmonious alliance of experiential and professional cultures is the cornerstone of all Indigenous research. It is the junction of all driving forces involved in the implementation of a common future, the result of an innovative and sincere co-creation process.
Achieving excellence in Indigenous research
Achieving and maintaining excellence in Indigenous research entails that researchers and their teams adopt a collaborative approach with First Peoples by drawing inspiration from their governance philosophy which is based on consensus, horizontal relationships and alliances.
To create conditions that foster a genuine consultation, the Chair recommends that academic researchers:
- consider and demonstrate that experts from First Peoples and universities are all considered equal and that their respective knowledge is key to understanding the complexity of the cultural universe of Indigenous Peoples;
- establish, within intercultural teams, a culture of listening and honesty based on mutual respect by developing codes of conduct and ensuring that they be strictly followed;
- be aware of the many traumas that have undermined the bond of trust between First Peoples and institutional bodies and the need to restore this trust through an impeccable demeanor;
- facilitate the participation of partners from First Peoples during all stages of research, from start to finish, and when necessary, develop training programs to enable this commitment;
- consider long-term collaboration, time being the cornerstone of productive meetings and fruitful relations;
- include in the research program the development of work methodologies which enable people to truly “work together” as intercultural, multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary teams, both within communities of the same nation and among various nations, in order to counteract the isolation of Indigenous communities among themselves, and between Indigenous and Allochthonous People
- agree that achieving excellence in Indigenous research hinges on the capacity of academic researchers to work not on, but with, by and for First Peoples so that their actions may have both immediate and, above all, lasting benefits.
Meeting the community’s expectations
In May 2018, during a meeting held in Wendake with the partners of First Peoples, at the request of the UNESCO Chair, the cultural experts in attendance expressed their views on what they considered to be an ideal collaboration with researchers. They also reflected on how to integrate an Indigenous perspective among the selected projects.
They spoke of...
... the importance of collaboration
…. research
… listening
… cultural transmission
… the impact of research
… the methodology
