Indigenous-led Research

Research Facilitation at UBCO offers specific facilitation for Indigenous-led research projects. This support includes research design support, Indigenous principles support, and grant proposal support. Using the link below, please get in touch with the Indigenous Research Facilitator to request the following Indigenous research facilitation support.

Indigenous RESEARCH Facilitator

RESEARCH DESIGN SUPPORT

• Provide one-on-one consultation to faculty researchers and associated teams engaged in Indigenous-led research.
• Develop strategies and tools to support Indigenous-led research, including pre-engagement and knowledge mobilization of research while respecting local protocols, university policies and funding agency requirements.
• Conduct needs assessments with researchers and Indigenous community collaborators to plan, manage, develop, implement, and assess support and resources.
• Facilitate Indigenous community participation in developing engagement processes and protocols, research standards, and practices as relevant.

INDIGENOUS PRINCIPLES SUPPORT

• Ensure faculty researchers know and honour Indigenous community-specific protocols when working with Indigenous collaborators in their research project.
• Guide respectful engagement with Elders and knowledge keepers, including proper honoraria and gifting.
• Provide advice and information on Indigenous-led research requirements per Tri-Agency, OCAP, and UBC policies.
• Assist the development of research agreements and MOUs in Indigenous-led research.

GRANT PROPOSAL SUPPORT

• Work with faculty researchers on developing proposals, which may include advising research teams, participating in relevant team meetings, providing advice on community engagement, strategy, budget, and advising on procedures for institutional support where needed.
• Work with researchers and other ORS staff to support grant applications that feature best practices in research with, by, and for Indigenous Peoples that emphasize community engagement and respect exceeding sponsor requirements.
• Facilitate the process of clarifying mutual expectations and obligations with faculty researchers and the Indigenous collaborator/community and incorporate them into a research agreement or MOU, as relevant.

RESOURCES

• The Indigenous and Northern Statistics (INSTAT) team at Indigenous Services Canada has developed accessible data resources and is now promoting them through post-secondary outreach to faculty and students. More information on the INSTAT resources is available here. Any inquiries can be directed to instat@sac-isc.gc.ca.
• The First Nations Information Governance Centre’s training on Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP)
• TCPS 2 – Chapter 9: Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples of Canada
• UBC Indigenous Research Ethics
• UBC Indigenous Peoples Language Guide (Dr. Linc Kessler)
• Indigenous Foundations
• Centre for Teaching and Learning Technology
• Okanagan Syilx Research Guide (UBCO Library)
• UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan
• UBC Okanagan Commitment to the TRC Calls to Action
• SSHRC Resources for Indigenous Research
• The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
• The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
• The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP)
• BC Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act
• A valuable resource to help protect digitized Indigenous Knowledges called Traditional Knowledge Labels by Local Contexts
• CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance by the Global Indigenous Data Alliance (GIDA)

READING LIST

The Indigenous Research Facilitator curated a list of reading materials that may offer helpful perspectives on approaching Indigenous-led research.

Local Foundations

• Constructing Indigeneity: Syilx Okanagan Oraliture and tmixʷcentrism (Dissertation) by Jeannette Armstrong
• Land Speaking (chapter in Introduction to Indigenous Literary Criticism in Canada) by Jeannette Armstrong
• Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoplesby Greg Younging

Qualitative Indigenous Research Foundations

• Storywork: Educating the Heart, Mind, Body, and Spirit by Jo-ann Archibald
• Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canadaby Chelsea Vowel
• Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritageby Marie Battiste and James Youngblood Henderson
• Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methodsby Shawn Wilson
• Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts by Margaret Kovach
• Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by Linda Tuhiwai Smith
• The Past Before Us: Mo‘okū‘auhau as Methodologyedited by Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu

Quantitative Indigenous Research Foundations

• Indigenous Statistics: A Quantitative Research Methodologyby Maggie Walter and Chris Andersen
• Indigenous Economics: Sustaining Peoples and Their Lands by Ronald L. Trosper

Relationality, Introspection, and Power Dynamics

• Data as Living Entities—Reflections on Values-Driven Approaches to Relational Data in Partnered Research by Morgan King, Fiona P. McDonald, and Hanna M. Paul.
• Helpful collection of readings on “Showing Up Differently” to Indigenous research and ways of knowing.
• Resourceful reading on a decolonial perspective inspired by Indigenous analysis and practices that affirm the connection to modern-colonial ways of being and its Four Denials.
• Another source is the Cite Black Women Collective, which articulates the need to acknowledge Black women’s intellectual contributions that are too often unrecognized and erased. It is important to acknowledge and address the power dynamics of citation.

Note: UBC resources are intended for UBC researchers only. Please do not circulate.