Reframing research in Indigenous countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-57
Author(s):  
Aedan Alderson
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Canadian History ◽  
Indigenous Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indigenous Territories ◽  
Preliminary Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address some of the implications for methodology and ethics that arise when researchers in Indigenous territories locate their research projects as taking place within Indigenous countries. Centering the argument that ethical research with Indigenous communities must be rooted in upholding the primacy of Indigenous sovereignty, numerous considerations to improve qualitative research practices in Indigenous countries are discussed. Design/methodology/approach The author starts by introducing his relationship to Indigenous research as a mixed-Indigenous researcher. Moving onto discussing preliminary research considerations for working in Indigenous territories, the author argues that qualitative researchers must become familiarized with the historical and geographical contexts of the Indigenous countries they plan on working in. Using Canadian history as an example, the author argues that settler-colonial nationalisms continue to attempt to erase and replace Indigenous countries both in historical and geographical narratives. Building on Indigenous literature, the author then outlines the necessity of being aware of nation-specific protocols in law, culture, and knowledge production. Findings Drawing on this discussion, the author proposes a framework for preliminary research that can be used by qualitative researchers looking to ensure their projects are grounded in the best practices for the specific Indigenous countries they want to work with. Originality/value The author concludes that researchers should not expect Indigenous knowledge keepers to contribute large amounts of labour towards debunking colonial mythology and proving the existence of Indigenous countries. By doing this work as part of the preliminary research process, researchers create space for better collaborations with Indigenous communities.

Reinterpreting the value chain in an indigenous community enterprise context

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merata Kawharu
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Deep Dive ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indigenous Research Methods ◽  
Research Findings

Purpose Research in the field of indigenous value chains is limited in theory and empirical research. The purpose of this paper is to interpret values that may inform a new approach to considering value chains from New Zealand Maori kin community contexts. Design/methodology/approach The paper derives from research that develops Indigenous research methods on positionality. By extending the “included researcher” (Kawharu, 2016) role, the research recognises the opportunity of being genealogically connected to one of the communities, which may enable “deep dive research” relatively easily. Yet practical implications of research also obligate researchers beyond contractual terms to fulfil community aspirations in innovation. Findings Research findings show that a kin community micro-economy value chain may not be a lineal, progressive sequence of value from supplier to consumer as in Porter’s (1985) conceptualisation of value chains, but may instead be a cyclical system and highly consumer-driven. Research shows that there is strong community desire to connect lands and resources of homelands with descendant consumers wherever they live and reconnect consumers back again to supply sources. Mechanisms enabling this chain include returning food scraps to small community suppliers for composting, or consumers participating in community working bees, harvesting days and the like. Social implications The model may have implications and applicability internationally among indigenous communities who are similarly interested in socio-economic growth and enterprise development. Originality/value The apper’s originality, therefore, derives from addressing a research gap, showing that indigenous values may provide a new approach to conceptualising value chains and developing them in practice.

scholarly journals Moving Towards an Indigenous Research Process: A Reflexive Approach to Empirical Work With First Nations Communities in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Toombs ◽  
Alexandra S Drawson ◽  
Lori Chambers ◽  
Tina L. R. Bobinski ◽  
John Dixon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Community Values ◽  
Qualitative Research Study

Moving towards reconciliation within Indigenous research requires the careful examination of existing practices at all stages of the research process. Engagement in and dissemination of reflexive processes may increase the relevance of research results for Indigenous communities and partners. This article describes and contextualizes the results obtained from this qualitative research study examining parenting needs and child reunification in these communities. The initial results were deemed relevant by the partnering community but research stakeholders reported that they did not reflect all community values. Based on the advice of the Research Advisory Group, the research team decided to further analyze the results to address these shortcomings. The reanalysis process focused on improving the perceived meaningfulness and relevance to communities. Exploration of how these results were re-situated in an Indigenous framework of wellbeing is discussed. Researcher reflections about the project processes and considerations for future research are explored.

scholarly journals Using Indigenous Research Frameworks in the Multiple Contexts of Research, Teaching, Mentoring, and Leading

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darryl Reano
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Multiple Contexts ◽  
Indigenous Perspectives ◽  
Research Frameworks

Indigenous research frameworks can be used to effectively engage Indigenous communities and students in Western modern science through transparent and respectful communication. Currently, much of the academic research taking place within Indigenous communities marginalizes Indigenous Knowledge, does not promote long-term accountability to Indigenous communities and their relations, and withholds respect for the spiritual values that many Indigenous communities embrace. Indigenous research frameworks address these concerns within the academic research process by promoting values such as: relationality, multilogicality, and the centralization of Indigenous perspectives. Indigenous research frameworks provide a framework that can be used in multiple contexts within higher education to bring equitable practices to research, teaching, mentoring, and organizational leadership. In this article, as a researcher who uses Indigenous research frameworks, I utilize autoethnography to engage in critical, reflexive thinking about how my perspective as an Indigenous researcher has developed over time. The purpose of this autoethnography is to reveal how Indigenous research frameworks may enhance higher education, especially for Indigenous students.

Building business cred in the hood

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 525-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Charles Cachon
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Strategic Thinking ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Business Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Indigenous Territories ◽  
Indigenous Perspectives

Purpose Primary sector firms by and large operate on indigenous territories across the world. In Canada, partnerships, land rights settlements, decolonization and reconciliation efforts provide indigenous communities with the financial means and the political power to stop projects they consider contrary to their traditions. How can companies acquire legitimacy among indigenous communities? This paper aims to answer this question by examining what the economic issues are among indigenous communities, how theories and practices of sustainable and legitimacy management articulated and how some basic notions of traditional indigenous teachings could inform non-indigenous managers are and help them interact better with indigenous leaders and their communities. Design/methodology/approach This paper was informed about indigenous knowledge by secondary and primary indigenous and business sources from North America and from other areas such as Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Information about business relations with indigenous communities and stakeholders mostly came from non-indigenous sources, including scholarly results obtained within indigenous communities. Findings Sources of incompatibility between indigenous and European/Western worldviews are described. A selection of indigenous traditional beliefs and decision-making processes are presented, based on indigenous traditions around the Great Lakes region of North America. A discussion of desirable options for both indigenous and non-indigenous decision-makers to establish business legitimacy by overcoming their misperceptions is included. Practical implications A better understanding of economic issues in indigenous communities, indigenous perspectives and current developments, as well as lessons from the recent decades on successes and failures at establishing business legitimacy among indigenous communities, will help government and business decision-makers, as well as students and academic scholars. Originality/value Mainly based on management legitimacy theory and Anishnaabe knowledge, this paper makes an original contribution to the understanding of Indigenous strategic thinking in North America in its interaction with business legitimacy building issues.

Beyond deaths in school: education, knowledge production, and the Adivasi experience

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shivali Tukdeo
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Knowledge Construction ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
School Education ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Formal Systems ◽  
Indian State ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Submergence, dislocation, rehabilitation and reform are the terms that crowd out most discussions on Adivasi/indigenous communities. They also fit in aptly with the Adivasi experiences of education and their relationship with knowledge construction, for them but not necessarily with them. Over the course of the last century, the Adivasi story has been composed and reoriented by a confluence of hegemonic regimes, institutions and epistemic traditions. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Tracing the shifts over last few decades and paying attention to the larger politics of indigeneity, schooling and knowledge production, this paper advances a critical reading of the relationship between the marginalised and formal systems of schooling. Findings Employing Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s (1989) “Can the Subaltern Speak?”, the paper identifies the discourses that have contributed to the construction of Adivasi communities and their relationship with the Indian state. Originality/value As schooling continues to occupy a significant place among the communities in India and it gets associated with a number of contradictory logics, the present paper highlights the historicity of the project by which marginalised communities have been defined and their schooling needs have been framed and justified.

Family+Stories=Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-355
Author(s):  
Francis Bobongie
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Research Paradigm ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Family Stories ◽  
Kinship System ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Collection Phase

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to draw on the author’s research involving girls who leave their Torres Strait Island communities for boarding colleges in regional Queensland, Australia, and the academic, social and cultural implications that impede the transition process between community and school. While this paper discusses some of the research outcomes, its main focus is the unique indigenous research paradigm “Family+Stories=Research”, devised for and utilised within this project. This paradigm centres on the Australian indigenous kinship system and was implemented in two specific phases of the research process. These were: the preliminary research process leading up to the implementation of the research project; and the data collection phase. In turn, both phases enable the cultural significance of the kinship system to be better understood through the results. Because observations and storytelling or “yarning” were primarily used through both phases, these results also endorse the experience of the participants, and the author – both professionally and personally – without requiring further analysis. Design/methodology/approach The indigenous research paradigm and methodology unique to this research project implements the kinship system, allowing the researcher to access the appropriate resources and people for the project. Prior to the data collection phase, contact with significant community members in both boarding colleges and the Torres Strait Region was made. The methodology implemented for the research project was ethnographic and used observations, individual interviews and focus groups. The views and experiences of 26 past and present students, and 15 staff, both indigenous and non-indigenous, across three different boarding colleges were recorded. Findings Through both phases of the research project, the kinship system played a significant role in the ethnographic research process and data collection phase, which focussed on two key areas encompassed within the kinship system: “business” and the “care of children”. Stories from the researcher and the participants confirm the significant role that the kinship system can play within the indigenous research paradigm: Family+Stories=Research. Originality/value The paper introduces an indigenous research paradigm and methodology designed around two factors: family and stories. This paper brings to light the impact of the kinship system used within communities of the Torres Strait Islands and explains how this system advantaged the research process and the data collection phase by enabling the researcher to freely access stories specific to the research project.

Indigenous works and two eyed seeing: mapping the case for indigenous-led research

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-86
Author(s):  
Rick Colbourne ◽  
Peter Moroz ◽  
Craig Hall ◽  
Kelly Lendsay ◽  
Robert B. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Indigenous Science ◽  
Research Partnerships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Content Domain

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore Indigenous Works’ efforts to facilitate Indigenous-led research that is responsive to the socio-economic needs, values and traditions of Indigenous communities. Design/methodology/approach This paper is grounded in an Indigenous research paradigm that is facilitated by Indigenous-led community-based participatory action research (PAR) methodology informed by the Two Row Wampum and Two-Eyed Seeing framework to bridge Indigenous science and knowledge systems with western ones. Findings The findings point to the need for greater focus on how Indigenous and western knowledge may be aligned within the methodological content domain while tackling a wide array of Indigenous research goals that involve non-Indigenous allies. Originality/value This paper addresses the need to develop insights and understandings into how to develop a safe, ethical space for Indigenous-led trans-disciplinary and multi-community collaborative research partnerships that contribute to community self-governance and well-being.

scholarly journals Understanding the Application and Use of Indigenous Research Methodologies in the Social Sciences by Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Scholars

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Pidgeon ◽  
Tasha Riley
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Research Methodologies ◽  
Ethical Frameworks ◽  
Indigenous Research Methodologies ◽  
Research Relationships

Indigenous research methodologies articulate how researchers and Aboriginal communities engage in research together. These methodologies are informed by Indigenous cultural and ethical frameworks specific to the Nations with whom the research is being conducted. This study explores how such research relationships were articulated in the dissemination phase of research. We carried out an Indigenous qualitative content analysis of 79 peer-reviewed articles published January 1996 to June 2018, predominantly in the fields of social sciences. Our findings show that most articles were written by Indigenous researchers or a research team composed of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers. Such collaborations articulated the principles of Indigenous methodology (IM) much clearer than those authored by non-Indigenous scholars or when partnerships with Indigenous communities were less evident with respect to the principles guiding the research process. The principles of IM that were manifest in these research partnerships were relevance, respect for Indigenous knowledges, responsible relationships, wholism, and Indigenous ethics. The findings of this study will help to guide future researchers who work with Indigenous peoples, especially with respect to the need for a deeper understanding of how such research relationships are sustained over time to bring about  meaningful change for Indigenous peoples and their communities.

scholarly journals A Comparative Analysis of Indigenous Research Guidelines to Inform Genomic Research in Indigenous Communities

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole K Taniguchi ◽  
Maile Taualii ◽  
Jay Maddock
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Biological Samples ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Genomic Research ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Research Guidelines ◽  
Indigenous Groups

BACKGROUND: Genetic research has potential benefits for improving health, such as identifying molecular characteristics of a disease, understanding disease prevalence and treatment, and developing treatments tailored to patients based on individual genetic characteristics of their disease. Indigenous people are often targeted for genetic research because genes are easier to study in communities that practice endogamy. Therefore, populations perceived to be more homogenous, such as Indigenous peoples, are ideal for genetic studies. While Indigenous communities remain the focal point of many genomic studies, some result in harm and unethical practice. Unfortunately, the harms of poorly formulated and unethical research involving Indigenous people have created barriers to participation that prevent critical and lifesaving research. These harms have led a number of Indigenous communities to develop guidelines for engaging with researchers to assist in safely bridging the gap between genetic research and Indigenous peoples. SPECIFIC AIMS: The specific aims of this study were: (1) to conduct an international review and comparison of Indigenous research guidelines that highlight topics regarding genetics and use of biological samples and identify commonalities and differences among ethical principles of concern to Indigenous peoples; and (2) develop policy recommendations for Indigenous populations interested in creating formal policies around the use of genetic information and protection of biological samples using data from specific aim 1. METHODS: A comparative analysis was performed to identify best research practices and recommendations for Indigenous groups from four countries: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. The analysis examined commonalities in political relationships, which support self-determination among these Indigenous communities to control their data. Current international Indigenous guidelines were analyzed to review processes of how genetic research is conducted and the use of biological samples is handled with Indigenous peoples. RESULTS: Results suggest the need for genetic and genomic research policies for the world’s Indigenous people. Indigenous groups are most vulnerable to research exploitation and harm; therefore, identifying principles that work for Indigenous people will lead to best practices for all populations. CONCLUSIONS: Development and implementation of best practices informed by research guidelines in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S. may be helpful to advise Indigenous leaders, policy makers, and researchers to the proper conduction of genetic research within Indigenous communities. Comparative analyses are a useful tool for identifying areas for further work in developing genetic research policy for Indigenous communities. OUTCOME: The outcomes of this analysis are relevant and useful to Indigenous communities and inform the development of community-based genetic research guidelines. The recommendations can be used in designing appropriate policies for future genomic research with Indigenous peoples.

Peer research with young Muslims and the politics of knowledge production

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Vassadis ◽  
Ameera Karimshah ◽  
Anita Harris ◽  
Youssef Youssef
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Politics Of Knowledge ◽  
Youth Research ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
Peer Researchers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw on the authors’ experiences as a team made up of both “insiders” and “outsiders” in order to investigate how an insider-outsider peer research method facilitates productive forms of research into the lives of young Muslims, and to contribute to debates about ways of knowing youth. The authors aim to shift focus from a common claim that peer research methods simply improve research about youth to more deeply investigate how they enable, as well as limit, the production of particular kinds of knowledge, in this case, about Muslim youth in Australia. Design/methodology/approach – The research aimed to explore how “ordinary” young Australian Muslims engage in civic life. Yet the authors were faced with the challenge of accessing and recruiting “ordinary” youth in times of Islamophobia, wherein Muslim communities expressed serious concerns about their voices being misinterpreted, misused and misappropriated. Therefore, the authors sought to utilise an approach of outsider-designed and guided research that was then shaped and executed by insider peer researchers. It is this research design and its execution that the authors interrogate in this paper. Findings – As well as affording the authors access and the elicitation of rich, complex and high-quality data, the approach also fostered more complex stories about young Muslim identities and experiences, and enabled the authors to contest some common and homogenising representations. It also allowed opportunities for fundamental issues inherent in these kinds of qualitative research methods to be made explicit. These include the politics of performativity and issues of positionality in the peer research process. The authors suggest that the “insider” and “outsider” approach succeeded not so much because it got the authors closer to the “truth” about young Muslims’ civic lives, but because it revealed some of the mechanics of the ways stories are constructed and represented in youth research. Originality/value – The originality and value of this paper lie in its contribution to a debate about the politics of knowledge production about young people and Muslims in particular, and in its effort to move forward a discussion about how to be accountable in youth research to the various communities and to one another in insider-outsider research teams.

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