Resources

The resources have informed the authors in their work and in writing the article “Towards Reconciliation: 10 Calls to Action to Natural Scientists Working in Canada”. They are by no means exhaustive, but intended to help individuals rethink how natural science is conducted.

Foundational Principles

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the Indigenous Peoples of the world and it elaborates on existing human rights standards and fundamental freedoms as they apply to the specific situation of Indigenous Peoples.

Articles that affect research include:

  • Article 3 | Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

  • Article 29.1 | Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands, territories and resources. 

  • Article 31 | Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the 23 right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.

  • Article 32.1 | Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories and other resources.

  • Article 32.2 | States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with Indigenous peoples in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was established in June 2008, with the purpose of documenting the harmful history and lasting impacts of the Canadian Indian residential school system on Indigenous students and their families and "redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation."

The authors were motivated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to translate the general intent of relevant Calls to Action into tangible outcomes and approaches that can be employed by natural scientists. 

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was created in order to help "restore justice to the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada and to propose practical solutions to stubborn problems." Established in 1991, the commission examined the relationships between the government and Indigenous Canadians and between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians and advised the government on their findings.

Principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession (OCAP®) is fundamentally tied to all First Nations’ rights to self-determination and the preservation and development of their culture, OCAP® is a tool to support strong information governance on the path to First Nations data sovereignty. The principles establish how First Nations’ data and information should be collected, protected, used and shared. Anyone interested in conducting research with a First Nation should acquaint themselves with OCAP® before they begin.

Ethical Principles + Guidelines

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) National Inuit Strategy on Research (NISR) outlines the coordinated actions required to improve the way Inuit Nunangat research is governed, resourced, conducted, and shared. It envisions research being utilized as a building block for strong public policies, programs, and initiatives that support optimal outcomes for Inuit that in turn benefit all Canadians.

Principles for Ethical Metis Research were developed by a diverse group of experienced Métis researchers, students, and Métis organizations across Canada, to guide Métis-specific culturally competent ethical research.

Mobilizing Indigenous Knowledge in Resource Management Settings: A Practical Guide was developed by Trailmark Systems in partnership with Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation and is a resource and curriculum on how to mobilize Indigenous knowledge for better resource co-management.assessments. It aims to assist Indigenous wildlife and lands departments, resource managers, rights holders, and regulatory specialists interested in gathering local Indigenous knowledge and land use information.

Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples by Gregory Younging offers Indigenous writers and editors—and everyone creating works about Indigenous Peoples—the first published guide to common questions and issues of style and process. Everyone working in words or other media needs to read this important new reference, and to keep it nearby while they’re working.

Informing First Nations Stewardship with Applied Research: Key questions to inform an equitably beneficial and engaged research process by Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation, Stewardship Authority (2021), Klemtu, BC.

Communities and Research: Building Relationships and Reconciliation website, developed by the Northwest Territories Association of Communities, provides several guides and toolkits for both researchers and Indigenous communities.

Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2) Jointly issued by Canada’s three federal research funding agencies (Tri-Council*) that are mandated to promote research that is conducted according to the highest ethical standards, The Agencies have adopted this Policy as a benchmark for the ethical conduct of research involving humans. However, the co-authors of the 10 Calls to Action have observed that most natural scientists fail to recognize the importance of this Policy as they assume that their work on the land does not involve people. 

  • TCPS 2, Chapter 9: Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples provides a framework for research with Indigenous communities, based on respect for human dignity and its three associated principles—respect for persons, concern for welfare, and justice. The framework addresses consultation, capacity-building and intellectual property rights, among many other issues in Indigenous research.

*The Tri-Council includes Canada's three federal research funding agencies:

  • CHIR: Canadian Institute of Health Research

  • SSHRC: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

  • NSERC: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

Strategic Plan: Setting New Directions to Support Indigenous Research and Research Training in Canada 2019 - 2022 (Tri-Council) was jointly issued by Canada’s three federal research funding agencies (CHIR, SSHRC, NSERC) and co-developed with First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, the plan identifies four strategic directions to support and implement interdisciplinary research and a research training model that contributes to reconciliation

Courses

Principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession (OCAP®) | Online Fundamentals of OCAP®  from the First Nations Information Governance Centre. Details

Indigenous Canada | Free online or paid certificate and credit programs from University of Alberta. Details

Yukon First Nations 101 | Self-paced online training from Yukon University. Details

Building Research Relationships with Indigenous Communities (BRRIC) | The First Nations University of Canada, Indigenous Continuing Education Centre. Details

Indigenous Peoples and Technoscience | This online from the University of Alberta introduces students to the intricate connections between science and technology fields, broader dynamics of colonialism, and increasing demands for Indigenous governance of science and technology. The course is structured by centering Indigenous peoples' relationships to science and technology fields as "objects/subjects," "collaborators," and "scientists." Details

Additional Recommendations
from the Co-authors

Re-conceptualizing natural science in terms of its role in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples as well as creating space for Indigenous Knowledge and multiple ways of knowing, requires a personal commitment to rethinking the status quo. Below are some resources that have helped the Co-authors of “10 Calls to Action” rethink their own roles and personal commitments to this process.

Books

Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence

By Gregory Cajete

This book "tells the story" of Indigenous science as a way of understanding, experiencing, and feeling the natural world. He points to parallels and differences between the Indigenous science and Western science paradigms, with special emphasis on environmental/ecological studies. After discussing philosophical foundations, Cajete addresses such topics as history and myth, primal elements, social ecology, animals in myth and reality, plants and human health, and cosmology and astronomy. Get the book

Pollution is Colonialism

By Max Liboiron

In Pollution Is Colonialism Max Liboiron presents a framework for understanding scientific research methods as practices that can align with or against colonialism. They point out that even when researchers are working toward benevolent goals, environmental science and activism are often premised on a colonial worldview and access to land. Focusing on plastic pollution, the book models an anticolonial scientific practice aligned with Indigenous, particularly Métis, concepts of land, ethics, and relations. Get the book

Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples

Linda Tuhiwai Smith

To the colonized, the term 'research' is conflated with European colonialism; the ways in which academic research has been implicated in the throes of imperialism remains a painful memory. This volume explores intersections of imperialism and research, specifically the ways in which imperialism is embedded in disciplines of knowledge and tradition as 'regimes of truth.' Concepts such as 'discovery' and 'claiming' are discussed and an argument presented that the decolonization of research methods will help to reclaim control over indigenous ways of knowing and being. Get the book

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

By Robin Wall Kimmerer

“As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert). Get the book

Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods

By Shawn Wilson

In this short book, Shawn Wilson argues that research brings an enlightened understanding of the world. In this sense, research is ceremony and the purpose of any ceremony is to build relationships or bridge the distance between aspects of the cosmos and ourselves. This relational accountability is key to Indigenous research methodologies and is further explored in the book. Get the book

Poem

“Dear Big S Science”

Kori Czuy

This poem evocatively portrays how Indigenous peoples and communities might view western science. Read more

Online Presentations

Indigenous knowledge is strongly rooted in oral traditions. Here are some presentations and podcasts featuring Indigenous scholars and knowledge keepers.


Dialogue Series: “Reconciling Ways of Knowing” brings together Indigenous Knowledge and science for the benefit of our shared natural world. It is about a nation-to-nation relationship between peoples: Indigenous Peoples (and their governments) and Canadians (and their governments). 

It recognizes that a nation-to-nation relationship is far more than a government-to-government relationship between official representatives and structures. It is a relationship between the peoples and their ways of being and knowing. It recognizes that each way of knowing is unique and equally valid. Watch the series

Seminar Series: “Indigenous Voices Amplifying Indigenous Science” aims to elevate and amplify the voices of Indigenous scientists and academics on the topic of Indigenous science. We hope to inspire attendees to learn why Indigenous science is important, while challenging pre-conceived notions, and making space for new ways of knowing and being in science. Watch the series

Podcasts

Tribal Research Specialist, LLC by Shandine Pete and Aaron Brien contains candid conversations about research issues which affect Indigenous peoples. Listen to the podcast

Good Fire, hosted Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff, explores the concept of fire as a tool for ecological health and cultural empowerment by Indigenous people around the globe. Good Fire is a term used to describe fire that is lit intentionally to achieve specific ecological and cultural goals. Good fire is about balance. Listen to the podcast