While community-engaged research is usually grounded in the best of intentions and in consultation with community members, it does nevertheless have a history of potentially being harmful or exploitative of equity-seeking groups. Many equity-seeking communities often get "over-researched' (Sukarieh and Tannock 2013) by university researchers employing both community-engaged and traditional methods, frequently without the community members seeing any sort of ongoing tangible outcome or benefit from their involvement with research collaboration.

Currently, in Canada, Indigenous communities are often being faced with "over-research" and research(er) fatigue challenges; this module section therefore discusses specific things to be mindful of when considering a community-engaged project that involves Indigenous peoples. Similar steps - thinking through positionality, doing extensive background research, etc. - are especially important when working with any equity-seeking group.

However, because of funding models and public awareness as a result of Truth and Reconciliation initiatives - and because of genuine desires to create relationships, solidarity, and equitable opportunities for and within Indigenous peoples and communities - CER initiatives with Indigenous populations are especially prominent right now. Given the long-term, systemic harm that has been caused to Indigenous communities due to extractive research methods historically (and sometimes currently) used by anthropologists, ethnographers, and university-based researchers, these projects require specific considerations, and, in some ways, an even deeper critical reflective practice on the goals, reasons for, and desired outcomes of the research, and on the suitability of the researchers to undertake the work.

Dr. Susan Hill, the Director of UofT's Centre for Indigenous Studies, has given an excellent presentation on ethics and considerations for university students and researchers who are interested in working with Indigenous communities (as part of a wider UofT Research panel on "Co-creating Knowledges: Equitable Practices Across Community-Engaged Learning and Research." The central points of her presentation (32:00-49:20) include the importance of understanding one's cultural, geographical, institutional, and personal positionalities, as well as the importance of understanding Indigenous diversity and knowing as much as possible about the unique community you hope to work with. This information is all integral in considering how to organize reciprocity and sharing of knowledge in equitable and appropriate ways. She also stresses that Indigenous communities may not be interested in participating in community-engaged research, and that their "no" should be respected and, when possible, learned from.

There are many research resources that can help guide and inform research approaches and preliminary first steps, including:

Websites and Reports:

Whose Land Am I On?
https://native-land.ca/

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
https://nctr.ca/about/history-of-the-trc/trc-website/

Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf

The Final Report and Calls to Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/

How to Cite Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers (Kelsey Kropiniski/University of Alberta Library)
https://news.library.ualberta.ca/blog/2022/01/27/citing-indigenous-elders-and-knowledge-keepers/

Books and Articles:

Brown, Leslie Allison, and Susan Strega, eds. 2015. Research as Resistance: Revisiting Critical, Indigenous, and Anti-Oppressive Appraoches. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press.

Smith Tuhiwai, Linda. 2012. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: ZED Books.

Tuck, Eve. 2009. "Suspending Damage: A Letter to Communities." Harvard Educational Review 79, no. 2: 409-427.

Tuck, Eve, and K. Wayne Yang. 2012. "Decolonization is Not a Metaphor." Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1, no. 1: 1-40.

Wilson, Shawn. 2008. Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.

However, no preliminary reading or individual work to understand Indigenous peoples' and communities' practices and protocols can replace insights learned through building relationships, particularly since protocol, customs, practices, knowledge, cultural traditions, and appropriate forms of reciprocity differ from one Indigenous community to the next.