Community Research
Indigenous community and education research is a key component of Indigenous self-determination. Indigenous research principles and approaches are immanently forged and interconnected to the land. Acknowledging and appreciating community’s research principles and protocols is an essential step to establish the foundation for the researcher-community relationship, synergy, and reverence.
Indigenous communities’ own research guiding principles function as indicators to protecting communities’ sovereignty and strengthening the collective well-being. Understanding the distinct cultural locality that connects the people and the land as a totality of the community-being is an ethical positioning researchers have to recognize.
Indigenous Communities’ Own Recognition and Guiding Principles
- Each community has own history, language and culture.
- Each community has special and distinct research and data guidance and Principles.
- The responsibility to respect and protect Indigenous community’s own data standards.
- The common Indigenous philosophy of respect for the relationality of humans and more than human.
- Each community has guidelines on the obligations of the partners.
- Each community has obligations of community researchers.
- Each community has guidelines on obligations of academic researchers.
- Each community guidelines on the rights of the community and research participants.
- Respect for the community’s review and approval process for ethically responsible research.
- Respect for the community’s consent process.
- Respect for the community’s data collection and management process.
The Six R’s Indigenous Framework
The Six R’s framework stems from Indigenous knowledge systems and honors Indigenous diverse cultural practices and research methods. The Six R’s framework emphasizes the vitality of centering Indigenous voices and methods in conducting Indigenous research or collaborative work with Indigenous Peoples. Researchers and Indigenous partners are to follow and recognize the Six R’s framework as a guiding system of accountability that complements Indigenous data sovereignty principles and the community’s protocols. The Six R’s stand for: Relationship, Respect, Representation, Relevance, Responsibility, and Reciprocity.
The USAI Research Framework
Conceived and developed by the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC), the USAI Research Framework is to guide all Indigenous research project conducted by the OFIFC, urban Indigenous communities, and all Indigenous allies and partners who respect, appreciate, and recognize Indigenous knowledge and research methods.
Researchers are to collaboratively work with Indigenous communities to conduct and support community driven, community relevant, faithful to Indigenous identity, self-voiced, useful, accessible, and relations-based research that generates locally-authored Indigenous knowledge and locally-determined, well-informed, and effective action that brings desired changes and benefits to Indigenous communities and Indigenous self-determination.
Indigenous Data Indicator Framework
Indigenous ways of assessment, research, governance, and socio-economic navigation are diverse, rich, varying, and consistently evolving. Indigenous Data Indicator Framework is one of many tools researchers are to follow as an ethical guide to evaluate their progress and practices throughout the research life cycle. Indigenous Data Indicators serve to pinpoint what researchers should look for when measuring whether their research practices are complied with the UNDRIP, Indigenous data sovereignty principles, and Indigenous community’s rules and protocols.[1]
The following 12 indicators are to guide researchers, in addition to each community’s distinct navigating standards, customs and ordinances.
- Self-Determination
- Cultural integrity
- Lands, territories, and resources
- Fundamental rights and freedoms
- Participation in public
- Legal protection, access to justice and remedy
- Cross-border contacts
- Freedom of expression and media
- General economic and social development
- Education
- Health
- Employment and occupation