Supporting Ethical and Meaningful Indigenous Research Practices
Ānako is committed to fostering ethical and meaningful research practices involving Indigenous participants and communities. Our approach emphasizes the 4Rs of Indigenous Research practice: respect, relationship, reciprocity, and relevance, ensuring an ethical foundation is maintained throughout the entire research process.
Research involving Indigenous peoples, communities, cultures, or their lands and waters as participants, topics of discussion, or subjects of commentary is considered Indigenous Research.
Ethical Indigenous Research: Community Engagement Requirements under TCPS 2, Chapter 9
Chapter 9, Section C of the Tri-Council Policy Statement provides examples and criteria outlining what is considered Indigenous Research. Researchers are required to engage with the relevant community when the research is likely to affect the welfare of an Indigenous community or communities to which prospective participants belong. Conditions under which this engagement is necessary include, but are not limited to:
Where the research is likely to affect the welfare of an Indigenous community, or communities, to which prospective participants belong, researchers shall seek engagement with the relevant community. The conditions under which engagement is required include, but are not limited to:
- research conducted on First Nations, Inuit or Métis lands;
- recruitment criteria that include Indigenous identity as a factor for the entire study or for a subgroup in the study;
- research that seeks input from participants regarding a community’s cultural heritage, artefacts, traditional knowledge or unique characteristics;
- research in which Indigenous identity or membership in an Indigenous community is used as a variable for the purpose of analysis of the research data; and
- interpretation of research results that will refer to Indigenous communities, peoples, language, history or culture.
Researchers must familiarize themselves with the TCPS2 In order to respect the sovereignty and self-determination of Indigenous communities, researchers are expected to engage in meaningful and continuous collaboration that ensures consent at all stages of the research, aligning with the community’s values, customs, and laws.
The TCPS2 is oriented around informing researchers, board members, administration and members of the community on the nature and extent of Community Engagement.