Laying the Groundwork: A Practical Guide for Ethical Research with Indigenous Communities

Literature review of various ethical research methods and frameworks when working with Indigenous peoples:
• Tri-Council Policy Statement 2 (Chapter 9) with Aboriginal Peoples
• USAI (Utility, Self-Voicing, Access, Inter-relationality)
• Inuit-Specific Perspectives (two organizations developed framework)
• OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access and Possession)
Part of larger scholarly work called Walking the Prevention Circle: Re-Searching Community Capacity Building (Riddell et al., 2017)

This article outlines four ethical guidelines for conducting research. They discuss principles of ethical research and ethical tensions that can arise, offering recommendations for those who are planning to conduct research with Indigenous Peoples. The four ethical frameworks examined in this article include the Tri-Council Policy, USAI (Utility, Self-Voicing, Access, Inter-relationality), Inuit-Specific Perspectives (two organizations developed framework) and OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access and Possession).

Self-location: identifying positionality as researchers in this project and to build towards meaningful and respectful relationships for Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers

Communities need to co-own or own their data when projects are finished and must have autonomy over results
All research must seek benefit and support communities

Literature review that provides overview of various research methods that communities, organizations and the like have engaged in or createdUsing the four main frameworks selected for this study, a collated principles chart was created:

 

Table 1. Key Principles for Conducting Research with Different Groups of Indigenous Peoples in Canada Research benefits and supports community research efforts and builds local capacity.
  X X X X Access by members of the community to knowledge collected about them.
  X X   X Community ownership over process, data, and results.
  X X   X Community control over research: "clear understanding and agreement on the control of data and research results, their storage and release" (ITK & NRI, 2007, p. 9; see also ITK, 2010).
      X   Research is relevant to community needs and priorities and increases poistive outcomes.
  X X X X Opportunities for co-creation: sharing of decision making, data management, and sharing of knowledge (community engagement).
  X X X X Honouring traditional knowledge and knowledge holders, and engaging existing knowledge and knowledge keepers.
  X   X   Opportunities for self-voicing: "research, knowledge, and practice [that] are authored by communities, which are fully recognized as knowledge holders and knowledge creators." (OFFIC, 2012, p. 9)
    X     Respectful relationships (respect for cultural norms, knowledge systems, and the sharing of knowledge).
  X X X   Culturally appropriate research methods.
  X X     Power balance (collective decision making as a complement to individual consent); respect for Indigenous governing authorities.
  X   X X Inter-relationality: research must be historically situated, geo-politically positioned, relational, and explicit about the perspective from which knowledge is generated." (OFFIC, 2012, p. 10)
    X     Ethical treatment of animals in the research process.
  X   X  

Table 1: Key Principles for Conducting Research with Different Groups of Indigenous Peoples in Canada (Riddell et al., 2017) pg. 7

Recommendations put forth by researchers:
• Culturally competency by employing Indigenous advisors for funding bodies at the national and provincial level
• Tri-Council in collaboration with Indigenous people and communities develop initial consent form before research begins and adapts throughout the project
• Indigenous community members and people should be represented on REB, ethics boards and grant review committees
• Funding bodies such as the Tri-Council should work with Indigenous communities to develop workshops for institution and community partnerships in research to better inform ethics, protocol and cultural competency

"Writing this article has given us the opportunity to analyze the points of intersection between diverse ethical frameworks. Our intentions in writing this article were to support other researchers and decision makers in their efforts to apply ethical principles to their everyday decisions in research processes with Indigenous communities" (p. 15-16)

Indigenous Policy
Indigenous research ethics