Indigenous Research

“The word itself ‘research’ is probably one of the dirtiest words in the indigenous world’s vocabulary. When mentioned in many indigenous contexts , it stirs up silence, it conjures up bad memories, it raises a smile that is knowing and distrustful. It is so powerful that Indigenous peoples even write poetry about research. The ways in which scientific research is implicated in the worst excesses of colonialism remains a powerful remembered history for many of the world’s colonized peoples.” Linda Tuhiwai Smith, 2012

Contemporary interest in Indigenous Knowledge (IK)  over the past few years has brought new opportunities to explore concepts, contexts and new approaches in policy writing, and research. However, there are challenges in determining best practices and use ethics for IK in research and application. This has lead governments and academic institutions to re-think the way that they conduct research with Indigenous communities, and how they develop best practices for engaging in ethical and culturally appropriate research, while practicing relationality and reciprocity.