The status is Active. Responsive activity exists in both research and teaching institutions through federal research-funding reforms, Indigenous-led research governance, national ethics requirements, Indigenous data-governance standards, and postsecondary-sector commitments to Indigenization and reconciliation. The Canada Research Coordinating Committee has extended the Strengthening Indigenous Research Capacity strategic plan to 2029, including work to support Indigenous research priorities, leadership, self-determination, and capacity building. The Indigenous Leadership Circle in Research monitors and advises on implementation, while TCPS 2 Chapter 9 embeds Indigenous-specific research ethics across research involving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples. Distinctions-based and Indigenous-led frameworks, including ITK’s National Inuit Strategy on Research and FNIGC’s OCAP principles, strengthen Indigenous governance over research and information. Teaching-sector activity is also visible through Universities Canada’s reconciliation and Indigenization survey and Colleges and Institutes Canada’s renewed Indigenous Education Protocol. The evidence supports Active status, but implementation remains uneven, and the sources do not prove that all Indigenous-specific research is Indigenous-led wherever possible.
Supporting Evidence
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Systemic disruptions: decolonizing indigenous research ethics using indigenous knowledges
Type of Evidence: Academic Literature
Summary of Key Findings:This paper identifies the need for reform in Indigenous research ethics and presents a Wholistic Indigenous Research Framework developed through community consultations to center community-specific ethics and values, thereby increasing trust and ensuring ethical governance that is safe and beneficial for Indigenous communities.
Topics & Keywords:Beneficial research, Culturally safe Indigenous ethics, Decolonizing research ethics, Indigenous knowledges, Indigenous research governanceLimitations:The study identifies several limitations including gaps in research ethics protocols, insufficient training for researchers and ethics reviewers, misinterpretation of Indigenous principles, inadequate understanding of self-determination, poor community engagement, absence of anti-colonial frameworks, inconsistent policy interpretation, challenges in decolonizing universities, and the need for culturally based parameters to avoid essentializing Indigeneity while ensuring consultation with appropriate communities.
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Ten calls to action to integrate Indigenous Knowledges and perspectives into the Biosystems Engineering Program at the University of Manitoba
Type of Evidence: Academic Literature
Summary of Key Findings:A scoping review of grey and academic literature identifies five themes for integrating Indigenous Knowledges into engineering education—capacity building, consultation, coalescing perspectives, professional practice preparation, and curriculum development—and proposes 10 Calls to Action for engineering educators, inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action.
Topics & Keywords:capacity building for engineering educators, coalescing Indigenous and engineering perspectives, consultation and collaboration with Indigenous Peoples and communities, developing a new curriculum, preparing students for professional practice with Indigenous PeoplesLimitations:The study is constrained by its reliance on grey literature, a lack of formal evidence on the success of Indigenous initiatives, concentration of initiatives in only three of the five themes, limited broader faculty uptake of Indigenization efforts, and the need for more comprehensive integration of Indigenous perspectives across all identified themes.
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Navigating Colonial Space: A Case Study of an Indigenous Student-Led Decolonial Movement in Canadian Higher Education
Type of Evidence: Academic Literature
Summary of Key Findings:This paper presents a case study of an Indigenous student-led initiative at the University of Winnipeg that resulted in Canada’s first mandatory Indigenous course requirement for all undergraduate students, examining the complexities of decolonial reform in higher education through themes of the university as a colonial space, white Settler dominance, and the role of timing in systemic change.
Topics & Keywords:Border thinking as a praxis of decolonial theory, Decolonial reform in higher education, Indigenous student-led reform initiative, Mandatory Indigenous course requirement, University as colonial spaceLimitations:The study’s impact is constrained by power dynamics that limit Indigenous authority within university structures, the burden placed on Indigenous students to navigate white Settler dominance, and the inherently narrow scope of the Indigenous course requirement as a small step that falls short of addressing broader settler colonial violence and systemic change.
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Using Indigenous-Informed Close-Reading and Research Skills to Unlearn
Type of Evidence: Academic Literature
Summary of Key Findings:Deanna Reder uses Indigenous-informed close-reading and research skills to teach students to question dominant cultural institutions, their methods of inquiry, and assumptions about history and citizenship, with a focus on analyzing knowledge preservation institutions through Indigenous and multiple tribal perspectives on history-keeping.
Topics & Keywords:Decolonization, Indigenous Identity, Indigenous methodologies, Indigenous-Informed Close-Reading and Research Skills, Land AcknowledgmentLimitations:Challenges include varied student responses to Indigenous-informed methodologies, Indigenous students’ potential alienation from public history narratives, the need to culturally enhance standard humanities research methods to incorporate Indigenous and tribal approaches, and the emotional labor involved as students unlearn dominant frameworks.
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