Ottawa must do more to weave Indigenous knowledge into Canada’s research and policy development

Ottawa needs to review research funding criteria through the Tri-council agencies to ensure all projects affecting Indigenous populations have their consent and support, says a House of Commons committee report.

The federal government also needs to examine the representation of Indigenous language holders on funding review panels and work with Indigenous communities to support the appropriate evaluation of applications for research funding that affects Indigenous communities, the report says.

The report, Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge and Science in Canadian Research and Policy Development, is by the 12-member Standing Committee on Science and Research, and was chaired by Valerie Bradford, Liberal MP for Kitchener South-Hespeler, Ontario.

“Rather than integrating Indigenous knowledge and science into Canadian research and policy development, organizations and governments should focus on supporting such concepts as parallel paths, two-eyed seeing, ethical space, braiding and weaving as ways to show how knowledge systems of equal prominence and value can support and strengthen decision-making processes,” some witnesses told the committee.

Some common elements of Indigenous knowledge systems include the involvement of Indigenous knowledge holders, focusing on relationships, respect for the world and those within it, and the use of Indigenous languages, the report says.

Other witnesses cautioned against defining a knowledge system based on membership in a specific cultural or ethnic group, and they emphasized the universal nature of knowledge.

Witnesses provided many examples of Indigenous knowledge and science, both historically and currently in practice, including:

• clam gardens on the Northwest coast developed by the Wei Wai Kum Nation thousands of years ago to cultivate clam populations as part of the Nation’s diet and the local ecosystem.
• halibut hooks among the Haida built to a specific size that allow juveniles and breeders to escape.
• the use of annedda (a species of conifer) to cure scurvy, discovered by the Iroquois in the 16th century, explained to Jacques Cartier in the 17th century, and linked to annedda’s Vitamin C content in the 19th century.
• the Tlicho Government’s co-management of caribou populations, including the Boots on the Ground caribou research program into declining caribou populations.
• the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake’s environmental protection office, which engages in extensive environmental monitoring and research on the impacts of climate change on the environment.
• ranger and guardian programs that embed environmental monitoring, such as measuring ice thickness, monitoring ice travel safety and engaging in Indigenous fire management, as well as promoting cultural practices.
• the promotion of subsistence harvesting to address issues of food security and food sovereignty, provide cultural and spiritual value, and contribute to wildlife health and management practices.

Actions taken by Tri-agency, government departments and other organizations

In a written submission, the Tri-agency granting councils outlined that in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action 65, the granting councils have pursued coordinated action to support Indigenous research and education.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has established the Indigenous Science Division, which “is meant to advance and consider Indigenous knowledge systems at the same time as we progress in looking at Western science.”

Crown-Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada provided examples of how the department engages with Indigenous peoples and knowledge, including:

• the Northern Contaminants Program, which takes a partnership approach “by which government at federal and territorial levels, Indigenous organizations and governments, academia and local communities all have a say in the research, the monitoring and the supporting outreach activities that are undertaken.”
• a co-developed Arctic and Northern Policy Framework, which sets out changes in “the way knowledge is gathered, created and shared” and makes it clear “that Indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge will be equally considered in decision-making.”
• a Northern resource co-management structure, which “intentionally integrates traditional and scientific knowledge by virtue of the regimes created by legislation” and through commitments from modern treaties, including exploring co-management and shared decision-making arrangements.

Canada’s Office of the Chief Science Advisor (OCSA) in collaboration with federal departments, has developed the Indigenous-Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (I-STEM) cluster, a pan-government initiative to, in the words of Chief Science Advisor Mona Nemer, “facilitate the recruitment of Indigenous scientists and scholars, but also to facilitate the understanding of culturally sensitive issues and how to best liaise with the community.”

The OCSA has also appointed an Indigenous scholar from the University of Manitoba as a researcher in residence to help advise the office on how to include consideration of Indigenous knowledge into their policies, such as their approach to open science.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada has a similar position for a scholar in residence to establish greater Indigenous representation and provide advice to senior management.

Michael DeGagné, president and CEO of Indspire, highlighted their model, which funds Indigenous college, university and trade students, and has led to an increased understanding of when and how often Indigenous knowledge is incorporated into post-secondary education programs.

In Quebec, the École d’études autochtones within the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue is a “unique multidisciplinary school” that develops programs and research projects “dictated by the Indigenous partners we have in the jurisdictions or communities, and we conduct them with Indigenous people.”

A written submission to the committee by the Canadian Brain Research Strategy outlined their development of an Indigenous Knowledge Holders Group and Indigenous outreach and engagement activities to bring together Indigenous leaders to contribute to the strategy.

Report makes 15 recommendations to federal government

The report’s 15 recommendations also included that the federal government:

• through the Canada Foundation for Innovation, increase investment in Indigenous research and post-secondary educational institutions.
• explore methods to incorporate Indigenous-led research priorities, such as the First Nations Principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Protection, and the National Inuit Strategy on Research, into federal policies and practices.
• increase Indigenous participation in policy development, such as through increased Indigenous hiring or the development of a comprehensive list of local Indigenous advisors.
• replicate the National Advisory Committee established in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in other ministries to ensure Indigenous communities’ input into Canadian federal policy development.
• review and bolster training requirements for public servants to ensure that all employees receive sufficient training in Indigenous history and practices, and to provide specialized training for those working directly with Indigenous communities.
• through the federal granting councils – the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research – enhance supports for Indigenous students and researchers.
• review experience criteria for positions within the public service and for external funding opportunities to ensure that different forms of cultural experience, such as on-the-land experience, are considered in hiring, promotion and funding decisions when appropriate.
• encourage researchers to build relationships with Indigenous communities prior to identifying specific research projects.
• through the federal granting councils, review funding criteria to ensure that all projects affecting Indigenous communities in Canada have sufficient timelines to ensure the ongoing participation of the affected communities and encourage participation across all stages of the project.
• in collaboration with Indigenous governments, organizations and communities, explore the ways in which Indigenous data sovereignty and collective rights can be better supported in Canadian policy and law.
• explore additional opportunities to support self-determination in Indigenous communities across Canada, such as the development of co-management agreements pertaining to land and resources with Indigenous communities.
• continue to support Indigenous language revitalization, such as federal funding for Indigenous language initiatives and the use of Indigenous place names in federal documents.
• accelerate implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan, and the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and report regularly to ensure that progress is being made without delay.

The Bloc Québécois, in a separate supplementary report, said certain recommendations in the committee’s report raise serious concerns about academic freedom.

The Bloc Québécois said it believes the committee should not recommend that the federal government develop science policies based on grounds of discrimination, such as race, skin color, sex, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status or age.

“The only criteria that should guide the awarding of research grants must be the quality and relevance of the research projects. It is not the scientists or researchers who should be evaluated, but their research proposals,” says the Bloc Québécois report.

Also, the report says, the use by the federal government of its spending power is an intrusion into an area of exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces.

While the government can fund scientific research, it has no power to dictate conditions that influence the educational environment and academic activities, the report says. “Federal funding of scientific research should respect the laws of Quebec, the principle of academic freedom and university autonomy.”

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