“It’s essential that we take Indigenous knowledge seriously, and that we do so with respect and care, following ethical protocols.”
—Ora Marek-Martinez, CBIKS PI and Southwest Hub Co-Lead
Co-Laboratory Themes & Leads
Each Co-Laboratory addresses a distinct theme within the Indigenous Research Circle. They learn alongside Hubs to build research portfolios in their specific thematic area. This work includes creating guidance documents, facilitating cross-institutional and cross-cultural dialogues, and producing impactful scholarship that advances knowledge in each Co-Laboratory's thematic area.
Ethics Co-Lab
Lead: Alison Wylie, University of British Columbia
Topics addressed: Developing CBIKS team shared values; understanding ethics considerations as integral to all aspects of CBIKS; cultivating an “ethical culture” of research; ethics and ethical obligations as researchers and institutions; organizational tools and models for ethics.
A Community Agreement: Our Interconnected Values and Sacred Ways of Being
Relationality and Research Development
Lead: Tsim Schneider, University of California Santa Cruz
Topics addressed: Establishing and sustaining trusting relationships between scientists and Indigenous communities; meaningful consultation; articulating place-based research methodologies and community-driven research agendas; collaborative research design; articulating ethics throughout research process; community IRBs; clarifying expected research outcomes and ‘benefits’; determining protocols of refusal.
Fieldwork Practices & Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
Lead: Kisha Supernant, University of Alberta
Topics addressed: Fieldwork and lab protocols, methods, and practices; gathering and storing “samples”; sharing and care of existing TEK; process of developing new TEK in rapidly changing climate/ecosystems; braiding TEK and WS data in analysis, conclusion, and findings.
Data Sovereignty
Lead: Jane Anderson, New York University with support from Local Contexts
Topics addressed: Appropriate use/access of knowledge, materials, samples; developing Indigenous data management plans and guidance tools; produce Traditional Knowledge Labels and Biocultural Notices; protocols for return of knowledge currently held in museums, archives, libraries.
Local Contexts: Restorying Sovereignty with Plant Relatives [Comic]
Storywork and Knowledge Mobilization
Lead: Sally Pirie, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Topics addressed: Methods Indigenous communities and Western scientists use to mobilize research results (e.g. storytelling, arts-based methods, peer reviewed pubs, conferences); determining authorship and publication.
Formal & Informal Science Education
Lead: Noah Romero, Hampshire College
Topics addressed: Documenting Indigenous pedagogies/methods for teaching about use of braided Indigenous and mainstream science; planning and implementing Indigenous science curriculum based on Hub research; supporting development of K-12 camps and afterschool programs; learning bundles for higher education curriculum; teacher training course on Indigenous science in the classroom.
Connecting Past and Present: Supporting Indigenous Food Sovereignty through Archaeological Education
Training Scientists
Lead: TBD
Topics addressed: Understanding needs, challenges in professional development and training scientists in IK/WS methodologies; training scientists to appropriately adapt generalizable IK/WS methodologies to other places and disciplines.
Higher Education Policy
Lead: Ora Marek-Martinez, Northern Arizona University
Topics addressed: Understanding the needs and barriers in end-user uptake of braided IK/WS knowledge and in ethical adaptation/use of IK/WS methodologies in higher education institutional environments; conduct needs assessment; develop tools, and policy briefs for academic leadership.
