Science + Society
Image: Example of Protocol for each major stage of the inquiry and learning cycle
Within First Nation, Inuit and Metis contexts, knowledge is generally believed to be learned or created in three ways: teachings passed down from Elders (Traditional Knowledge), dreams or visions (Revealed, Spiritual or Ancestral Knowledge) and through observation, experimentation and experience (Empirical Knowledge). First Nation, Inuit and Metis Peoples have always learned empirically through their deep relationship with the land, using a “plan-do-check-act” cycle that has been critical to their survival and evolution, for example always knowing where food, medicines and water are. Although there is no word for research within most, if not all, Indigenous languages, Indigenous Peoples have perfected forms of inquiry and learning that meet their needs and that are framed within their Worldviews and contexts. Within these inquiry processes, data is broadly understood as any information that is shared between people for the purposes of learning. It includes the unique and shared Indigenous Knowledges that frame this information within a particular Worldview. Across First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities, there are many ways of understanding what Indigenous Knowledges
are and how they are created, all of which are informed by an inseparable interconnection within local contexts. As such, with no universal definition, Indigenous Knowledges can only truly be understood at a local level through consideration of the intersectionality within, and between, the various dimensions of ourselves, the land we are on and the people we are with. Despite these differences, Indigenous Knowledges are almost always (if not entirely) moral in nature, meaning they share how to live a good life that respects our place in, and interconnectedness with, all of Creation. To respect personal and collective rights to selfdetermination and self-governance, various Protocols have been developed by First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities to self-govern the collection and use of Indigenous Knowledges and data in Canada— for example the First Nations Principles of OCAP© (Ownership, Control, Access, Possession), the Six Principles of Ethical Metis Research or various guidelines developed by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami*. A shared common purpose of these Protocols is supporting knowledge and data sovereignty while using this information in a way that prioritizes the needs of,
69
