Building bridges between scientific and Indigenous knowledge

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More than 20 years ago, I participated in the founding of the Indigenous Peoples’ Research and Knowledge Network (DIALOG). Its mandate is to develop an ethical, constructive and sustainable dialogue between the academic world and the Indigenous world.

This year the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) awarded us the Connection 2021 Award on behalf of the network’s management team, recognizing the importance of DIALOG’s mission and its major contribution to reconciliation between Québec/Canadian society and Indigenous societies.

As a forum for sharing, meeting and learning, DIALOG connects Indigenous and non-Indigenous academic researchers, knowledge keepers, leaders, Indigenous intellectuals and students who are engaged in updating and renewing scientific and Indigenous research practices and knowledge.

The secret of DIALOG is that we did not try to bring Indigenous people to the university. We went to see them, in their homes.

Renewing relationships

DIALOG is characterized by its broad understanding of the driving role of co-construction in advancing and mobilizing knowledge. Its mode of operation is centred on openness to multiple forms of knowledge, and its existence is rooted in long-term work and international outreach.

DIALOG’s mission has always been to renew the relationship between the university and the Indigenous world. It puts justice at the heart of its actions, as well as a desire to contribute to improving the living conditions of Indigenous people and the recognition of their rights, including the right to self-determination. The relationship between the university and the Indigenous people has for too long been one-sided, related exclusively to knowledge, and bringing about few benefits to Indigenous communities.

By building this space of reconciliation in which Indigenous voices, languages and knowledge can be expressed in their own way, DIALOG has recognized the existence and foundations of Indigenous knowledge systems and documented the contribution of Indigenous cultures to the common heritage of humanity.

Fieldwork

I am fortunate to be part of the first generation of Québec anthropologists who wanted, from very early on, not only to learn about Indigenous realities but also to get to know these people by working closely with them. I began working with Indigenous communities some 50 years ago, so I “grew up” working with them.

Being present in Indigenous communities and territories was an essential part of our training. I’m not talking about visits of a week or two, but years of sharing community life, staying with families that welcomed us and learning about the multiple dimensions of local cultures. I will have spent almost seven years living in Indigenous communities.

The main difference between the time I began working as an anthropologist and today lies in the voice of Indigenous people, themselves. The words of Indigenous politicians have been relayed by the media for many years. However, today, other words are being heard, from young people, women and Elders — the words of citizens, carried by people of all ages and all genders who care about identity, education, culture.

Today, we rightly insist on the importance of researchers favouring the co-production of knowledge. Research is done with Indigenous people, not on Indigenous people.

Respect, equity and sharing

The values of respect, equity, sharing, reciprocity and trust animate the network members, whoever they may be, according to their respective trajectories and their specific contributions to knowledge. Together, these researchers explore diverse paths of knowledge and draw on Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies to provide new responses to the community challenges their populations are facing.

DIALOG also focuses on the potential for innovation and social transformation within the organizations that work toward the well-being of Indigenous people, whether living on-reserve, off-reserve or in urban areas, where the Indigenous population is growing.

Building bridges

From this perspective, the knowledge co-construction process, which is the source of the bridges that need to be built between scientific and Indigenous knowledge, must be a collective work rooted in relationships, not a predetermined direction dictated by an impersonal, distant, dominant science.

The first characteristic of co-construction in social research is to recognize the essential role proximity plays in uniting people to work towards new ways of understanding and decolonization.

The second characteristic is to consider skills and expertise, which are often complementary.

Finally, there can be no co-construction of knowledge without the participation of everyone in the regeneration of cultural and pedagogical legacies, ways of thinking, learning and transmitting, and the social markers that underlie collective life. Indigenous value systems and actions have been badly shaken by colonialism, yet their guiding principles and very essence have transcended time and generations.

I am now a kokom who wishes to learn more about humans in general and Indigenous cultures in particular. I feel privileged to be able to pursue research projects that are as interesting as ever, to work every day with people who inspire me and to continue to spend a great deal of time in Indigenous communities, which is essential to my life as a woman and an anthropologist.

Carole Lévesque, Professeure titulaire, INRS, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)

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