When we think of Canada, values of inclusion, fairness, and safety often come to mind. However, its track-record, at least when it comes to Aboriginal peoples, is less than impressive, with educational institutions playing a historical role in this state of affairs. But today, it seems Canadian universities are beginning to take a lead in rebuilding relationships with Aboriginal peoples on sound ethical footing.
In August, Carleton held a two-day pilot session to help prepare for a Summer Institute on Aboriginal Research Ethics in 2015. The plan is to provide both national and international researchers with better ethical approaches and improved standards when conducting research within Aboriginal communities. The founding of this institute is timely and important, because often research with Aboriginal participation has gone awry.
Renewed partnerships with Aboriginal communities and strong ethical considerations need to govern academic research; this is one way through which educational institutions can redress the negative experiences Aboriginal peoples lived in the name of research.
In July 2013, for example, work by Ian Mosby, a post-doctoral fellow in history at the University of Guelph, documented how during the 1940s and the 1950s, with the Government of Canada’s approval, researchers deliberately deprived students in various residential schools of nutrition and health care in the name of science, with the alleged aim being the study of the effectiveness of vitamin supplements on human body.
The legacy of the “Indian” residential school system, which lasted over 100 years, is perhaps the darkest shadow on the espoused Canadian values. It was a government-sanctioned attempt to socially re-engineer a society and to completely wipe out a culture. Indeed, it can even be considered a systematic effort in cultural genocide.
In February 2013, Canadian media outlets quoted research revealing the deaths of over 3,000 Aboriginal children while in residential schools. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard overwhelming testimony from survivors, including accounts of sexual, mental, and physical abuse.
In 2011, the president of the University of Manitoba apologized to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the institution’s role in educating people who operated the Indian residential school system—a first for a Canadian university to apologize for playing a role in the darkest mark in Canadian history.
Research has become a dirty word for Aboriginal communities.
Their experience with research was often harmful, invasive, disrespectful and misguided. So, it is no wonder that Aboriginal communities have tabled their grievances: ownership and control of data, lack of accessibility, sharing or completely denying access to data and to research findings, as well as absence of strong privacy guidelines. Communities want research that will improve their lives and they want universities to play a role in producing research based on a greater understanding of Aboriginal needs.
The recent pilot event led by Carleton has demonstrated that the university is on the right track to understand its role in forging a new chapter in Canada’s relationship with Aboriginal peoples. A relationship that is based on mutual respect, honesty, kindness, and sharing.
Ruston Fellows, who attended the pilot event and who is doing his honours thesis at Carleton, may well agree with me. He said the event offered him “a life-enriching opportunity” to learn alongside both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, with varying backgrounds and who have a passion for ethical research.
Following ethical standards and Indigenous methodologies should be an imperative for all researchers working with Aboriginal communities. It will have a positive impact not only on Aboriginal communities but also on broader Canadian society.
Education is a major part of nation building. Educational institutions will always have a role in what direction the nation is taking. History shows us their complicity in tearing apart Indigenous nations and now it seems they are learning to work with Indigenous nations.
