The Ethics of Research Involving Indigenous Peoples

From the Authors' Executive Summary, Page 7-8:

"It is a positive development that the research institutes, which include the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Council, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (hereafter the three granting agencies'), are engaging in their own process of critical reflection and are attempting to revise research guidelines and policies to reflect a greater sensitivity to Indigenous knowledge and the rights of Indigenous communities. This literature review is intended to inform the process of review and revision of ethical policies for research involving Aboriginal peoples by synthesizing relevant literature and applying a critical gaze to the three granting agencies' current policy statement. At the outset, we state emphatically that this review does not represent the views of all Indigenous Peoples in Canada. The content and orientation of this review represents the collective ideas and directions of focus of the authors and the review is intended to contribute a small piece toward the collective expression of Indigenous research ethics in Canada. Working at ground 'zero' in Aboriginal health research has provided the Indigenous Peoples' Health Research Centre (IPHRC) staff with insights and understandings that are not readily available to academics who are often removed, physically, culturally, socioeconomically, and politically from the participants in their research, particularly when the participants are Aboriginal. The lead author of the IPHRC team is a Cree speaker who is steeped in his culture and lives within his historical community. The co-lead and one research assistant are both urban Aboriginal individuals with strong ties to their communities of origin and who have in depth knowledge of their cultural foundations. The non-Aboriginal participants on the review team have a wealth of experience locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally with Indigenous Peoples as well as in the areas of research and Indigenous research ethics. 

In the last few years, Canada's research granting agencies have endeavored to revise the Tri Council Policy Statement regarding the ethical conduct of research involving humans. In the spring of 2004, the Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics (PRE) called for input in the form of literature reviews from Aboriginal research organizations across the country. The Indigenous Peoples' Health Research Centre (IPHRC) in Saskatchewan responded to the call and undertook to summarize the current state of the art in Aboriginal health research ethics. As an Indigenous, community-based health research organization with a mandate to build health research capacity in the Aboriginal community in Saskatchewan, the collective experience and knowledge of the IPHRC review team combine to provide a unique perspective of the current debate on Aboriginal research ethics. " (7-8).