Implementing Indigenous Research Ethics at the Interface
Indigenous Research Ethics: Claiming Research Sovereignty Beyond Deficit and the Colonial Legacy
ISBN: 978-1-78769-390-6, eISBN: 978-1-78769-389-0
Publication date: 19 October 2020
Abstract
Indigenous peoples have had a long and fraught relationship with the notion of ‘research’. Too often we have been the subjects of studies about us, examined as the novel ‘other’ and denied agency in a relationship which is about the powerful ‘making sense’ of a people who are powerless. As subjects of other peoples’ ‘science’, we have been harmed, exploited and traumatised.
In this new century, however, Indigenous scholars and researchers are taking greater control of the science system and research processes. As Māori, we are reclaiming our intellectual traditions, revitalising our ancient teachings and retrieving our ancient knowledges, knowledges held in our karakia (ritual chants), mōteatea (laments) and pūrākau (stories). Part of the reclamation process includes the establishment of our own research centres, entities guided by Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) and our values, ethics and practices. In reclaiming the research space, we seek to drive our own developmental goals and agenda, seeking the answers to questions that are important to us as Indigenous peoples and that can further enhance our way of life.
In this chapter, the author discusses a set of Indigenous research ethics which guide our work as an iwi-owned research organisation. This chapter canvasses the origins of these ethics, how we use them to guide our work as health researchers and the challenges we face as a tribally owned research centre in giving effect to these Indigenous research ethics at the interface between Te Ao Māori and what remains an essentially ‘mainstream’, Western research funding environment.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge the wisdom and guidance provided by the iwi of Ngāti Hauiti and its leaders whose vision resulted in the creation of Aotearoa’s first iwi-owned health research centre. The reflections presented here, while the author’s own, are based upon the authors’ experiences of giving effect to the tikanga of Ngāti Hauiti in a Māori health research context. He mihi mahana ki a koutou e te whānau o Ngāti Hauiti mō āu koutou tautoko, mō āu koutou awhina hoki.
Citation
Boulton, A. (2020), "Implementing Indigenous Research Ethics at the Interface", George, L., Tauri, J. and MacDonald, L.T.A.o.T. (Ed.) Indigenous Research Ethics: Claiming Research Sovereignty Beyond Deficit and the Colonial Legacy (Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity, Vol. 6), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 163-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-601820200000006011
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020 Emerald Publishing Limited