Indigenous Research Ethics and Cultural Studies

On November 22, 2019, the Centre for Research in Cultural Studies (CRiCS) hosted "Indigenous Research Ethics and Cultural Studies" as its final fall 2019 session in the Professional Development Series. Facilitated by Dr. Chantal Fiola, this session was an opportunity for faculty, students, and staff to learn more about Dr. Fiola's research and how Indigenous research ethics can be applicable to their own research projects and practices. She raised questions such as: What is Indigenous research? What are the benefits and challenges of pan-Indigenous versus nation-specific approaches? How are ethics inextricable from methodology? Her presentation stressed the importance of situating oneself within one's research practices and working directly with Indigenous communities on Indigenous related research projects, concluding with a few notes for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers.

Dr. Chantal Fiola is Michif (Red River Métis) with family from St. Laurent and Ste. Geneviève, MB. She is the author of Rekindling the Sacred Fire: Métis Ancestry and Anishinaabe Spirituality, which won her the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer and the Beatrice Mosionior Aboriginal Writer of the Year Award (2016). She has a Ph.D. in Indigenous Studies (Trent University), an M.A. in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto), and a B.A. (Hons) in Women’s and Gender Studies (University of Manitoba). She currently works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Inner City Studies at UWinnipeg. She is Two-Spirit, Midewiwin, and a Sundancer.

(Image - Dr. Chantal Fiola, Photo credit: Lauren Bosc)