Research Guides: Research with Indigenous Communities: Research Involving Indigenous Peoples

Research Involving Indigenous Peoples

When involving Indigenous Peoples in research, researchers need to consider a variety of factors beyond federal and state human subjects protections regulations, University of New Hampshire (UNH) policy, and UNH Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research requirements, such as informed consent procedures, research data sovereignty, and tribal IRB approval. Researchers should review relevant resources before designing a study where Indigenous Peoples are involved as participants and determine early whether tribal IRB approval will be needed in addition to UNH IRB approval.

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Resource Highlights

Guiding Principles for Engaging in Research with Native American Communities from the University of New Mexico Center for Rural and Community Behavioral Health & Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center. "This document is intended for use by researchers, both non-Native and Native, working with Native American peoples and their respective communities...[It is intended] to: 1) provide written guidance when encountering challenges in research relationships and processes; 2) elicit thoughtful discussion among researchers, and; 3) increase awareness of our responsibilities as investigators not only to the individuals participating in research but also to the communities."

Science Insider: New NSF rule requires Tribal approval for research affecting their interests. News article describing recent changes to the NSF grant application from that requires applicants to consider and document if and how their proposed research may impact Tribal resources or interests.

Indigenous-led Initiatives & Resources

Ethics review boards should respect Indigenous scholars (Nature)
An Indigenous scholar's perspective on institutional requirements for human subjects protections approval when working with Indigenous People as research participants.
Guidelines for Research Involving Aboriginal/Indigenous Peoples
Guidelines for research involving the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples of Canada. They are intended to inform researchers and human subjects protections review boards as they design and review research to be conducted in an Aboriginal/Indigenous Peoples context or with Aboriginal/Indigenous Peoples. (York University, Ontario, Canada)
Pack up the parachute: why global north–south collaborations need to change (Nature)
An article featuring Global South researchers discussing how to develop, form, and engage in equitable research collaborations.

General Resources

Ethical research engagement with Indigenous communities (Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering)
An article describing ethically-engaged research practices with Indigenous Peoples.
How to Conduct Research in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities
This guide from the Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention provides a brief outline of basic items needed to conduct respectful and transparent research in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities and resources.
Reciprocal Research: A Guidebook to Centering Community in Partnerships with Indigenous Nations
From the Michigan State University Native American Institute, "This guide should be used as part of a larger effort to support planning for, and reflecting on research partnerships. It can be used individually, in a community of scholars, or within a graduate level course. The Reciprocal Research guide provides a narrow cross section of potential scenarios and thought-provoking activities to support researchers in developing and maintaining robust partnerships."
Research with Indigenous Peoples
Guidance from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Institutional Review Board for UAF researchers under their purview on planning for and conducting research with Indigenous People.
Resources for Collaborative Research with Indigenous Communities
A webpage of resources for Washington State University researchers to facilitate relations with Federally and State recognized Tribes and for effective collaborative research activities projects with tribal partners.
Steps for Conducting Research and Evaluation in Native Communities
From the Native American Center for Excellence Substance Abuse Prevention, this guide reviews the recommendations for researchers engaging with tribes in federally funded research. The report describes common lessons and challenges, strategies for measuring program effectiveness, and outlines steps for conducting research with Indigenous Peoples.
Tribal Populations
This guidance from the Oregon State University Human Research Protection Program is to assist OSU researchers planning to conduct research with Tribal populations.