Working with Indigenous Communities: Companion Resource Guide

Created by Concordia's Office of Community Engagement, this guide for researchers, academics, and students features key principles and values to help in building and deepening their relationships with Indigenous individuals, organizations, and communities.

A partnership of universities and community organizations dedicated to developing multiple visions of Indigenous peoples tomorrow in order to better understand where we need to go today. Through its four main components –workshops, residencies, symposia, and archive– IIF encourages and enable artists, academics, youth and elders to imagine how our communities will look in the future.

Recent projects include the Decolonial Toolbox, The bilingual toolbox includes a self-educational pathway that allows users to progressively enrich their knowledge as they learn more about Indigenous realities, and UMITEMIEU, an initiative that introduces Indigenous youth to digital arts and photogrammetry and allows them to connect with objects from the McCord Museum collections.

This six-year collaborative Quebec research project is based on needs identified by Indigenous-led organizations and supports Indigenous-led youth programs. See also the Concordia news story announcing the project.

An Initiative to improve Indigenous students' Postsecondary experiences by sharing stories and perspectives. Team members used a participatory approach, building capacity among emerging Indigenous scholars and collaborating with filmmakers, schools and educational organizations in Kahnawake, Nunavik and Tiohtiá:ke (Montreal).

Dr. Heather Igloliorte discusses the role of reciprocal ethics of care and of Indigenous-led art curation within this research project. See also the Inspiring Change podcast episode where she discusses inclusive exhibition making.

From shore to sky tells the story of a solar energy project in the Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek-Gull Bary First Nation.

A Canada-wide collaborative investigation facilitated by the Institute for Investigative Journalism which focuses on water systems in Indigenous communities. The initiative involves 75 students from 10 universities and colleges nationwide as well as nearly two dozen journalists from six news outlets.

Founded in 2015, Mikana - which means path in the Anishinaabe language - is a Tiohti:áke/Montreal-based Indigenous non-profit organization whose mission is to work for social change by educating different audiences on the realities and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples. The initiative is the result of a desire to generate concrete action against racism and discrimination against Indigenous Peoples, and contributes to breaking down the barriers between Indigenous and non-Indigenous worlds.

Originally founded in 2008 as the Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network, the organization has since undergone an enormous transformation. Since its incorporation in 2019 as the Montreal Indigenous Community NETWORK, it has been a key actor in supporting the ecosystem of individuals and groups committed to improving the quality of life of the Inuit, First Nations, and Metis communities living in the Greater Montreal, particularly through the distribution of funds to community organizations working directly with urban Indigenous communities. The NETWORK facilitates co-creation spaces and develops solutions with other community organizations and groups who service the urban Indigenous communities. The NETWORK also transfers knowledge through advocacy, awareness-building and education by collaborating with identified partners, developing educational tools and providing workshops.

An Indigenous-led collaboration covering the news of Okanagan Valley and Vancouver Island., IndigiNews aims to “provide journalism that serves and is driven by what local communities say they want [and to]... experiment with new business models that contribute to the long-term sustainability of independent Indigenous news in Canada.” The team members deliberately spell out the intentions behind their work, with aims such as relational journalism, building bridges, impact over clicks and radical transparency.

Tim Fox (Natoyi’sokasiim), member of the Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy), shares his lived experience of facilitating the Calgary Foundation to commit to generational change and to actions such shifting decision-making power and explicitly prioritizing Indigenous ways of knowing. See also his recent short article about this process.

Founded in 2012 by four women (three Indigenous one settler) from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, this social movement “rapidly grew into an inclusive, continent-wide network of urban and rural Indigenous working hand in hand with non-Indigenous allies to build a movement for Indigenous rights and the protection of land, water, and sky.” Follow the Quebec branch of Idle no more on Facebook.

Roots of collaboration grown at battle for old growth could strengthen fight against colonization.

The Circle contributes to positive change between Philanthropy and Indigenous communities by creating spaces of learning, innovation, relationship-building, co-creation, and activation. The Circle works alongside Indigenous-led organizations, Indigenous informed organizations, organizations with Indigenous beneficiaries.

Research centre created out of an academic project that identified the barriers faced by Northern Indigenous communities. It offers training programming for Elders, youth and Indigenous land users, and supports community-led efforts that reflect local needs and priorities.

An iniative from Cegep de l’Outaouais to encourage other post-secondary institutions to increase cultural safety, as well as decolonize and indigenize.

Founded in 2014 by Alexandre Bacon, an Innu from Mashteuiatsh, this organization strives towards collaborations between Indigenous and settler peoples,and aims to promote Indigenous cultures, arts and practices . Follow them on facebook.

Lorisia MacLeod (James Smith Cree Nation) describes the process behind her development, in partnership with the staff of the NorQuest Indigenous Student Centre, of citation templates for Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers. These citation templates have been adopted/linked to by twenty-five institutions across Canada and the United States.

This Concordia Library guide offers greater context on Indigenous Data Sovereignty and informed approaches to citing Indigenous Knowledges. It aims to provide both theoretical and practical resources on appropriate citation guidelines and situates the notion of expansive citation as a form of relational practice within scholarship, by and for Indigenous practitioners and epistemic partners.