Indigenous Engagement and Partnership Development
About the Course
Indigenous Engagement and Partnership Development is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that teaches the fundamentals of how to respectfully collaborate with Indigenous communities, nations, and organizations.
Learners will receive comprehensive instruction about historical relationships, Indigenous governance and ethical relationship building.
This course is open to all learners aiming to develop core competencies and practical skills for effective engagement within Indigenous community contexts. Centering Indigenous research methodologies, treaty-based approaches, and decolonial perspectives, this course ensures learners have a deeper understanding of partnership-building and its importance to the community.
Presented by:
Co-funders
| Faculty of Native Studies | |
| Canadian Mountain Network now operating as Braiding Knowledges Canada |
 |
| Jerome Slavik Family Fund |
Skills Taught
- Relationship building
- Partnership principles
- Community engagement
- Indigenous data and ethics
- Indigenous research methods
Course Format
- Delivery: Online
- Level: Beginner
- Commitment: 12 hours
This course consists of eleven modules, each with a series of:
- video lectures,
- a set of course notes,
- recommended readings.
Academic Leads
Florence Glanfield
Vice-Provost (Indigenous Programming & Research)
Provost & Vice-President Academic
Florence Glanfield is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. In her role as vice-provost (Indigenous Programming and Research), Florence led the development, consultation and approval of the Indigenous Strategic Plan in support of the objectives articulated in For the Public Good, to build and nurture positive relationships with Indigenous communities, support the work of faculties and departments to Indigenize curricula across programs and foster a supportive environment for Indigenous faculty, staff and students.
Florence comes to the vice-provost position from her previous role as professor and chair of the Department of Secondary Education in the Faculty of Education, where her primary areas of scholarship include mathematics teacher education, Aboriginal curriculum perspectives and relational research methodologies. She is an affiliated faculty member with the Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development.
Adam Gaudry
Vice-Dean and Associate Professor
Faculty of Native Studies
Adam Gaudry serves as Vice-Dean and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. He is a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation. His family is Red River Metis from the Lake-of-the-Woods in Northwestern Ontario, having migrated there from Southern Manitoba.
Adam received his PhD from the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria and completed his MA in Sociology and BAH in Political Studies from Queen’s University. He is a past Henry Roe Cloud Fellow at Yale University. He has published extensively on Métis history and governance, Indigenous research methodologies, and indigenization policy in Canadian higher education.
Course Outline
Module 1 - Introduction and Framework for Course
Contributors: Florence Glanfield and Adam Gaudry
This module introduces the course, its structure and themes. Adam Gaudry and Florence Glanfield define what it means to do Indigenous engagement, collaborate with Indigenous communities and build ethical partnerships. It encourages participants to locate themselves within the research and partnership development process, recognizing that building good relationships encompasses diverse activities and requires active learning, meaningful connection, and a commitment to just relationships.
Module 2 - Learning by and Through the Land (kâsiskâciwan sipiy River Walk)
Contributors: Dwayne Donald
This module invites learners to understand their connection to place and the deep and enduring relationship Indigenous peoples have with their territories. Centring amiskwaciwâskahikan, Dwayne Donald takes us through the kâsiskâciwan sipiy valley and shares the centrality of place to Indigenous worldviews. This module encourages learners to understand where they live and work, and appreciate the long history of Indigenous life in that place.
Module 3 - Core Indigenous Partnership Principles
Contributors: Nancy Van Styvendale and Stan Tu'Inukuafe
This module introduces foundational concepts of community-based research and ethical partnership development for all stages of a project or research endeavor. Distinguishing between community-based, -engaged, and -driven approaches, Nancy Van Styvendale helps us to challenge colonial norms and to centre Indigenous knowledges when working with Indigenous communities.
Module 4 - Visiting and Relationship Building: Community-Engaged Frameworks for Building Partnership
Contributors: Paul L. Gareau and Joe Wiebe
This module highlights the importance of visiting in Indigenous cultures, recognizing it as a fundamental way of being, knowing, and building kinship. Paul Gareau and Joe Wiebe examine broadly applicable visiting protocols and apply these principles to help learners foster respectful relationships with Indigenous community partners. Visiting is a methodology of ethical relationality that informs successful partnership by prioritizing Indigenous self-determination.
Module 5 - Indigenous Engagement, Science and Technology
Contributors: Kim TallBear and Chris Andersen
This module examines the evolution of scientific research practices, highlighting the broader historical trends of research related to Indigenous communities. Kim TallBear emphasizes the growing importance of Indigenous control over research, the contributions of Indigenous people to science and the importance of research for community governance.
Module 6 - In Good Relations: Respectful Distinctions-based Indigenous Re-search Partnerships in Health, Natural Sciences, and Engineering
Contributors: Tibetha Kemble, Susan Chatwood, Wayne Clark, Sophie Roher and Elders Francois Paulette, Denise McDonald and Rassi Nashalik
This module examines Indigenous research partnerships in Canadian health, natural sciences and engineering fields. Learners will investigate the crucial role of Indigenous knowledges and their divergence from Western research paradigms. The module emphasizes ethical engagement through principles like the 4 Rs (Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, and Responsibility) and highlights wise practices currently implemented in various Indigenous communities, including those drawn from OCAP© and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Module 7 - Research and Partnership Development in an Unequal World: Overcoming Barriers for Successful Collaboration
Contributors: Paulina Johnson, Murray Humphries and Gùdia Mary Jane Johnson
This module analyzes the history of unequal interactions between Indigenous peoples and settlers, focusing on the dynamics of race, power, privilege, and dominance in research and knowledge production. Paulina Johnson and Murray Humphries underscore the responsibility of non-Indigenous researchers and professionals to be accountable to Indigenous partners by understanding community practices and protocols rooted in culture, tradition, ceremony, and kinship.
Module 8 - Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Good Partnerships Produce Good Data
Contributors: Chris Andersen and Elaine Alexie
This module challenges the notion of data neutrality, exploring how data actively constructs our social reality. Chris Andersen examines the political nature of data, recognizing the influence of power dynamics on its creation, collection, analysis, and communication. This module enables learners to understand that data are dynamic processes embedded within complex institutional, political, and social contexts and that working with communities to develop better data can help build better relationships and outcomes.
Module 9 - Indigenous Research Partnerships and Empowering Communities
Contributors: Kisha Supernant
This module explores how ethical research partnerships can empower Indigenous communities by focusing on strength-based practices for developing such collaborations. Kisha Supernant examines best practices and engages with a real-life example showcasing the work of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology and its research supports for Indigenous communities.
Module 10 - How to Build a Reciprocal Partnership: So Where do I Start?
Contributors: Florence Glanfield and Chelsea Benally
This module emphasizes the diversity of Indigenous communities and nations, stressing the importance of honoring each one's unique characteristics. Florence Glanfield and Chelsea Benally share the significance of ceremony and cultural protocol, outreach, and connection within Indigenous communities and nations.
Module 11 - Conclusion: Next Steps and Putting this into Practice
Contributors: Adam Gaudry
In this capstone module, Adam Gaudry synthesizes knowledge from the previous eleven modules, solidifying learners' understanding of major themes and guiding them to apply the skills to their specific contexts and professional endeavours, enabling confident and ethical engagement with Indigenous partners.