How can you know that the Indigenous Traditional Knowledges you’ve incorporated into your course are accurate and respectful?

Creation and curation life cycle

1. Locate and identify Indigenous Peoples in the area of your project that ensure they have community permission to engage with you.
2. Respect the traditional rights of Indigenous Peoples as Rights and Title holder and not just stakeholders; they have rights to resources and a right to protect their Knowledges.
3. Share the final product. The Indigenous Peoples you are working with will want to see the final project, know what happens after the project is completed.
4. Understand Indigenous Traditional Knowledges before endeavouring to collect or use them. Indigenous Traditional Knowledges have many characteristics that our unique to their cultures that are vastly different from mainstream Canadian culture. These characteristics will affect how you can acquire and use the Knowledges. The most respectful approach is to build Indigenous Knowledge Holders into the project at all stages.
5. Build on the strengths of Indigenous Traditional Knowledges; Indigenous Traditional Knowledges are intensely local and have endured since time immemorial.
6. Include Indigenous Traditional Knowledges and Peoples from the very beginning.
7. Obtain Indigenous Traditional Knowledges on the basis of trust, respect, equity, and sovereignty.

Creating materials specific to different audiences and platforms

We have discussed the importance of collaboration and wording, of having an in depth understanding of the cultures you are including in your course, and that different cultures may present differently in your virtual or physical classrooms. How, then, do we create and curate materials that are specific to different audiences and platforms?

Answer: By understanding and following protocols for respectfully and appropriately using Indigenous Knowledges, that’s how.

Assessing Indigenous Traditional Knowledges curated from web-based and print sources

Assessing Indigenous Traditional Knowledges curated from web-based and print sources is a crucial process that requires ethical consideration and critical reflection. Here is how one does this:

• Engage with Indigenous communities by consulting with them and Knowledge Holders directly to ensure that Indigenous perspectives are accurately represented and validated.
• Evaluate the quality of web-based sources by considering factors such as the credibility of the website, authorship, and if it is peer reviewed.
• Check back with the community after gathering Indigenous Traditional Knowledges to get feedback and ensure the accuracy of content.
• Ensure respectful representation of Indigenous Traditional Knowledges by making sure it is accurate and respectful to avoid misappropriation.

Moving forward—applying what you know

With all of this in mind, we encourage you to think before you appropriate by asking yourself the following:

• Did I incorporate authentic Indigenous resources?
• Does my project truly require the use of Indigenous Traditional Knowledges?
• Is my work based on accurate knowledge and representations of Indigenous Peoples and their culture?
  Am I sure my work does not reinforce stereotypes about Indigenous Peoples?
• Am I sure that my work does not show disrespect for the beliefs and worldviews of the Indigenous Peoples whose cultural Traditional Knowledges were shared?
• Did I engage with Indigenous Peoples or the Nation from the beginning of the project?