Negotiating Research Relationships with Inuit Communities: a Guide for Researchers.

Abstract

Northern researchers are ever-aware of the growing expectations on them to ensure that northern communities are involved in, and benefit from, research. But what are researchers really being asked to do? How can community members participate meaningfully in research? What level of community involvement is appropriate in a given project? What are the best ways to communicate with local people? How can researchers initiate and maintain a meaningful relationship with community members? This guide is an attempt to address these questions, and provide practical advice to assist researchers who plan to work with, or in the vicinity of, Canadian Inuit communities in the regions of Nunatsiavut (Labrador), Nunavik (northern Québec), Nunavut, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories (NWT) (Map 1).This guide presents some core “universal” themes in communication and relationship-building that apply to natural, physical, biological, and social scientists working in the Canadian North. A range of information is provided to help researchers tailor ideas to their specific project objectives, whether they are just beginning or they wish to improve ongoing community- researcher relationships. This guide was written as a follow-up, and complement, to the 1998 joint Nunavut Research Institute/Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami booklet entitled Negotiating Research Relationships: A Guide for Communities