Funding for studies to look at Aboriginal perspective

More than a million dollars has been awarded to 23 researchers at the University of Saskatchewan who are studying various Aboriginal issues.

The $1.2 million from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada will go towards research on issues such as the impact of oil sands, coping with environmental change, establishing a sense of place, incorporating Indigenous knowledge and the legal duty to consult.

SSHRC is a federal agency that promotes and supports post secondary-based research and training in the humanities and social sciences.

Law professor Dwight Newman has been awarded $29,000 to examine how, and whether, international law is applied to the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples in the wake of the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

His research may help shape the ongoing development of the duty to consult in Canadian law and the way that governments respond to that, “as well as helping Aboriginal communities within Canada to have additional tools for advocacy on that, the real duties owing from governments in the area of consultation,” said Newman.

Newman was initially interested in this research because the area seemed like a new development in Aboriginal rights that didn't have much work done on it and had the potential of opening new ways to discuss issues.

“If it continues to develop in good ways, it’s a doctrine that can inform early discussions between governments and Aboriginal communities and get discussions about issues happening without always relying on seeking a court decision first,” said Newman.

Education and environment researcher M.J. Barrett is another U of S professor who received funding. She was awarded $75,000 to develop effective ways of incorporating Aboriginal knowledges and perspectives into resource management such as environmental assessment, parks management, and co-management processes.

“So often what happens is that when Aboriginal people come to the table and offer insights, wisdom, perspectives, they get filtered through a Western world view, a Western lens, and they’re misunderstood,” she said.

In the “best case” scenario, she said, “they are completely ignored or discounted because they just don’t make sense to those people who are sitting at the table who are trained and brought up and steeped in a Western understanding of the world.

“What my research does is tries to create ... a shared, ethical space where it’s not just Aboriginal people who are adopting and engaging Western science ways of knowing, but it’s Western-trained folks who are becoming much more open to Indigenous knowledge systems.”

Barrett said her project is inclusive and welcomes input and participation from people living in northern Saskatchewan. Anyone who is interested may contact her at the University of Saskatchewan.