Indigenous Knowledge Research

Indigenous Knowledge Research (formerly Traditional Knowledge & Use) is an essential part of a Nation's assertions of rights and interests when communicating with government and industry as well as internally with community members.

Connect with Us

What We Do

We work with elders and knowledge holders to map how Nations use the lands and waters of their territories for hunting and trapping, fishing, plant gathering, camping, and many other important activities. We also do archival research and demonstrate links between contemporary and historical use and occupancy. This data can inform many processes including the establishment of baseline conditions, the characterization of cumulative effects, and the assessment of potential impacts to culture and rights from proposed development or changes in legislation. We tailor our methods to meet community needs, provide results that are timely and effective, and strengthen local voices both within and beyond the community. Firelight’s expertise in spatial and qualitative data collection as well as GIS, ecology, planning, health, and socio-economic research is at the core of this work.

Experience

Firelight’s Indigenous knowledge research team is led by professionally-trained social scientists with extensive experience doing research in Nations with community members in addition to their academic credentials. We strive to use the most up-to-date, best methods and practices in our work so that all of our research is defensible in any setting.

Training

We provide training for Nations that wish to strengthen their techniques in Indigenous Knowledge Research. Common training topics include:

Direct-to-Digital mapping methods;
Interview techniques (including how to develop questions and lead interviews);
Data analysis (coding);
Transcription;
+ more!

Contact

Melanie Jacobs-Douglas - IKR Program Manager

BA Indigenous Studies

Remote - Curve Lake First Nation

Email: melanie.jacobs-douglas@firelight.ca Phone: (249) 387-1021

”Indigenous knowledge and use of land, water and resources are documented so that they can be incorporated into various processes such as environmental assessment, planning, and negotiations. We approach this work in ways that foster community development, support local decision making, and that the research is culturally grounded.”

Steve DeRoy

Indigenous Knowledge Research Team Co-Lead

Example Projects

Wîyôw’tan’kitaskino (Our Land is Rich): (Winter 2015)

Building on past studies by Mikisew and Firelight, this work took an innovative community-based approach to assess effects of a large proposed oil sand mine on Mikisew Cree culture and rights. The work combined oral histories, knowledge circles (focus groups), archival review, and other methods to get beyond use and occupancy mapping and develop more culturally informed baselines and thresholds of acceptable change. The assessment was organized across three main areas: cultural practice, subsistence rights and Mikisew stewardship. Deliverables included a final written report and a video to help reviewers understand the importance of Mikisew connections to water and land through hearing the voices of Mikisew experts and knowledge holders. Primary team members were Craig Candler, Molly Malone, and Ginger Gibson. External peer review was provided by Terre Satterfield of UBC.

As Long as the Rivers Flow: Athabasca River Knowledge, Use and Change (Fall 2010)

The Firelight Group worked with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation to understand how Athabasca River levels and water quality change are affecting the practice of Treaty rights downstream from large oil sands facilities. Based on detailed mapping of river knowledge, use, and existing impacts, the study documents and maps a clear relationship between water quality, water levels, and the ability of First Nations to practice Treaty rights on the lower Athabasca River, in the delta, and on adjacent rivers and streams.

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Asi Edee T’seda Dile: Tłı̨chǫ Nation Traditional Knowledge and Use Study for the Proposed NICO Mine Project (Fall 2012)

The Firelight Group worked with the Tłı̨chǫ to conduct a knowledge and use study in relation to Fortune Minerals Ltd. proposed NICO Mine project. The primary goal of this study was to articulate Tłįchǫ knowledge and use values related to the proposed project area, including: use by and importance of the area to Tłįchǫ citizens (historical, current, and future); existing areas of lost use resulting from impacts by past developments in the area; and how the project is likely to influence Tłįchǫ knowledge and use, including the practice of aboriginal and Treaty rights, within and adjacent to the proposed project footprint.

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Tusaqtavut (What We Heard) Studies for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (2019-2021)

The Firelight Group worked with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) to conduct Inuit knowledge and use studies in relation to Baffinland's Mary River Project, a major iron ore mine on northern Baffin Island. The study mapped Inuit knowledge and use - including Inuit Quajimajatuqangit and Inuit values around the project area - with five communities, Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, Clyde River, Igloolik and Sanirajak. Extensive mapping interviews with these five impacted communities covered the use by and importance of the area to Inuit (historical, current, and future); existing areas of impacted resulting from earlier phases of the project developments in the area; and how the future iterations and expansions of the project were likely to influence Inuit knowledge and use, including Inuit rights, within and adjacent to the proposed project footprint. Subsequent companion studies have built on this initital work and focused on specific resources (like freshwater and fish) and specific impact pathways (like dustfall).