Indigenous Engagement
The Ocean Frontier Institute launches Indigenous Engagement Guide and training for ocean researchers
OFI Indigenous Engagement Initiatives seek to foster respectful engagement and the creation of meaningful research partnerships between our research community and Indigenous groups and communities.
The Ocean Frontier Institute engages with Indigenous governments and organizations (indigenous groups) to build strong linkages. OFI is committed to engaging stakeholders and Indigenous peoples in ocean management solutions and building support for ocean research and its applications. OFI is taking action to actively incorporate Indigenous interests and rights into OFI's ongoing vision for North Atlantic and Arctic gateways research and environmental stewardship.
Since 2018, the Ocean Frontier Institute has worked with its Committee on Indigenous (Inuit, Métis, and First Nation) Engagement to develop an Indigenous Engagement Guide for ocean researchers. The Guide was collaboratively developed with Indigenous communities, organizations, and governments and OFI researchers in order to facilitate efforts toward respectful and meaningful engagement with Indigenous groups, and provides an important first step in the active incorporation of Indigenous interests and rights into the Ocean Frontier Institute’s ongoing vision for North Atlantic research and environmental stewardship.
The Guide is now nested in the UNESCO International Ocean Best Practices Inventory which has allowed it to be globally accessed.
Learn about the guide hereIn addition to the Guide, the Ocean Frontier Institute launched an on-line Indigenous cultural awareness training program in July 2021 for Dalhousie University and University of Prince Edward Island researchers and staff, with access for Memorial University to follow soon after. The Path: Your Journey Through Indigenous Canada (© NVision Insight Group Inc.) program provides learning opportunities that delve into First Nations, Inuit and Métis histories and stories across Canada, partially meeting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action for Canadians to receive ‘cultural competency training.’
Learn about cultural awareness trainingThe foundation of Two-Eyed Seeing rests on principles of collaboration, co-learning, and the co-production of knowledge.
Based on Indigenous experience, the following guide is a process-based and suggests a way forward to achieve true two-eyed seeing.
Dalhousie University operates in the unceded territories of the Mi’kmaw, Wolastoqey, and Peskotomuhkati Peoples. These sovereign nations hold inherent rights as the original peoples of these lands, and we each carry collective obligations under the Peace and Friendship Treaties. Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and Treaty rights in Canada.
We acknowledge that the lands on which Memorial University’s campuses are situated are in the traditional territories of diverse Indigenous groups, and we acknowledge with respect the diverse histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu, and Inuit of this province.
