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Exploring relational learning

  • psen66
  • Sep 9
  • 3 min read

Updated: Sep 10


Learning in relation with people, plants and the land: digging for bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) with Bert William, Elder and Senior Archaeological Advisor with Bonaparte First Nation. Photo credit: Sarah Dickson-Hoyle
Learning in relation with people, plants and the land: digging for bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) with Bert William, Elder and Senior Archaeological Advisor with Bonaparte First Nation. Photo credit: Sarah Dickson-Hoyle

What is 'relational learning', and how do we apply 'right way' principles and practices for environmental research with Indigenous peoples?


On 3 September, the BNHRC brought together around 50 researchers and end-users to learn and collectively reflect on ethical principles and practices for collaborative research with Indigenous peoples.


Co-facilitated by Kataya (Taya) Barrett (Jagun Alliance and BNHRC Indigenous Coordinator) and visiting researcher Dr. Sarah Dickson-Hoyle (University of British Columbia Center for Wildfire Coexistence), and chaired by A/Prof Jessica Weir (Western Sydney University), the seminar was framed around four key ethical principles for Indigenous research:


Learning in relation with people, plants and the land: digging for bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) with Bert William, Elder and Senior Archaeological Advisor with Bonaparte First Nation. Photo credit: Sarah Dickson-Hoyle
Learning in relation with people, plants and the land: digging for bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) with Bert William, Elder and Senior Archaeological Advisor with Bonaparte First Nation. Photo credit: Sarah Dickson-Hoyle

  • Relational accountability (upholding relationships, and your obligations to these, as central to research practice);

  • Respect (for Indigenous ways of knowing and doing, and for community strengths and authority);

  • Relevance (of research questions, methodologies and outputs); and

  • Reciprocity (equitable sharing of resources, reframing how we understand and work towards ‘impact’).  



Drawing on lessons from their own work and research with communities in both Australia and Canada, Taya and Sarah invited participants to critically reflect on key questions related to each of these principles.


These included: How do you know if it is the right time, and that you have the right relationships, to initiate collaborative research? How can we adapt our methodologies to be responsive to community priorities and protocols? What change are we working towards, and how does that inform our approach to research?


These reflexive practices, and processes of examining the personal motivations, relational obligations, and disciplinary assumptions that shape research, were highlighted as central to approaching community-engaged research in a good way.


L-R: A/Prof Jessica Weir, Kataya Barrett, Dr Sarah Dickson-Hoyle (Image: P Sen/WSU)
L-R: A/Prof Jessica Weir, Kataya Barrett, Dr Sarah Dickson-Hoyle (Image: P Sen/WSU)

“What are the motivations of the community; research insights, access to resources, influencing policy makers?” asked Taya. “And how does that relate to your motivations?”


However, as Taya emphasized, relational learning and research can only truly occur in relationship with people, and on Country.  



 


Secwépemc Elder Ron Ignace’s concept of ‘walking on two legs’ offers distinct teachings for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples engaging in collaborative research. (Image: Marianne Ignace)
Secwépemc Elder Ron Ignace’s concept of ‘walking on two legs’ offers distinct teachings for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples engaging in collaborative research. (Image: Marianne Ignace)

References for further reading

  • Dickson-Hoyle, S., Ignace, R.E., Ignace, M.B, Hagerman, S.M. Daniels, L.D. & Copes-Gerbitz, K. (2022).“Walking on Two Legs: A Pathway of Indigenous Restoration and Reconciliation in Fire-Adapted Landscapes.” Restoration Ecology, 30(4): 1–9 https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13566

  • Ignace, M.B., Ignace, R.E. & Turner, N.J. (2016). ‘Re tmicw te skukwstéls es tuwitenstels: Secwépemc traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom now and in the future’. Pages 432–467. In: Ignace, M.B., Turner, N.J. & Peacock, S.L. (eds). Secwépemc people and plants: research papers in Shuswap ethnobotany. Society of Ethnobiology, Boston.

  • Kirkness, V. and Barnhardt, R. (1991). ‘First Nations and higher education: the four R’s – respect, relevance, reciprocity and responsibility’. Journal of American Indian Education, 30(3): 1-15. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24397980

  • Tsosie et al. (2022). ‘The Six Rs of Indigenous Research’. Journal of American Indian Higher Education, 33(4). [available online at https://tribalcollegejournal.org/the-six-rs-of-indigenous-research/ ]

  • Tuck, E. (2009). ‘Suspending damage: a letter to communities’. Harvard Educational Review, 79(3): 409-427 https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.3.n0016675661t3n15

  • Tuhiwai-Smith, L. (2021). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Bloomsbury Academic and Professional.

 
 
 

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