The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is the federal research funding agency that promotes and supports research and training in the humanities and social sciences.
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) has embedded four objectives into its activities to guide fair and equitable treatment, review, and evaluation of Aboriginal research and ensure appropriate talent support for Aboriginal scholars and students:
- Support research by and with First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples;
- Recognize the scholarly contributions of Aboriginal knowledge systems, including their diverse ontologies, epistemologies, and methodologies;
- Recognize that Aboriginal research requires sensitivity to ethical and other protocols that guide and govern how, why, and by whom research is conducted and knowledge is accessed and shared;
- Ensure that talent support for Aboriginal students and scholars across the social sciences and humanities aims to enhance Aboriginal capacity, no matter their field of study.
Guiding Principles
Guiding principles go further in addressing these objectives:
Recognize Aboriginal research as defined under the Definitions of Terms on SSHRC’s website.
Apply the standards set out in the second edition of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans and, in particular, Chapter 9: Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada.
Respect Aboriginal knowledge systems, including ontologies, epistemologies, and methodologies, as important avenues for exploring the contours of Indigenous knowledge, contributing to interdisciplinary collaboration, and extending the boundaries of knowledge in western disciplines.
Affirm the important holistic and interdisciplinary contributions to human knowledge that are made by Aboriginal knowledge systems.
Support the talent of Aboriginal researchers and students, including through direct and indirect financial support for Aboriginal students.
Promote and facilitate fair and equitable merit review processes and procedures by including Aboriginal researchers and/or experts in Aboriginal research on adjudication committees reviewing Aboriginal research proposals.
Value collaborative and diverse relationships with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples in Canada, and with Indigenous peoples in other parts of the world.
Recognize and respect the diverse protocols and processes appropriate to conducting research in Aboriginal communities with Aboriginal Peoples.
Accommodate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and identities, each with their particular aspirations and occupying distinct cultural, historical, political, and socio-economic space
Encourage the participation of elders and knowledge keepers through recognition of their research contributions and the observance of knowledge specific protocols.
Ensure that all levels of SSHRC programming includes information, guidance, training, and tools that help build awareness and understanding about the importance and value of these principles.
Continue to identify important topics, issues, and questions relevant to Aboriginal research and to which the social sciences and humanities can contribute its knowledge, talent, and expertise through initiatives including Imagining Canada’s Future