Finding Quality Indigenous Consultation Sources

The Indigenous Consultation Project will require your research team to consult many types of sources, you will need to evaluate each of them to determine their credibility and applicability to your specific project. This research will take time!

When evaluating a source, pay attention to:

when it was published? (is it current or out of date?)
who wrote and published the source? (what is their authority to write about the topic)
who's views are represented in the source? (it this a corporate viewpoint, or a government position tied to laws and regulations, or an Indigenous perspective representing the people involved/impacted by the engineering project?)
how will you use the information in the source to inform your project, or support a recommendation/decision for your project?

Great starting points when building understanding and gathering relevant perspectives:

First Nation Profiles from the Government of Canada
First Nations and Indigenous Studies: Terminology
UBC: Indigenous Peoples: Language Guidelines
First Voices Website
BC Treaty Commission Frequently Asked Questions and Definitions
Map of First Nations in Canada (PDF)

Once you have collected some background information on the community and topic you are researching, you can gain important insights into Indigenous perspectives on spatial justice, as well as how to evaluate a wide range of sources from the Indigenous Land Based Activism Guide

Where to Begin Your Research: Resources Compiled by Xwi7xwa Library at UBC

Aboriginal Law
Are there legal issues that you need to know more about to inform what consultation would look like with the Indigenous community that you are researching? This guide will help to point you in the right direction
Indigenous Maps and Mapping
Maps can provide unique insights into the communities that you are researching. Not only for relevant geography and topography, but to understand languages spoken, nearby communities, cities and infrastructure. Maps can also provide a view into the past by representing topics such as Residential School locations.
Indigenous Treaties
In order to situate this assignment in the context of the Indigenous community you are studying, you will need to explore Indigenous governance models and land relationships. This guide is a great place to begin this research.
First Nations and Indigenous Studies
At UBC, degree programs are offered in First Nations and Indigenous Studies. This guide provides insight into how to find First Nations and Indigenous perspectives on a wide range of topics, as well as research identified as relevant from many disciplines.
Indigenous Self-Governance & Self-Determination
With a BC focus, this guide is particularly helpful in gaining understanding of governance issues.

Relevant Research about Indigenous Consultation in Canada

This selection of relevant research may inform your understanding of Indigenous consultation in a Canadian engineering context:

Almeida Campana, D. X. (2019). The social licence to operate in the context of mining projects and Indigenous Peoples: Is it sufficient just to comply with the law? [Master's thesis, University of Calgary]. Prism: https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/110579

Black, K.E. (2017). Framework and methodology for improved Indigenous-led decision-making on water and wastewater design and management [Doctoral dissertation, University of Guelph]. the Atrium: https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/handle/10214/11381

Canadian Chamber of Commerce. (2015). Aboriginal edge: How Aboriginal peoples and natural resource businesses are forging a new competitive advantage.

Desjarlais, J. (2022). Indigineering: Engineering through indigenous knowledge and Mino Pimachisowin. Northern Review, 53(53), 137-148. https://doi.org/10.22584/nr53.2022.010

Kwapisz, M., Hughes, B. E., Schell, W. J., Ward, E., & Sybesma, T. (2021). “We’ve always been engineers:” Indigenous student voices on engineering and leadership identities. Education Sciences, 11(11), 675. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11110675

Lambrecht, K. N. (2013). Aboriginal consultation, environmental assessment, and regulatory review in Canada. University of Regina Press.

Moore, M., von der Porten, S., & Castleden, H. (2017). Consultation is not consent: Hydraulic fracturing and water governance on Indigenous lands in Canada: Consultation is not consent. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 4(1), e1180. doi:10.1002/wat2.1180

Muir, B. (2018). Effectiveness of the EIA for the Site C Hydroelectric Dam reconsidered: Nature of Indigenous cultures, rights, and engagement. Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 20(4), 1-41. doi:10.1142/S146433321850014X

Newman, D. G. (2018). Business implications of Aboriginal law. LexisNexis Canada Inc.

Ruta, A., Seniuk Cicek, J., Mante, A., Speare, M., Herrmann, R. (2022). Ten calls to action to integrate Indigenous knowledges and perspectives into the biosystems engineering program at the University of Manitoba. Canadian Biosystems Engineering, 63(1), 9-9.17. https://doi.org/10.7451/CBE.2021.63.9.1

Sadiq, S. (2017). Understanding and implementing Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in the context of Indigenous Peoples in Canada [Master's thesis, University of Manitoba]. MSpace: https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/handle/1993/32246

Seniuk Cicek, J., Steele, A., Gauthier, S., Adobea Mante, A., Wolf, P., Robinson, M., & Mattucci, S. (2021). Indigenizing engineering education in Canada: Critically considered. Teaching in Higher Education, 26(7-8), 1038-1059. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1935847

Sandlos, J., & Keeling, A. (2016). Aboriginal communities, traditional knowledge, and the environmental legacies of extractive development in Canada. The Extractive Industries and Society, 3(2), 278-287. doi:10.1016/j.exis.2015.06.005

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