Research Week: [Re]thinking Differently: The Importance of Relationships in Indigenous Research

Thursday, Nov. 27, 2-3 p.m.

Online

Dr. Paul Banahene Adjei, interim associate vice-president (Indigenous research), is proud to host this panel discussion with members of the Memorial University community as part of Research Week.

He’ll be joined by

Catharyn Andersen, vice-president (Indigenous);
Kelly Butler, interim director, Indigenous engagement and reconciliation, Office of Indigenous Affairs
Kristen Pittman, manager, Indigenous affairs, Grenfell Campus; and
Dr. Erica Hurley, assistant professor, Faculty of Nursing.

Everyone is invited. To receive the log-in instructions, please email IndigenousResearch@mun.ca.

Cree scholar Shawn Wilson argues that relationality and relational accountability are what distinguished Indigenous research from conventional research in the academy. For Indigenous peoples, knowledge is not there to be discovered by an individual but something that is developed over the years through ongoing relations with kins and kindred — the land, the living, the dead, the unborn and cosmo world. Within the context, researchers are accountable not only to research participants, but also to those whom research participants have developed relations while generating knowledge (data). How do we deal with the messy relations between academic procedure, freedom and rights of researchers (on one hand) and institutional and researchers’ commitments and responsibilities to Indigenous communities in Indigenous research? This panel discussion focuses on the issue of genuine relationality and relational accountability in research. We will end our discussion with suggestions about how research can be de/anti-colonized.

Return to Research Week 2025 events.

Presented by Memorial University

Event Listing 2025-11-27 14:00:00 2025-11-27 15:00:00 America/St_Johns Research Week: [Re]thinking Differently: The Importance of Relationships in Indigenous Research Dr. Paul Banahene Adjei, interim associate vice-president (Indigenous research), is proud to host this panel discussion with members of the Memorial University community as part of Research Week. He’ll be joined by Catharyn Andersen, vice-president (Indigenous); Kelly Butler, interim director, Indigenous engagement and reconciliation, Office of Indigenous Affairs Kristen Pittman, manager, Indigenous affairs, Grenfell Campus; and Dr. Erica Hurley, assistant professor, Faculty of Nursing. Everyone is invited. To receive the log-in instructions, please email IndigenousResearch@mun.ca. Cree scholar Shawn Wilson argues that relationality and relational accountability are what distinguished Indigenous research from conventional research in the academy. For Indigenous peoples, knowledge is not there to be discovered by an individual but something that is developed over the years through ongoing relations with kins and kindred — the land, the living, the dead, the unborn and cosmo world. Within the context, researchers are accountable not only to research participants, but also to those whom research participants have developed relations while generating knowledge (data). How do we deal with the messy relations between academic procedure, freedom and rights of researchers (on one hand) and institutional and researchers’ commitments and responsibilities to Indigenous communities in Indigenous research? This panel discussion focuses on the issue of genuine relationality and relational accountability in research. We will end our discussion with suggestions about how research can be de/anti-colonized. Return to Research Week 2025 events. Online Memorial University