Asking Permission to Come Ashore: Partnering with Native Communities to Engage in the Scientific Enterprise

Indigenous researchers and non-Indigenous allies who collaborate in health research with Indigenous communities and organizations need cultural humility and the skills necessary to work with these unique and diverse populations.  Historically, the role of Tribal sovereignty has been ignored in the process of research.  Conventional research approaches place most of the authority and decision making in the hands of the funders and the academic researchers.  As Tribes and Native organizations become increasingly sophisticated partners in research, the importance of respecting Tribal sovereignty is critical.  This presentation will use the Healing of the Canoe (HOC) project as a case study of engaging in a Tribal/academic research partnership that is respectful, ethical, and collaborative.  Respect for Tribal sovereignty guided each step of the HOC research process including Tribal Council approval to form the partnership, establishment of an oversight committee to guide the study, joint authorship of the grant proposal, having Tribal members as Co-Investigators, developing the research protocols, implementing the study, analyzing and interpreting the data, and dissemination of study findings. This was all guided by appropriate Data Sharing, Ownership, Use, and Access agreements and memoranda of understanding (MOU).  We will describe each of these steps and the role and importance of Tribal sovereignty in the HOC study.  The Suquamish Tribe and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington formed this research partnership to develop a community-based, culturally-grounded curriculum for youth to teach/support life skills grounded in cultural knowledge, connecting youth to their community