Researchers are calling for funding providers to better recognize Indigenous practices and the involvement of Indigenous community members Institute for Circumpolar Health Research researcher and Yellowknives Dene First Nation member Laurie-Ann Lines explained that more Indigenous people are entering academic research and bringing traditional practices to their work. However, the current grant funding systems are not well suited to traditional knowledge holders. “In different funding calls, sometimes there’s things that make it more difficult to include elders and knowledge holders as principal investigators or co-investigators on research applications,” she explained. Wilfrid Laurier University Professor Heidi Swanson also shared how rigid grant requirements fail to account for the logistical realities of working in the North and communicating research results back to communities in a manner that suits the community’s need. Looking to the future, the researchers called for grant agencies to offer funding without rigid guidelines.
