Indigenous Research Day brings the community together share and discuss

On Nov. 7, MIRI invites the community to learn more about ongoing Indigenous-focused research McMaster

This year the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute is hosting an Indigenous Research Day on Nov. 7. Indigenous Research Day highlights the Indigenous-focused research done at McMaster University and will be held at CIBC Hall.

This is the second time that the conference is being hosted at McMaster University. Savage Bear, director of McMaster Indigenous Research Institute, assistant professor in McMaster’s Indigenous studies department and the national director for Walls to Bridges, shared that last year the conference had sold out completely. This year, they’ve moved to a bigger venue to welcome the McMaster community event.

Indigenous Research Day will be composed of 12 presenters, where they will present their research. The day is structures to include presentations, and then interactive components where guests can conversate about the knowledge being presented. Bear shared that their keynote speaker for the day is Bonnie Freeman, associate professor at the school of social work and the current Indigenous Scholar in Community at MIRI.

This year Elya Porter, Research Coordinator at MIRI, is the Lead organizer for Indigenous Research Day. Indigenous Health Learning Lodge, Indigenous Studies Department, Indigenous Student Services, The FEAST Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research, University Advancement and Indigenous Health Movement supported her throughout to promote the day.

“It's been a privilege to work collaboratively with Indigenous Student Services, Indigenous Studies Department, University Advancement, The FEAST Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research, Indigenous Health Learning Lodge, and Indigenous Health Movement to plan Indigenous Research Day, and promote and celebrate the Indigenous Research being done by our faculty, students, staff and community at McMaster,” said Porter in a statement to the Silhouette.

Bear shared how engaging it has been to have the support of the many organizations at McMaster.

“The Indigenous community, internal and external at McMaster, is growing and incredibly strong. . .It's great to have so many voices at the table. It's very important that we have a diversity of voices to consult with to make sure that we're covering all our bases,” said Bear.

IHM’S Faculty Outreach Coordinators Ethan Michalenko and Eric Han shared that they served as support and provided input as members of IHM. Michalenko shared that their experience working with MIRI was very valuable as IHM plans their own annual conference as well.

Michalenko shared that at this year’s event Indigenous students throughout campus are invited to present their research regardless of discipline. He is excited to learn about the body of work done by Indigenous students at McMaster.

“I think, though, one thing for me that particularly stood out is this year is they're having Indigenous presenters that aren't necessarily doing research in Indigenous methodologies and topics. I think it’s very cool to see kind of the outreach of all the Indigenous people in campus that are involved in research and kind of what their work is involved in,” said Michalenko.

Both Michalenko and Han expressed the importance of Indigenous Research Day at McMaster. Michalenko shared that it’s important to share Indigenous knowledge and ethics, so we can integrate this information within McMaster, as well as the larger community.

Han agreed, adding that the research day allows the community to connect and build off each other’s ideas. It emphasizes collective learning and understanding, which he shared is heavily valued by Indigenous researchers.

“It's very important to have these research days for the McMaster community, specifically when it's focused on Indigenous research. Because there's a lot of systemic incompatibilities with Western and Indigenous knowledge and ethics, surrounding all these topics. So very important to teach the community about their perspective and how they can integrate their work in alongside the Indigenous communities,” said Michalenko.

As someone who has seen the project from start to end, Porter is excited to hear about the work being done by members of McMaster.

“I'm looking forward to listening and learning about the Indigenous research being done across campus,” said Porter.

Bear shared that her favourite aspect is the work of students. She believes that students serve as a fresh set of eyes, that allow for a new perspectives and knowledge to prevail. Moreover, she shared that often despite being very bright, as students they are still building their presentation skills. It inspired the workshop being hosted by MIRI prior to the conference to teach skills that are needed for presenting at conferences.

If you are interested in the upcoming event please register on their Eventbrite.