Chapter 16 - Indigenous community engagement at Scotty Creek, Northwest Territories, Canada: Experiences and lessons learned

Abstract

In Canada, large numbers of researchers and students travel to the country's northern regions each year to conduct field studies in proximity to Indigenous communities. Historically, these communities have had little say in why and how such studies are conducted, and little or no knowledge of their outcome. In recent years, growing pressures to engage with resident communities have changed the expectations on how field studies are conducted. The Scotty Creek Research Station in the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, is an inter-disciplinary scientific observatory and a center of community engagement, where researchers and Indigenous community members gather as partners in learning to share and co-develop knowledge. Here, we examine the experience of this station from its inception in 1999 when its focus was solely on research, to its present function as a growing regional, multi-lateral partnership. We pay particular attention to lessons learned, challenges, and actionable information to help guide researchers, students, university administrators, government agents, and others with an interest in conducting or supporting field studies in proximity to Indigenous communities; and to help inform the future scientific research and policy making aimed at co-developing solutions to critical challenges facing us all.