Increasing Cultural Competence in Support of Indigenous-Led Evaluation: A Necessary Step toward Indigenous-Led Evaluation

Abstract

Abstract: This paper builds on a keynote paper presented at the 2018 Canadian Evaluation Society annual conference by Nan Wehipeihana, an Indigenous (Māori) evaluator from Aotearoa New Zealand. Nan defines Indigenous evaluation as evaluation that is led by Indigenous peoples; has clear benefits for Indigenous peoples; has Indigenous people comprising most of the evaluation team; is responsive to tribal and community contexts; and is guided and underpinned by Indigenous principles, practices, and knowledge. She argues for Indigenous led as a key criterion for Indigenous evaluation, with no assumed or automatic role for non-Indigenous peoples unless by invitation. She outlines a range of tactics to support the development of Indigenous evaluators and Indigenous evaluation and presents a model for non-Indigenous evaluators to assess their practice and explore how power is shared or not shared in evaluation with Indigenous peoples, as a necessary precursor to increasing control of evaluation by Indigenous peoples.