Indigenous evaluation

Abstract

Background: Indigenous evaluation incorporates Indigenous ways of knowing and draws upon cultural paradigms (Indigenous Evaluation Toolkit, 2022). Indigenous evaluation literature is limited in both quantity and quality outcomes resulting in a lack of clarity. This scoping review was conducted to identify guiding principles, Indigenous evaluation methodologies, and explore key concepts and gaps within the literature. Methods: This scoping review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist and Arskey and O’Malley’s Scoping Review Framework. It included peer-reviewed articles and grey literature. Articles were identified through electronic database searching and reference lists using keywords. This review only included data written in English, available in full text, included keywords and identified the author and title of the publication. Articles that were not specific to Indigenous peoples or outlined Indigenous methodologies that were not related to evaluation were excluded. Results: Out of 348 articles, 94 met the inclusion criteria for this review. The literature revealed 13 guiding principles (collaboration, respect, relationships, self-determination, flexibility, trust, truth, reciprocity, power, time, sovereignty, responsibility/accountability, and relevance) and 15 Indigenous evaluation methodologies (culturally responsive, community-based, participatory, storytelling, empowerment, decolonizing, strength-based, self-reflection/location, mixed methods, talking circles, tribal critical theory, two-eyed seeing, the 4 R’s, trauma-informed approach, and ethical space). Conclusion: Key findings in this review demonstrate the need for further development of a culturally responsive Indigenous evaluation approach and for future research to outline how to put Indigenous evaluation methodologies and guiding principles into practice. Filling this gap will make a significant contribution to the field of evaluation research for Indigenous peoples, communities, and evaluators.