VIRTUAL TALKING CIRCLES

Two virtual talking circles are planned to complement the experiences and knowledge shared in survey that have been sent to the governments of all 140 First Nations in Ontario. One talking circle will take place during typical working hours, for those who will be compensated by their employer for participating (e.g. if your job duties include public outreach, policy activities, advocacy or participating in research) and one will take place outside of working hours to allow those who can’t participate at work to have an opportunity to share with us. The talking circle protocol will be determined by the individuals who show up to participate and will provide a way for individuals to share their knowledge and experiences outside of the information shared (in the survey) at the level of each Nation. Additionally, the talking circles invite participation from folks who are disconnected from their Nation or traditional territory, or whose Nation is not necessarily geographically close to a national park but has nonetheless been impacted by national parks policy. Generally, the talking circles are meant to provide a way for us to get a sense of how relationships between Parks Canada and Indigenous Peoples affect individuals and communities in more personal ways than the national survey allows. We also understand that Nations are not monolithic, and are comprised of diverse experiences, opinions and perspectives, and the talking circles provide a way for those with experiences not necessarily reflected in the Nation in general to share their unique understanding. Some questions that might be discussed (based on the priorities of those in attendance) include: How has national parks policy affected you or your family? How does the relationship (or lack thereof) between your Nation and Parks Canada affect you when you visit Parks Canada properties – or do you avoid visiting those locations because of it?

This research is being conducted to fulfill the requirements of my Master’s degree. This means that information you share will be, at minimum, shared with my supervisor and committee, as well as individuals in the Department of Geography and, potentially, the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Victoria. Beyond the thesis, it is possible that the thesis itself will be adapted for academic articles and presentations, as well as for articles in community and popular publications and presentations within communities. The information you share will never be incorporated into additional research projects, uploaded to a publicly accessible database, or provided to other researchers without me reaching out to you again to tell you about that proposal and to provide you with an opportunity to give (or withhold) your consent. In other words, consenting to this project now means that anything you share will only be used in the confines of this project, though the project’s results may be communicated in multiple ways.

These are only ‘default’ options — if you have specific requirements for how your information is used or communicated, I’d love to discuss it and ensure that your needs are met throughout the life of the project.

This research is meant to get a baseline idea of Indigenous Nations’ perspectives on their relationships (past, present and future) with Parks Canada in Ontario. It is meant to proceed in line with Indigenous-informed wholistic research practices, and to prioritize Indigenous worldview over Western ways of knowing, seeing and doing.

It is our goal that this research will benefit communities and Nations by providing a third-party forum for dialogue, centering Indigenous knowledge and experience in the academic literature and discussion, create and/or deepen inter-national and inter-community solidarity and provide a low-effort resource that can be used by your Nation and others when engaging with Parks Canada. In other words, this research is meant to give Indigenous nations another tool with which to assert their sovereignty, seek accountability and have their experiences meaningfully listened to and engaged with.

There is no argument or predicted story that I am trying to gather information to support, rather a broad picture story will come into view once many voices have been heard and acknowledged, and that is the story that this research will tell.

Consent can be withdrawn at any time, up until the publication of results, by contacting me (Aidan) or my supervisor (Deondre). We’ll take time and discuss how you’d like to proceed – whether you want some of your information or perspectives to be included, or none, and how you would like your information destroyed/returned. Even after results are published, please contact us so that we can discuss options, including removing your perspectives and information from presentations or future publications. We will not think any less of you, or treat you any differently, if you decide to withdraw from collaborating on the research, regardless of how long we’ve been working together.

Original data will be returned in the format it was provided in.  Talking circle recordings will be provided to the participants of the talking circles. Data will be returned (e.g. video or audio recording of talking circles, and/or transcriptions, etc.) to the individuals that participated in the talking circles as part of your involvement in the study, and because you are the ones who own your data, contributions and intellectual property and those contributions should remain with you and in your community. If you choose to leave the study at any time, the default setting is that your data will be automatically be returned to you and removed from the project (e.g. video or audio recording, etc.) unless you provide consent for it to remain in the study. For instance, if a participant emails us and asks to be removed from the study, with no other context, they will receive a copy of the audio or video recording of their participation and that data will be removed from our copies (and the other participants’ copies) of the data. In this case, the  sections of the audio or video recording where the participant is speaking would be deleted, etc. Alternatively, if a participant emails us and says that they’re currently feeling a bit overwhelmed by their workload and no longer have the time to keep track of this study, we would respond to ask whether they are comfortable having their already-contributed data remaining in the study. Either way, the participant will receive a copy of any contributions they made, just like the participant in the first scenario. The knowledge, ideas, and experiences you share with us are not ours and not for us to make decisions on – they belong to you and we will ensure that we respect the spirit and intent of your reason for sharing them with us.