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Dr Niall McElwee
Mi’kmaq &
the OCAP Research Model
Dr. Niall McElwee
Senior Editor,
Dissertation Doctor’s
Clinic
Dr Niall McElwee
A Quote that Sparked our Interest
“Perhaps the most
intriguing and
controversial of
all issues dealing
with Canada’s
native people are
questions of
origin” (Douglas
and McIntyre,
1988: 19).
Dr Niall McElwee
The Alogonquins
The Alogonquins (which includes the M’ikmaq peoples) were the first native peoples to come into contact with the white man. First Nations Peoples comprise some 1% of the New Brunswick population and 4.8% of the Canadian population. Today there are some 15,000 Mi’kmaq, divided into 27 Bands, living in the three Maritime Provinces and in Quebec (with about 600 living in Newfoundland).
A Cursed Peoples?
“Indians have been cursed above all
other peoples in history. Indians have
anthropologists”
– (Vine Deloria, Jr. in Custer Died for
your Sins)
Dr Niall McElwee
Dr Niall McElwee
A Relational Research Perspective
This study is
relational
because we are
interested
primarily in
relationships
within and
between children,
youth their
families and their
environment
Dr Niall McElwee
The Research Team has Responsibilities…
We are conscious of
the fact that both
populations of
Mi’kmaq in Canada
and Travellers in
Ireland have had
researchers and
academics come in
‘from the outside’
Dr Niall McElwee
Genuine Involvement
The Australian Indigenous
research guidelines state that at
every stage, research with and
about Indigenous peoples must be
founded on a process of
meaningful engagement and
reciprocity between the researcher
and the Indigenous peoples.
Dr Niall McElwee
Proof One’s Material
It is now accepted
that one should
‘proof’ material
on marginalized
populations with
representatives
from marginalized
populations -
prior to
publication.
Dr Niall McElwee
Our Research: The Canadians
Over an eight
week period in
July and August
2005, the
research team
interviewed 25
persons living on,
or connected to, a
Reserve in New
Brunswick called
Elsipogtog
Dr Niall McElwee
The OCAP Research Model
There is an increasing amount of material around ethical research such as the OCAP model (ownership, control, access and possession) which has come about due to a perception that marginalised communities have been over-researched by ‘outsiders’. Many within the First Nations communities feel that they have been “researched to death” (Schnarch, 2004: 3)
Dr Niall McElwee
A Lost Culture
There were, to take
but one example,
approximately 30,000
aboriginal Canadian
cultural objects on
display at a recent
exhibition at the
Museum of
Ethnology in Berlin.
Dr Niall McElwee
The Duty to do no Harm
Our study adhered to the six
ethical principles discussed by
Parahoo (1997) namely,
beneficence (duty to do good);
nonmaleficence (duty to do no
harm); fidelity; justice; veracity and
confidentiality.
Dr Niall McElwee
Permission to Carry out the Research
Social Work Consultant Elsipogtog First Nation Health and Wellness
Chief of the M’ikmaq band in Elsipogtog
Travellers Regional Health Research Unit, Ireland
Health Executive Agency, Midlands Region, Ireland
International Committee for Local and Regional Development, Ireland/US
Dr Niall McElwee
Ownership in Research
The idea that a
community owns
information
collectively as an
individual owns
their personal
information. It is
distinct from
stewardship.
Issues of Control in Research
Dr Niall McElwee
That…First Nations communities are within
their rights in seeking to control all aspects
of research and information management
processes which impact on them….
Dr Niall McElwee
Issues of Access in Research
The right of First Nations Communities and their representatives to manage and make decisions regarding access to their collective information…achieved through standardised formal protocals…
Dr Niall McElwee
Issues of Possession in
Research
Possession (of
data) is a
mechanism by
which
ownership can
be asserted and
protected
Dr Niall McElwee
To Sum up the OCAP Thinking
The issue lies around who is fundamentally in control, what research is done and is not done, who does this research, how it is approached and who knows about it.
