A good start is to think of the topic as Indigenous priorities, rather than issues. This helps orient the research. Ideally, you would draw on literature written by Indigenous authors and researchers (which may or may not include people with degrees) and by Indigenous organizations. Each of the province’s Indigenous groups, for example, have written extensively on things that are important to them. As you get started with your research, you should review Memorial’s research policies for guiding principles related to Indigenous research, ethics for research involving human participants, animal care and, intellectual property, among others. You can find more online.

Undergraduate students may fall under their faculty member’s (supervisor or advisor) engagement process. If your project is for a class/course and involves speaking with an Indigenous person, and you agree to not publish or use the results outside the class/course, then you can use a consent form in lieu of obtaining evidence of community engagement. Please see the Procedure for Obtaining Evidence of Community Engagement for more on that process.

If your project is different from your supervisor/advisor’s, and you intend to publish or otherwise use project results outside the classroom or course purposes, you will need to have your own Indigenous engagement documentation in addition to other ethics approvals. 

If you are a graduate student and if you are working on a faculty member’s project, you may fall under their engagement documentation. Otherwise, you will need to obtain Indigenous engagement documentation as per the Research Involving Indigenous Groups policy. If you or your faculty advisor are unsure how to proceed, email IndigenousResearch@mun.ca.

This is a very important question. Each research project ought to be documented through a different agreement (or contract) between the researcher (you and/or your advisor) and the involved Indigenous group(s), which should be on file with the Research Initiatives & Services (RIS) office. This contract will outline who owns, controls and has access to the data. As a graduate student it is very important that you know about this contract and you know that you have access to the data, even if you do not own or control it, so you can submit your thesis. If you or your advisor have questions, contact RIS.

Memorial University’s Research Impacting Indigenous Groups (RIIG) policy came into effect in July 2020. As of that date, all new applications for grants, all new contracts, all grant renewals (if applicable) and all new grant accounts, which are considered for Indigenous research, required evidence of consent to proceed.

As of March 6, 2025, the revised Research Involving Indigenous Groups (RIIG) policy requires Evidence of Community Engagement (ECE) at the concept development phase of research. Documentation of this evidence will be kept on file. In most cases, ECE documentation is required prior to submission of an application through Memorial’s Researcher Portal.

In some cases, an application may be submitted prior to obtaining ECE documentation. If a Memorial researcher has engaged with the applicable Indigenous group(s) but cannot obtain documentation prior to a deadline or there is another time-sensitive issue affecting the application, the researcher can submit a form to request submission pending ECE. This form is available online; see the Procedure for Obtaining ECE for more on this process.

There are a variety of ways to document community engagement. These include:

• A letter showing the project has successfully passed through the applicable Indigenous government’s or organization’s formal ethics process. There are some ethics processes that are Indigenous-led that are not based in a government, such as via Friendship Centres for diverse urban Indigenous populations. These permissions are valid.
• A letter on letterhead stating that the government is aware of the application and supports it going forward at this stage. This can include letters of support. Some governments will not put researchers through their formal ethics process until a grant is acquired, so for these cases a pre-ethics process letter is fine. Also, some governments do not have formal ethics processes, so a letter on letterhead saying they are aware of the research and its terms and that it may proceed is fine in these cases.
• A signature from an Indigenous governing body employee acting in their official capacity as co-applicant, collaborator, or partner on a grant. Their signature can be part of the normal sign-off processes and/or in letter of support.
• A contract or formal request for research that originates from an Indigenous governing body.
• Signing of a formal research agreement (e.g. Indigenous Research Agreement template); contact Memorial's Research Initiatives and Services (RIS) team for more on research agreements.
• Where there is no discernable Indigenous Group to engage, the Committee for Engaging in Research Involving Indigenous Groups (CERIIG) can assist by reviewing the proposed research through the lens of respectful Indigenous research practices.
• For more, see the Procedure for Obtaining ECE.

You can contact the Office of the Vice-President (Research) via IndigenousResearch@mun.ca for anything related to the Research Involving Indigenous Groups policy. The office is here to help so feel free to connect any time. Your feedback may also inform future questions which may be posted here.