About 

The INRS-UQAT Joint Research Unit (JRU) in Indigenous Studies stands at the crossroads of scientific and Indigenous knowledge. Through innovative action, it aims to transform the relational dynamics and modes of interaction between the academic and Indigenous spheres in order to highlight the contributions of Indigenous peoples to humanity’s cultural heritage and the future of societies. The JRU is dedicated to democratizing knowledge and science. It is characterized by its broad vision of the driving role that reciprocity and sharing play in democratizing knowledge, as well as its structure based on openness to multiple forms of knowledge, its inclusive and mobilizing mission, and its outstanding partnerships in the field of social and community innovation. 

Areas of expertise 

By creating an intellectual, inter-institutional, and multidisciplinary space where Indigenous voices and knowledge can be expressed and heard, the INRS-UQAT Joint Research Unit in Indigenous Studies focuses on the contribution of Indigenous people to education, university research, and science. It also promotes interactive, ethical, and socially relevant research practices with First Nations and Inuit actors, as well as with Indigenous authorities working in Quebec and its various regions. By supporting their initiatives for decolonization; social reconstruction; and cultural, identity, and political affirmation, the INRS-UQAT JRU builds bridges between advanced training; scientific production; and social, territorial, and environmental challenges in relation to the realities and issues that mark Indigenous experiences.   

Mission

Transform science through the contributions of Indigenous knowledge systems and create social ecosystems for collaborative learning that support the training of Indigenous graduate students in the social sciences and humanities.

Goal 

The aim of this JRU is to further strengthen Abitibi-Témiscamingue as a centre of excellence in research on Indigenous issues in areas such as education, territory, self-determination, revitalization of Indigenous languages, modern urban life, and others by fostering a co-construction of knowledge that will benefit all of Quebec. 

Scientific program

Inspired by its mission and values, and drawing on the experiences, ongoing research projects, and concerns of faculty involved in the INRS/UQAT Joint Research Unit in Indigenous Studies, a first draft of the scientific program was prepared in 2023. The program is still being discussed, validated, and modified to align with the Indigenous communities and organizations that are partners of the JRU’s members. Currently, this scientific program is structured around three components: an ethical and epistemological position, five common spaces of understanding, and the interfaces and tools that enable the common position to be deployed in those spaces of understanding.

Members and researchers  

Hugo Asselin (UQAT)

  • Indigenous knowledge 
  • Small communities 
  • Northern development 
  • Forest ecology 
  • Territorial governance 

Hugo Asselin’s page 

Suzy Basile (UQAT)

  • Indigenous women (pregnancy, childbirth, midwives, obstetric violence, forced sterilization) 
  • Indigenous peoples (First Nations and Inuit) 
  • Governance and territory 
  • Northern development 
  • Environmental issues and consultation 
  • Ethics of research with Indigenous peoples 
  • Cultural anthropology 

Suzy Basile’s page 

Sébastien Brodeur-Girard (UQAT)

  • Rights of Indigenous peoples 
  • Indigenous legal traditions 
  • Canadian constitutional law 
  • Governance 
  • Public policy and Indigenous peoples 
  • Histories of Indigenous peoples 
  • History of colonialism 

Sébastien Brodeur-Girard’s page 

Joanie Caron (UQAT)

  • Mining in an Indigenous context 
  • Energy development in an Indigenous context 
  • Indigenous employability 
  • Natural resource management 
  • Sustainable/responsible development 
  • Environmental economics 
  • Human resources management 
  • Cultural diversity 
  • Organizational psychology 
  • Certification 
  • Finance 

Joanie Caron’s page 

Mireille De La Sablonnière-Griffin (INRS)

  • Children and youth services and Indigenous peoples 
  • Critical and transformative approach to statistics 
  • Indigenous self-determination and governance of child and family services 
  • Well-being and protection of Indigenous children and youth 
  • Disclosure of adverse experiences (sexual assault, maltreatment) 
  • Collaborative research 
  • Program assessment 
  • Early childhood services and Indigenous languages 

Mireille De La Sablonnière-Griffin’s page

Marie-Ève Drouin-Gagné (INRS)

  • Decolonization of research, academic institutions, and urban spaces; Indigenous higher education, Indigenous pedagogies, and pedagogies through the land 
  • Urban Indigenous experiences, colonialist cities, and Indigenous cities 
  • Colonial and de-colonial processes in the Americas; de-colonial approaches 
  • Indigenous methodologies and epistemologies, participatory and collaborative methodologies, narrative cartographies 

Marie-Ève Drouin-Gagné’s page 

Benoit Éthier (UQAT)

  • Indigenous studies 
  • Territorial issues 
  • Indigenous knowledge 
  • Customary rights 

Benoit Éthier’s page 

Francis Lévesque (UQAT)

  • Social anthropology and ethnohistory 
  • Inuit, First Nations, and Métis 
  • Human-animal relations (dogs in Inuit communities) 
  • Inuit post-secondary education 
  • Impacts of mining development on northern communities 
  • Traditional Inuit knowledge (Inuit qaujimajatuqangit) 

Francis Lévesque’s page 

Ioana Radu (UQAT)

  • Decoloniality 
  • Research epistemology, methodology, and ethics 
  • Ethnography and oral history 
  • Wellness and healing 
  • Indigenous health and cultural security 
  • Territorial governance 
  • Food security and sovereignty 

Ioana Radu’s page 

Nancy Wiscutie-Crépeau (INRS)

  • Decolonization of research;
  • Indigenous knowledge and languages;
  • Literacies;
  • Indigenous education;
  • Ethics of research with Indigenous peoples.

Nancy Wiscutie-Crépeau’s page 

  

Affiliated members 

Infrastructure and technology

The INRS-UQAT joint research unit has a space in UQAT’s Pavillon des Premiers-Peuples in Ka Pikitapikak (Val-d’Or) to carry out its research and training activities.  

It has two laboratories: the Participatory Mapping Laboratory and the Research Laboratory on Indigenous Women’s issues – Mikwatisiw. 

The joint research unit in brief 

Event

In the media

The future of research with Indigenous peoples: Co-constructing a common vision at the INRS-UQAT Joint Research Unit in Indigenous Studies

  • Date: November 21, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and November 22, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 
  • Registration: Registration form 
  • Registration deadline: November 1 
  • Location
    Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
    Pavillon des Premiers Peuples
    Multi-purpose room (SUM)
    663 1re Avenue
    Val-d’Or, QC  J9P 1Y3

September 27, 2024 | INRS
Marie-Ève Drouin-Gagné: Decolonizing Research and Academic Institutions 

January 18, 2024 | INRS
Nancy Wiscutie-Crépeau: Raising Awareness About Reconciliation Issues in Education 

September 23, 2021 | INRS
Research on Major Societal Issues: Indigenous Education and Health 

March 22, 2021 | Radio-Canada
L’UQAT abritera une nouvelle unité de recherche en études autochtones (UQAT to Host New Indigenous Studies Research Unit; article in French only) 

March 22, 2021 | UQAT
L’INRS et l’UQAT lancent une unité mixte de recherche en études autochtones (INRS and UQAT Launch Joint Research Unit in Indigenous Studies; press release in French only) 

March 22, 2021 | INRS
L’INRS lance cinq unités mixtes de recherche en partenariat avec cinq universités sur des thématiques porteuses pour le Québec (INRS Launches Five Joint Research Units in Partnership with Five Universities on Promising Themes for Quebec; press release in French only)

Contact

Write to us at: 

umr@inrs.ca
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