First Peoples remain underrepresented in the development of public policies that affect their communities. This is the finding of a research project led by Émilie Deschênes, a researcher in Indigenous education and education management in Indigenous contexts at Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
Together with her team, the researcher wrote an in-depth critical synthesis of scientific writings and gray literature on First Peoples. This review was enriched by the perspectives of First Nations organizations and government department representatives. The goal was to better understand the issues, obstacles, and promising practices regarding knowledge mobilization in government actions aimed at First Peoples.
The results reveal a fragmented mobilization process, marked by a predominantly one-way flow of knowledge from university researchers (generally non-Indigenous) to public authorities. First Peoples are rarely included in any stage of the research or its use by governments. Their knowledge receives little recognition. The research also shows that socio-historical, cultural, political, legal, and administrative contexts strongly influence how knowledge is produced, selected, and used.
Based on these findings, the project proposes concrete ways to transform practices: fully recognizing the right to self-determination, decolonizing institutional approaches and structures, and adapting public policies to the realities, knowledge, and modes of governance of First Peoples.
These results offer valuable insights for governments, First Peoples organizations, and the research sector, paving the way for more coherent, equitable, and culturally relevant government action. This is an essential step forward, given the critical role of public policies aimed at First Peoples in recognizing their rights, improving services, and reducing inequalities.
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La mobilisation des connaissances issues de la recherche dans l’élaboration des politiques publiques visant les Premières Nations et Inuit – Fonds de recherche du Québec – FRQ