Indigenous Research Network fosters partnerships to launch a global research consortium

Nov 13, 2025

*Photo by Roksana Bashyrova (Getty Images).*

The University of Toronto’s Indigenous Research Network (IRN) is strengthening international partnerships to establish the International Indigenous Research Consortium in alignment with its 2022-2027 strategic plan. The consortium’s vision is to foster global collaboration and knowledge exchange on Indigenous-led research, ensuring that Indigenous community priorities, Indigenous research methodologies, data sovereignty and research ethics are at the forefront and respected in academic settings.

“We are building something that reaches across continents but is rooted in community values,” says Dale Turner, director of the IRN. “This work is not just about research; it’s about relationships, reciprocity and responsibility to each other and to the knowledge systems we are protecting and revitalizing together.”

Strengthening global ties

The first steps toward a global Indigenous research network took place in January, when Turner visited the Indigenous Knowledge Institute at the University of Melbourne.

This work is not just about research; it’s about relationships, reciprocity and responsibility to each other and to the knowledge systems we are protecting and revitalizing together.

There, he focused on forging relationships with Indigenous scholars around shared priorities such as governance, land rights and knowledge sovereignty, laying the groundwork for future collaborations.

In April, Meagan Hamilton, managing director of the IRN, along with Sheryl Lightfoot, professor with the department of political science and the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, travelled to Sápmi, the traditional territory of the Sámi people, in Norway and Finland (Sámi territory also extends into Russia and Sweden).

This work is not just about research; it’s about relationships, reciprocity and responsibility to each other and to the knowledge systems we are protecting and revitalizing together.

Critical collaborations and information exchanges

Built on relationships Lightfoot has established as a leading expert in global Indigenous politics, this visit included meetings with scholars at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Sámi Allaskuvla (Sámi University of Applied Sciences), the Sámi Museum, and the Sámi parliaments in both countries.

Collaborators concentrated on exchanging approaches to Indigenous research ethics protocols at their respective institutions and explored opportunities to co-develop courses on Indigenous research ethics and methodologies. This is important, as the initiatives would support the advancement of research practices grounded in Indigenous values and ensure scholarship and ethics are shaped by and for Indigenous researchers.

“There is an urgent need for Indigenous scholars globally to connect and share experiences on similar challenges related to assertion of lands rights, resource extraction and development imposed on our territories, and the preservation of our languages,” Hamilton says. “The IRN is working to create a space for these conversations to happen.”

Last summer, Indira Quintasi Orosco, a PhD student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, returned to Peru, her home country, to help expand relationships between the IRN and Indigenous scholars and Indigenous studies programs in the Global South.

Experiential learning connecting the Global South

Quintasi, who is of Quechua heritage, focused her visit on institutions that emphasize community-based research and decolonial approaches in education, especially those working to preserve Quechua language and culture, which originate in the Andean region of Latin America.

“As someone from Peru who has lived in Toronto for nearly a decade, I’ve deepened my understanding of my Quechua identity while recognizing my place in the diaspora. That comes with responsibility to keep reconnecting with our culture.”

In Cusco, Quintasi visited the Instituto de Educación Superior Pedagógico Público Túpac Amaru in Tinta. She participated in its Quechua language program and gave a short talk about her experiences in their English program and engaged with student presentations about their regional traditions and cuisine.

The teachers college is known for its training in intercultural bilingual education and its long-standing work with Quechua-speaking communities. The school integrates Indigenous knowledge into its curriculum and community projects.

Quintasi also visited the Centro Bartolomé de Las Casas (CBC), a well-known institution in central Cusco focused on Indigenous research and pedagogy, with an emphasis on revitalizing the Quechua language in the Andes and Amazon regions.

CBC’s Colegio Andino centre promotes the Andean-Amazonian approach to Buen Vivir (Good Living), a philosophy rooted in harmony with community and nature. She hopes these initial conversations and visits will lead to meaningful student exchanges and collaborative learning across borders to enrich understanding of Indigenous studies in the Global South.

“These experiences left me inspired by how these institutions and communities balance local priorities with global perspectives and seek to engage collaboratively with partners across regions; something the IRN is striving to build,” Quintasi says.

A commitment to ethical research at home

Since its establishment in 2019, a result of the U of T’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s Calls to Action, the IRN has laid out the groundwork for the consortium and its wider mission by harnessing opportunities closer to home.

One example is a Lunch and Learn series co-hosted with the Ziibiing Lab, featuring speakers on Indigenous studies, settler colonialism, environmental justice and identity – within both a Canadian and international context.

Hamilton says IRN is excited to create opportunities for Indigenous students and researchers at U of T to connect globally, share stories and knowledge. “We can learn from one another in ways that support meaningful, community-driven research.”

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