exploring the ocap research model

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.