Last month, we introduced you to the Trajectory of Awesomeness to guide you on your preparedness journey toward Indigenous engagement. You’ll recall that the third phase of the Trajectory asks you to deepen your understandings of Indigenous perspectives and plan well for engagement. The 5 R’s are IEI’s principle-based approach to help you do just that.
What are the 5 R principles?
- Relationality: We commit long term to the development of mutually beneficial relationships.
- Reciprocity: We ensure that we are always bringing value to Indigenous Peoples.
- Responsibility: We are responsible for the content and character of our relationships and we honor and meet our commitments.
- Relevance: We continuously work on building collective relevance. Our work will be considered in relation to Indigenous priorities as well as our own.
- Resources: We recognize and support that funding may be required to engage with Indigenous Peoples from Tribes and First Nations.
Putting the 5 R’s into practice
When developing your engagement framework or considering how you can prepare yourself for Indigenous engagement, ask yourself these 5 R criteria questions.
- Relationality: Which band, nation or organization are you engaging with? What is this group’s governance structure? How can you learn about their cultural protocols, areas of mutual interest and potential points of conflict?
- Reciprocity: What do you need to learn before engaging? If you’re developing a long-term plan, are you ready to respond to fluctuating needs over time?
- Responsibility: What are you trying to achieve? How will you demonstrate that you’ve done your preparatory work for good relations? Do you understand your organization’s binding laws/policies so you know where needed changes can be made?
- Relevance: What are your potential partners trying to achieve? What are the synergies that exist between their work and values, and yours? How does your work support Indigenous agendas and needs (i.e. data, infrastructure buildouts, capacity, mentorship, etc.)?
- Resources: Is your organization prepared to offer fair funding/resource support to engage with Indigenous Peoples?
The 5 R’s are the organizational North Star of the IEI. They are the values that we live and breathe. We’re honoured to introduce them here and to teach them in greater depth at our signature IEI retreat in October.