Overview

This module explores the concept of ethical responsibility within Indigenous frameworks, focusing on accountability not to abstract principles or institutions alone, but to living communities, landscapes, and histories. Students will examine the difference between institutional ethics (e.g., IRBs, research protocols) and relational ethics grounded in Indigenous worldviews. The goal is to deepen students’ sense of responsibility when working with rather than on communities.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, students will be able to:

1. Describe Indigenous concepts of accountability and consent.

2. Identify potential harms caused by extractive or misaligned project approaches.

3. Evaluate their own project design using relational and community-driven ethical frameworks.

4. Practice ethical reflection beyond formalized protocols.

Key Terms

• Accountability vs. Compliance
• Extractive Research
• Community-Led Knowledge
• Consent as Ongoing Relationship
• Beneficiary Reflexivity

Background Reading

Note: For every module, there is a more expansive list of resources available in the glossary. The readings provided in the module are good starting places for students/educators.

Nelson, P. (2021). Where have all the anthros gone? The shift in California Indian studies from research “on” to research “with, for, and by” Indigenous peoples. American Anthropologist, 123(3), 469-473.

Smith, L. T. (1999). Articulating an Indigenous research agenda. Smith LT. Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. London, UK; Zed, 123-141.

Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1-40

Activities: Who is this for?

Time: 60-75 minutes

Format: Group work with class-wide debrief

1. Scenario Analysis (20 min)

• Students are presented with three hypothetical project briefs (see Sample Materials Module 2). Each describes a well-intentioned initiative (e.g., clean water system, mobile health unit, oral history archive) designed for an Indigenous or historically marginalized community.
•   In each case, students are asked:
  • Who initiated this project?
  • Who benefits?
  • Were community members consulted? How?
  • What ethical red flags emerge?
• Note: You could ask students to respond to this directly, ask them to work through this in small groups, and/or ask them to journal and then share their journaling. Sharing can be done in small groups and then reported to the class.

2. Small Group Discussion (15-20 min):

Prompt discussion around:

• What does “meaningful consent” look like?
• What assumptions were made about community needs?
• How might doing less sometimes be more ethical?

3. Personal Reflection (15 min):

• Prompt students with the question: “In what ways is your project accountable to the community or environment it engages? Who gets to define what ‘success’ means?”
• Note: Depending on class goals, students can discuss as a team or journal their individual answers.
  

4. Reframing Activity (10–15 min):

• Ask students to write, map, or draw a Statement of Community Accountability for their team’s project (see Sample Materials). This should address:
  • To whom they are accountable
  • How they will maintain this accountability
  • How they will measure success in ways that matter to others
• Note: Encourage students to ask questions and voice confusion! They may not know all the stakeholder relevant to their project yet.

Faculty Notes/Implementation Tips

• This module fits especially well early in project scoping or in mid-term reflection points.
• Encourage instructors to share their own examples of ethical challenges from fieldwork, design, or research. Instructors might consider leading discussion with stories from the field that tackle these issues–maybe not entirely successfully!
• Invite a guest speaker from a local or global partner organization to speak on accountability and mutual benefit.

Optional Extension

Assign students to conduct a brief stakeholder mapping exercise that identifies community needs as defined by the community, not inferred through external indicators.

Assessment Options

Informal: Class participation in scenario analysis, in-class journaling

Formal: Students write a 1-page “Statement of Community Accountability” to their proposal, using language from the module