Non-Indigenous Ally

According to Ann Bishop, allies are people who recognize the unearned privilege they receive from society's patterns of injustice and take responsibility for changing these patterns. Becoming an ally means learning about systems of oppression, figuring out our own (conscious or unconscious) roles in maintaining those systems and then working alongside those most affected to try and address the inequity.

The concept of ‘allyship’ is a work in progress: Its research roots can be traced to a variety of communities, including the lesbian, gay, transgendered, bisexual, queer and two-spirited communities and their efforts to create safer and more meaningful engagement with researchers who desired to work with them. Much of the continued effort to understand authentic, genuine and honest ‘allyship’ has emerged from within indigenous and non-indigenous partnerships in community-based research. This entry examines the roles non-indigenous allies can play within action research environments by exploring the concepts of ‘allyship’, positionality and reflexive practice in relation to working with indigenous communities.

Each community may have a different and evolving definition of what it means to be an ally, but generally, the concept is imbued with the notion of cultivating, building and strengthening relationships between two differing individuals, groups or communities based on respectful, meaningful and beneficial interactions. Often underlying these alliances is a common goal to achieve some sort of collaborative change.

The context of research with indigenous communities globally is often rooted in traumatic experiences of research on rather than in partnership with indigenous [Page 559]peoples. Indigenous communities experienced—and, in some cases, continue to experience—‘helicopter-style’ research where researchers enter communities, take the knowledge that they feel they need and then leave, with very little or no follow-up. A cycle of injustice and hurt has developed over time. In response, many indigenous communities have demanded models of better practice in research. These models relate not just to researchers who approach communities from a different racial or cultural background but also to those who may share cultural roots but enter a community with some piece of their identity or history positioning them as an ‘outsider’. This outsider experience may reflect being away from their community for years, being of a different socio-economic status than the majority of the community members, lacking the ability to speak the language of the community or various other differing characteristics.

Many of the best practice models that have been developed focus on the need for researchers themselves to engage with their own assumptions, beliefs and experiences prior to and during their work within a community. Linda Tuhiwai Smith, a well-respected author on the topic of research with indigenous communities, argues that the central teaching for non-indigenous researchers working with indigenous communities ought to focus on humility as a foundation for research. She encourages researchers to ask themselves, ‘What can I do? Can I actually do anything?’. She asks researchers to critically think through what it means to do research ‘in a good way’ with indigenous communities.

Many indigenous and non-indigenous researchers are thinking through the process of how to be involved in community-based action research in a way that respects the communities they are working within. Some non-indigenous researchers have described their experiences working with indigenous communities as journeys which challenge them to examine their own assumptions about indigenous peoples and about research more broadly. In addition to ‘unlearning’ assumptions about research, it is also imperative to learn about one's own position within the many communities with which one lives, works and plays. A good place to start is by learning about one's own cultural and family histories. Knowing about oneself and where one comes from creates a stronger ability to be honest with oneself about privilege and power and the ways these interact to create systems of oppression.

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