Indigenous scholars from settler-colonial countries including Aotearoa (New Zealand), Canada, Australia, and the United States have called for a fundamental shift in how scientific institutions engage with Indigenous peoples and knowledge. Writing in the journal Nature, they outline eight critical steps to end Indigenous marginalization in academia and foster a shared Indigenous agenda in science.
While diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives aim to support Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized scholars, progress remains slow, the scholars argue. “Too often, Indigenous people continue to be objects of research rather than leaders,” they write. To change this, extractive research practices that exclude Indigenous involvement, consent, and benefit must cease. Indigenous communities must hold sovereignty over their participation in research and control over data, ensuring respect for self-determination and data sovereignty within universities and scientific bodies.
The article highlights the colonial roots of dominant Western science, which is deeply entwined with racism, white supremacy, and the historical marginalization of Indigenous peoples. It points to examples such as Captain James Cook’s 1768 voyage, which combined scientific exploration with colonial conquest in the Pacific, and the ongoing structural inequities visible in health disparities and biased technologies like facial-recognition software.
Indigenous scientists face chronic underfunding and underrepresentation, receiving fewer grants and fellowships than their white peers. The scholars call for dedicated, flexible funding streams to support Indigenous-led research, especially projects that address Indigenous community needs and knowledge systems. They emphasize expanding definitions of research excellence beyond traditional publication metrics to value Indigenous knowledge outputs and community reports.
Hiring Indigenous scholars alone is insufficient, the article stresses. Institutions must create supportive environments where Indigenous faculty can thrive, including cohort hiring to reduce isolation and build critical mass. Universities must dismantle institutional racism by redesigning evaluation processes in consultation with Indigenous stakeholders and recognizing the labor Indigenous academics invest in mentorship and community outreach.
Recognizing and respecting Indigenous Knowledge systems is another central demand. Indigenous Knowledge—accumulated over millennia and deeply tied to local environments—should not be superficially included or extracted without Indigenous consent. Instead, scientists must engage relationally and respectfully with these knowledge systems, acknowledging them as foundational rather than supplementary to Western science.
The article also calls for safe, Indigenous-centered spaces in academia, citing examples like the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR) in Canada and Indigenous taskforces within scientific societies. Building partnerships with Indigenous-serving institutions and tribal colleges further supports this aim.
Finally, the scholars advocate for Indigenous sovereignty in research oversight and data control, challenging paternalistic attitudes that hinder Indigenous participation. They urge universities to go beyond symbolic land acknowledgments and support the Land Back movement through land restitution and free tuition for Indigenous students at institutions built on stolen Indigenous lands.
“Simply plugging more Indigenous scientists into a system that was never made for us will not fix the problems of scientific institutions,” the authors conclude. True change requires institutions to provide space for an Indigenous agenda in science.
This perspective, published in Nature, calls for a paradigm shift that moves beyond diversity towards genuine decolonization in scientific research and education.
