In 2020, a unique Indigenous community-led funding initiative was launched at a major Canadian university. This initiative was followed by a qualitative study in 2022 to evaluate its first round. What makes this funding program distinct is that each research project was proposed by an Indigenous community or organization through a national outreach process. Over 700 Indigenous communities and organizations were contacted by email or phone to see if they wanted to participate in a funded research project they had identified as important. University academic partners acted as mentors, not as principal investigators. Nine community-led research projects were funded and are currently ongoing.
This paper describes the development of the initiative, its key elements, and findings from the study. It highlights both successes and challenges of the funding model, and discusses themes that emerged. The paper emphasizes one of the key themes that emerged, which points to a challenge in achieving one of the initiative’s primary goals: supporting Indigenous research sovereignty and self-determination.