Indigenous Governance Programming in Academia: Reflections on Community-responsive Philosophy & Practice

The Indigenous Governance and Partnership (IGP) Program is a uniquely positioned research and teaching unit that is situated in the only Indigenous Studies faculty in North America. This article describes the philosophy, principles, pedagogy, and practices of the IGP Program, its fourteen-year history, and its most recent contributions in the subject area of Indigenous governance. The IGP governance framework and the IGP research method emerge from community-responsive research and custom programming partnerships. These models and related learnings are introduced to provide academics with a set of tools with which to teach Indigenous governance, establish community-based research partnerships that are enduring and respectful, and provide holistic and transformational public education to a myriad of organizations and change-oriented leaders.