About Iskwewak Awetowak Nipocawin
Our Story
Established in 2026, Iskwewak Awetowak Nipocawin (Women Leading Knowledge) is dedicated to supporting research and policy development for the health and well-being of our First Nations, Inuit and Metis women, girls, Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer and gender-diverse kin.
Iskwewak Awetowak Nipocawin is an Indigenous Women's Research Institute that is Indigenous-led and rooted in inclusive, community-led cooperative models.
Acknowledging the inherent relationship between the land, Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous knowledges, Iskwewak Awetowak Nipocawin is grounded in our connection to the land, water, and more-than-human kin.
We work with community members, Indigenous grassroots organizations, and both Indigenous and non-Indigenous governments, building community through Iskwewak Awetowak Nipocawin to support new and existing networks of relationships and partnerships to expand the breadth of our work to support other organizations.
Our Mission
Iskwewak Awetowak Nipocawin (Women Leading Knowledge) Research Institute will apply matriarchal wisdom grounded in Indigenous ways of doing that supports and honours community voice sovereignty in co-creating knowledge.
Our Vision
Renew Indigenous matriarchal wisdom to build a world worthy of future generations.
Our Guiding Principles
Affirm the validity, through research, of Indigenous ways of knowing, understanding, expression and application of knowledge in addressing the complex realities affecting Indigenous lives in contemporary society.
Honour Indigenous matriarchal wisdom and support it resuming its rightful place in rebuilding and maintaining the social, economic, cultural and spiritual strength of Indigenous Nations.
Engage Indigenous people from beginning to completion in all levels of research activity involving their history, cultures, interests, needs, or futures.
Utilize a decolonizing, culturally-informed and culturally-safe approach in all research, its application and its use.
Our Governance Values
Iskwewak Awetowak Nipocawin's vision for healthy futures is supported and achieved through honouring our core governance principles
Care
Sovereignty
Trust
Transparency
Accountability
Reciprocity
Relationality
Respect
Our Core Objectives
Establish a stable, culturally-grounded research institute that focuses on using Indigenous knowledge and the strengths of the community to create safe spaces for women to represent themselves in developing new knowledge and voicing their stories.
Establish institutional and research ethics frameworks that support the conduct of community-driven research that honours Okamaskewe Gikendaasowin (Head Women's Knowledge and Indigenous Ways of Knowing).
Identify community research priorities directed towards the removal of systemic barriers and disparities in access that negatively impact the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples.
