Indigenous evaluation

de Fiona Cram, Katherine A Tibbetts, Joan LaFrance

"This volume addresses the issue of the role and value of Indigenous evaluation (IE) in understanding the success (or otherwise) of programs and services for Indigenous peoples. It is also about the contribution Indigenous peoples can make, through the exercise of IE, to decolonization; that is, to the perpetuation of Indigenous cultures and languages, to the promotion of Indigenous sovereignty, and to the return of Indigenous lands. The roots of this volume include the establishment of the Indigenous Peoples in Evaluation Topical Interest Group within the American Evaluation Association (AEA), the statement on cultural competence by the AEA, and the indigenous ceremonies that opened and closed the 2012 AEA Conference (as well as more recent conferences). As a plenary speaker at this conference, Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith brought her insights about decolonizing methodologies to the discipline of evaluation. In addition, Smith's (2012) book on decolonizing research and Bagele Chilisa's (2012) book on Indigenous research methodologies are two pivotal international volumes that guide IE."--Page 7.