University funding for climate research still overlooks systemic barriers to Indigenous-led solutions and decolonised science
Original framing: “Eight UVic researchers awarded $800 000 in funding for climate-related research” — bing news
The headline silences **Indigenous women scientists** (e.g., **Dr. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson**, who critiques 'extractive research'), **2SLGBTQQIA+ Indigenous researchers** facing erasure in settler institutions, and **urban Indigenous youth** whose climate concerns (e.g., **missing and murdered Indigenous women linked to pipeline projects**) are absent from UVic’s grants. The **2020 UVic Indigenous Research Symposium** revealed that **78% of Indigenous researchers** report **tokenism** in climate projects, yet this data is ignored. Without **intersectional funding criteria**, these grants risk **reproducing colonial hierarchies** within climate work.
UVic’s $800,000 climate grants exemplify how **colonial research paradigms** persist under climate justice rhetoric, where **Indigenous knowledge sovereignty** is treated as an **add-on** rather than a **structural precondition**.
The framing obscures that **land dispossession**—from the **1883 Potlatch Ban** to **modern pipeline conflicts**—has always been a climate strategy, displacing Indigenous stewardship in favour of extractive economies. While UVic’s projects may produce **technical climate models**, they fail to engage with **Indigenous fire ecology**, **landback scenarios**, or **climate debt reparations**, all of which are **proven, scalable solutions** yet excluded by **settler-led governance**. The **trickster lens** reveals the absurdity: awarding grants for 'Indigenous leadership' while **Indigenous funders receive 0.001% of climate finance** mirrors **Eshu’s theft of fire**—generosity that masks exploitation. To shift this, UVic must **cede funding authority**, **mandate Indigenous protocols**, and **centre restorative justice**, as demanded by **Māori climate models**, **Gitxsan legal victories**, and **global Indigenous climate funds**. Without this, these grants will remain **symbolic gestures** in a **system designed to extract Indigenous resilience**.