Honoring Knowledge, Building Trust: Practicing Cultural Humility in Equitable Arctic Research

Building relationships of trust with Indigenous communities doesn’t just begin with showing up. It continues through the practice of cultural humility—an ongoing commitment to listen, learn, reflect, and act responsibly in relationship to others.

These ideas were first shared with our EAR community through a series of emails. We’ve gathered and expanded them here into one place, offering a lasting resource for those committed to practicing cultural humility in Arctic research.

Whether you’re just beginning your journey or deepening your practice, these principles offer ways to approach research with care, humility, and respect.

Why Cultural Humility Matters in Arctic Research

Too often, researchers are trained to approach communities as “experts,” assuming that knowledge flows only one way.

But when working in Indigenous Arctic communities, effective community engagement depends on a different kind of expertise: the ability to acknowledge what you don’t know, to listen deeply, to honor relationships, and to remain accountable beyond the limits of any single research project. This practice is cultural humility.

Cultural humility reminds us that research is never just technical work—it is relational work. Without trust, respect, and genuine care, even the most technically “successful” project can leave harm in its wake.

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Five Principles for Practicing Cultural Humility in Arctic Research

1. Recognize Your Limitations

It can be tempting to approach research feeling confident that you have prepared thoroughly. But even the best preparation cannot replace lived experience, and no amount of study can substitute for the knowledge held within communities themselves.

Recognizing your limitations is an act of humility. This means acknowledging that:

• You will not have all the answers, no matter how much you read or plan.

• Your understanding will grow only through authentic relationships over time.

• Expertise exists within the community—and it is different from your own.

We have seen firsthand how important this is, even in our work with each other. As sisters and research partners, we know that our personal bond does not automatically guarantee professional trust. We each have to show up, listen, and earn trust in our research relationship—just like with any community partner. The same principle applies to every relationship in community-engaged work.

Hot Tip: Take the time to truly listen before offering ideas or solutions. The openness you show in these first moments often sets the tone for everything that follows.

2. Practice Active Listening Using Humility

Active listening is not passive. It requires full attention, emotional presence, and a willingness to be changed by what you hear.

In Arctic Indigenous communities, listening means moving beyond extracting information for your research needs. It means understanding the story behind the story: the values, priorities, and contexts shaping what is said—and what is not said.

When practicing active listening:

• Focus entirely on the speaker rather than preparing your response.

• Reflect back what you hear to check your understanding.

• Stay open to meanings that may be layered, non-linear, non-verbal, or unfamiliar.

Creating space for real dialogue demands patience, humility, and care. Practicing active listening shows that you are present not just for the data, but for the people, their concerns, and their hopes.

Hot Tip: Welcome moments of silence and pauses. Sometimes what isn’t immediately said carries as much meaning as what is spoken.

3. Seek Out Community Feedback Using Humility

Even when researchers have close personal ties to Arctic communities, regular feedback and relationship-checking are essential.

Our own experiences remind us of this. Cana was born in Kotzebue and grew up between Alaska and California. She had her eldest child while living in Kotzebue—a child who is now married—and although she remains deeply connected to her home community through frequent visits, she has not lived full-time in Alaska for over twenty years. While Kotzebue is still home in many important ways, Cana recognizes that living “outside” shapes how she sees and experiences Arctic life today.

Corina, by contrast, has spent almost her entire life in Alaska, with only about five years living in California. She got married in Kotzebue, has raised her children in Kotzebue, and continues to live and work there, experiencing firsthand the everyday realities of Arctic community life. This includes the high costs of store-bought groceries, gas, and electricity, as well as the deep seasonal rhythms of Arctic subsistence and community gatherings. The cycles of hunting, fishing, berry picking, and communal events are not abstractions—they are woven into her family’s daily and seasonal life.

These differences between us have taught us that no matter how strong your ties, it is essential to seek feedback from those living the daily realities on the ground. Close relationships, past experiences, or cultural belonging do not substitute for ongoing listening and responsiveness. This is also part of cultural humility.

Building research that serves and respects Arctic communities requires:

• Checking assumptions frequently,

• Inviting feedback from a wide range of voices,

• And adapting your work based on what you hear, not what you expect.

Hot Tip: Make seeking feedback a natural part of your practice—not a special event. Let community voices shape your work at every stage.

4. Practice Humility, Not Hierarchy

In academic research settings, hierarchy is often baked into the system. Titles, degrees, and funding can unconsciously shape whose voice carries weight.

Practicing cultural humility requires intentionally resisting this dynamic—especially when working with Indigenous communities, where knowledge may be deeply relational, experiential, and shared across generations without formal titles.

We often think about our father, Caleb Pungowiyi, a respected Siberian Yupik Elder and Arctic researcher who championed Indigenous inclusion in Arctic science.

At his funeral years ago, someone said something that has stayed with us ever since:

“Caleb was the same person with dignitaries as he was with family.”

That simple truth is a blueprint for how to carry ourselves in this work.

In our professional journeys, we have both experienced moments where equitable research ideas were brushed off as “idealistic.” If ideas for making research more equitable posed by early career researchers with academic credentials are dismissed as idealistic or unrealistic, imagine how often community members—whose knowledge may not come packaged in academic publications or come from IRB-approved methodologies—are overlooked.

Humility demands that we notice this pattern—and actively resist it.

Hot Tip: Ask yourself regularly: Whose experiences are being privileged? Whose knowledge is being overlooked?

5. Cultivate a Learning Mindset with Cultural Humility

Cultural humility is not a destination. It is a way of moving through the world—one that invites continual learning, reflection, and change.

A learning mindset means approaching every project, every conversation, and every moment of engagement with the assumption that you have something to learn.

It also means being willing to sit with discomfort when new perspectives challenge your assumptions or reshape your plans.

In Arctic research, Indigenous communities live with evolving realities shaped by climate change, cultural shifts, and complex histories. If we are not willing to keep learning, we risk conducting research that is outdated the moment it begins.

Hot Tip: Notice when you feel defensive or uncomfortable. Instead of shutting down, get curious. Ask yourself: What is this moment inviting me to learn?

Remembering Forward

Practicing cultural humility means holding memory and possibility together. It means honoring the wisdom that has shaped us—and staying open to the ways we must continue to grow.

When we:

• Recognize our limitations,

• Practice active listening,

• Seek honest feedback,

• Prioritize humility over hierarchy, and

• Stay open to learning,

we honor the communities we work with not just through words, but through enduring, respectful relationships.

True cultural humility is not about mastering a skill.
It is the practice of returning again and again to the work of becoming more open, more responsive, and more accountable.

Learn More: Deepen Your Community Engagement Practice

If you’re looking to strengthen your skills in effective community engagement, we invite you to explore our online, on-demand course: Effective Community Engagement in Arctic Research.

This course offers practical strategies rooted in Indigenous perspectives, real-world experience, and a commitment to building partnerships that endure beyond the project timeline.

👉 Learn more about the course here.

📎 Read our national-award-winning article “Decolonizing Community-Engaged Research: Designing CER with Cultural Humility as a Foundational Value”—open-access copy here.

Quyanaqpak for walking this path with us.