Recent protected area–Indigenous Peoples research articles in Canada and the USA: A meta-review

Abstract

We conducted a meta-review of 66 peer-reviewed articles published between 2008–2020 concerning Indigenous Peoples’ interactions with protected areas in the United States of America and Canada. Our meta-analysis centered on characterizing this literature’s response to the concerns of critical Indigenous studies by examining the topical, geographic, and disciplinary scope of the literature, as well as authors’ backgrounds and the journals where research is published. We additionally considered the presence of Indigenous persons as authors and participants. We found the literature is published widely, across many journals and disciplines. The research is concentrated in a handful of states and provinces. One article explicitly used Indigenous research methods, although Indigenous research participants were common in articles outside of the disciplines of history and law. Yet, those two disciplines dominate the current literature. We conclude that the community of scholars for whom relationships between parks and Indigenous Peoples are the central research question is smaller than those for whom it is one aspect of their research agenda.