Post originally by Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq for Respectful Research.

Last Friday, something beautiful happened.

Our article, Decolonizing Community-Engaged Research: Designing CER with Cultural Humility as a Foundational Value, received the 2025 CCCC Best Article in the Philosophy or Theory of Technical and Scientific Communication Award.

The article was written by Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq (Virginia Tech), Corina Qaaġraq Kramer (Respectful Research, Mumik Consulting), and Chris Lindgren (North Carolina State University). It’s rooted in our experiences with the Rematriation Project and offers a framework for community-engaged research (CER) based on cultural humility—and on the Inuit practice of nalukataq.

🌿 From the Land: Nalukataq as Research Practice

Nalukataq—the Iñupiat blanket toss—is a celebration of community, survival, and reciprocity. But it’s also a discipline.

It takes many people to pull the walrus-skin blanket in sync. One person acts as the caller, watching closely and guiding the group. The pullers set their feet, lean back, and follow the rhythm—not their own strength. When they move together, the jumper is lifted into the air, able to see far and return with perspective. But if the pullers act out of sync, or ignore the caller, someone could get hurt.

This is the framework we shared in our article. Because research—when it’s done well in Indigenous communities—is also a kind of nalukataq.

Researchers must learn to pull evenly, not dominate. They must listen to the caller, not just extract from the community. They must stay in sync—even when the rhythm changes. And they must prepare to let go, when the community is ready to lead fully.

That’s what cultural humility looks like in motion.

​Read our national award winning article here

🏛️ From the Institutions: What This Recognition Means

We don’t often see national awards in research theory go to articles that begin with Indigenous community leadership.

We don’t often see articles recognized where a community partner like Corina isn’t just cited, but co-authors, co-directs, and co-frames the research and theory itself.

And we don’t often see Iñupiaq Values used as a model for research leadership in the Arctic.

So yes—we’re celebrating. :)

But we’re also naming what this article made visible:

Corina has long been an Iñupiaq scholar—deeply engaged in cultural leadership, community advocacy, and language revitalization. She’s been included on academic publications before, but this was the first time she was involved from the very beginning: shaping the concept, co-developing the framework, and co-writing the article through every stage of revision and publication. This wasn’t token inclusion or late-stage feedback. This was authorship—rooted in knowledge, accountability, and voice.

And since then, the Rematriation Project, has deepened our commitment to writing with our community partners, not just about them. Together, we’ve co-authored two academic articles with Aviññaq Lucy Boyd and Paisaq Dylan Itchuaqiyaq of Aqqaluk Trust in Kotzebue, Alaska.

And… one of those articles was published online today (HOORAY!): See our post about Reimagining Archives in the Age of Automation.

It’s another step in this movement toward rematriation.