Murawin would like to bring your attention to what First Nations businesses can bring to the table. With this acknowledgement it is important to understand that the Indigenous business sector is growing and expanding in every facet.
Indigenous businesses have and will continue to face stereotyping and disingenuous relationships with stakeholders. In 2015 SmartCompany, an online platform for all things business news, opened an article with “Aboriginal entrepreneurs say they don’t want to be stereotyped or to work with businesses which are not genuine”, that claim is still ringing true for many Indigenous business owners. Five years later, in 2020 SmartCompany was still working to diminish the thoughts surrounding the efficacy and success of Indigenous businesses. They created a statistical resource that helped “dismiss the many stereotypes and myths that have for decades led to lost opportunities for Indigenous business growth”. Murawin would like to add that not only is it lost opportunities that Indigenous businesses face, but a lack of genuine effort and underestimation of the caliber of work Indigenous businesses can and will provide in the opportunities they are presented.
Previously, Indigenous businesses have been labelled and stereotyped in a certain way that negates the effective and compelling work they do. We urge you to catch yourself positioning Indigenous businesses in boxes and allow for the impact they aim to have, happen.
Being an Indigenous led consultancy, Murawin has experience with this. Some ways you can support Indigenous businesses are:
1. Ensure consultation with Indigenous businesses are pursued from the inception of a project and maintained throughout.
2. Ensure appropriate financial allocation for Indigenous businesses’ work.
3. Community engagement can be complex. Do not underestimate the time and effort it takes to ensure effective and holistic engagement.
4. Indigenous communities are socially and culturally distinct. Acknowledge that Indigenous cultures are layered and unique.
Indigenous businesses contribute economically, socially, and culturally to our society. Providing appropriate and genuine partnership with Indigenous businesses will not only strengthen society, economically, socially, and culturally as a whole, but also to the success of the stakeholder’s work.
Support Indigenous Businesses
