A co-created model for self-determined development objectives in Indigenous communities

The Eurocentric approach to development has several implications for the Indigenous communities and their way of life, including the decline of the social and cultural values of the people as well as threats to their identity. The exclusion of people from development processes has led to contextual misalignment of development and local value systems. Inclusion and participation in the development processes will allow for self-determined development and contextual alignment of the outcomes communities. Self-determined development will allow Indigenous communities to control their own fate and possibly preserve their way of life and cultural identity while empowering them to carve solutions grounded in their worldviews to modern problems. One way to allow self-determined development is to empower Indigenous communities to chart their development goals. However, the central challenge is how to do this. To find a solution, we examine the question, “What are the processes necessary for creating endogenous development objectives in Indigenous communities?” In this study, an inclusive and qualitative approach is taken to co-create a model for self-determined development in Indigenous communities in the Rupununi. This model for self-determined development can be adopted to empower the people to have a voice in development policies and programs in the region.