Light Fires is a research hub and connector for community members, faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students who are interested and/or involved in critical Indigenous prison studies research and research-creation. We define research as “knowledge creation,” understood broadly. Knowledge creation can include or intersect with the types of activities supported by our educational initiatives (described above), as well as more conventional research projects and studies. Over the next four years, we will continue to build a network of interdisciplinary scholars whose work focuses on Indigenous prison art, education, and related fields, including anti-colonial abolition and Indigenous justice. We welcome students, community members, and academics to connect with us around your research ideas and projects to see how we might support and learn from each other. 

As an Indigenous Studies research hub, we value and prioritize community-driven research, where Indigenous community members and/or organizations drive and fundamentally inform the research process–including the research questions, processes, outcomes, and outputs. We are committed to collaborative research that centers and amplifies the voices and knowledge of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, and we critique extractive research that positions incarcerated people as research subjects. 

Our critical approach to Indigenous prison studies research means that we interrogate and make visible how power functions in and beyond prisons, how knowledge is created about and within carceral spaces, and whose voices are recognized and valued in this work. We value arts-based research (also sometimes called “research-creation”), where artistic practices are used to inspire, create, and/or communicate knowledge.