This document presents the institutional briefing for Covenantal Decolonial Life Studies (CDLS), a community‑centered research discipline developed as the culmination of the author’s lifelong study of trauma, resilience, spirituality, and community‑defined recovery. CDLS provides a structured, ethical, and participatory framework that elevates the perspectives of those directly experiencing recovery, offering institutions a clear method for observing and interpreting community‑defined indicators of stability and resilience. The briefing outlines the four foundational layers of CDLS: Integrated Trauma Spiritual Resilience (ITSR), Trauma‑Informed Decolonial Resilience (TIDR), the Community Recovery Index (CRI), and Participatory Action Research (PAR). Together, these components form a cohesive methodological ecosystem. CRI functions as the operational engine, organizing observations into non‑diagnostic categories, while PAR ensures that interpretation remains collaborative and grounded in lived experience. A central contribution of this document is the introduction of the Sovereign Archiving Protocol, an ethical framework that preserves testimony through informed consent, data sovereignty, and long‑term archival integrity. This protocol ensures that community voices remain central and protected within scholarly and institutional contexts. As a foundational artifact, this briefing establishes CDLS as a coherent discipline and supports its application in academic, judicial, and community‑based settings. It contributes to the broader movement toward community‑defined, ethically grounded approaches to understanding trauma and recovery.