LibGuides: Indigenous Hub: Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Intellectual Property

Overview

Indigenous Data Sovereignty is the recognition and implementation of Indigenous Peoples' inherent right to control the entire lifecycle of data concerning their people, territories, resources, and knowledge; including collection, ownership, access, analysis, interpretation, use, and dissemination of data. This right is rooted in their inherent self-determination and sovereignty.

Indigenous Intellectual Property centers on the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples to protect their traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, and heritage. It recognizes the relationship Indigenous peoples have with their intellectual and cultural knowledge, which is often held collectively and passed down through generations.

Indigenous data is information generated by, for, alongside, or about Indigenous communities. This data can take numerous forms, including photographs, videos, audio recordings, written documents, and datasets.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

Article 31
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and tradition- al cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.

2. In conjunction with indigenous peoples, States shall take effective measures to recognize and protect the exercise of these rights

UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

First Nations Information Data Governance Centre

Indigenous Data Sovereignty

Principles of Indigenous Data Governance

Various principles exist to guide research data management practices that respect Indigenous data sovereignty. However, interpretations of these principles are specific to the communities involved, which may not necessarily address the distinct needs and values of distinct First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

CARE Principles

The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance reflect the role of data in advancing Indigenous innovation and self-determination. CARE stands for:

Collective Benefit – “Data ecosystems shall be designed and function in ways that enable Indigenous Peoples to derive benefit from the data.”
Authority to Control – Indigenous people have the right and authority to control their data.
Responsibility – Researchers working with Indigenous Peoples have a responsibility to support Indigenous Peoples rights.
Ethics – “Indigenous Peoples’ rights and wellbeing should be the primary concern at all stages of the data life cycle and across the data ecosystem.”

More information about the CARE Principles is available from the Global Indigenous Data Alliance.

The First Nations Principles of OCAP®

The OCAP® Principles of data governance outline how to interact with First Nations data. OCAP® stands for:

Ownership – First Nations communities or groups own their data collectively
Control – First Nations communities can control all aspects of the research cycle that impact them directly.
Access – First Nations retain access to the data, regardless of where it is held.
Possession – First Nations retain physical control of the data

OCAP® is a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC). Certified training in OCAP® is available through the FNIGC's website.

Fact Sheet - The First Nations Principles of OCAP®

Principles of Ethical Métis Research

The following Métis-specific culturally competent ethical research principles are adhered to by the Métis Centre at the National Aboriginal Health Organization in its research, who note for outside groups who choose to use or adapt them that "The principles are not intended to be enforceable rules that must be followed but rather are a well thought out starting point to engage Métis communities in ethical research." (Métis Centre of NAHO, 2018)

Reciprocal Relationships: Building relationships between researchers and communities, while sharing responsibility and benefits, and learning from each other
Respect For: Individual and collective; autonomy; identity; personal values; gender; confidentiality; practices and protocols
Safe and Inclusive Environments: Research should be safe for all - youth & Elders; gender and sexual identity; aboriginality; and balance individual and collective
Recognize Diversity: Within and between Métis communities; in worldviews; in values and beliefs; in geographic orientation and in politics
Research Should: Be relevant; benefit all; accurate; accountable; responsible; acknowledge contribution; and protect Métis cultural knowledge
Métis Context: Understand history, values, and knowledge; advance Métis methodology and include Métis experts; straddle worldviews; and insider-outsider perspective

Source: National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) (2018). Principles of Ethical Métis Research. Retrieved February 08 2023 from https://achh.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Guide_Ethics_NAHOMetisCentre.pdf

The Manitoba Metis Federation subscribes to the following "OCAS principles":

Ownership: Ownership refers to the legal possession of something
Control: Control refers to the power to make decisions about something and decide what should happen
Access: Access refers to the right or opportunity to use something that will bring benefits
Stewardship: Stewardship speaks to issues of responsible planning and management of resources

Source: University of Manitoba, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences (2019). Framework for Research Engagement with First Nation, Metis, and Inuit Peoples (p.14). [PDF] Retrieved February 08 2023 from https://umanitoba.ca/health-sciences/sites/health-sciences/files/2021-01/framework-research-report-fnmip.pdf

Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ)

The term Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) describes Inuit epistemology or the Indigenous knowledge of the Inuit, which encompasses traditional knowledge, ecological knowledge, and local and community based knowledge. A fact sheet prepared for the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health explores the six guiding principles of IQ and their application to research.

Pijitsirniq (or the concept of serving)
Aajiiqatigiingniq (or the concept of consensus decision-making)
Pilimmaksarniq (or the concept of skills and knowledge acquisition)
Piliriqatigiingniq (or the concept of collaborative relationships or working together for a common purpose)
Avatimik Kamattiarniq (or the concept of environmental stewardship)
Qanuqtuurunnarniq (or the concept of being resourceful to solve problems)

Source: Shirley Tagalik (2012). Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: The role of Indigenous knowledge in supporting wellness in Inuit communities in Nunavut. [PDF] Retrieved February 08 2023 from https://www.nccih.ca/docs/health/FS-InuitQaujimajatuqangitWellnessNunavut-Tagalik-EN.pdf

Indigenous Intellectual Property Books

Indigenous Intellectual Property by Val Napoleon (Editor); Rebecca Johnson (Editor); Richard Overstall (Editor); Debra McKenzie (Editor)
Call Number: Electronic

ISBN: 9781487558222

Publication Date: 2024-12-23

Historically, Indigenous artistic, cultural, and societal expression has been identified and examined within Canadian or international legal regimes. This book identifies Indigenous intellectual property concerns as an Indigenous legal issue to be taken seriously within specific Indigenous legal orders. Indigenous Intellectual Property opens up complex discussions about existing Indigenous intellectual property law, and avoids the tendency to pigeonhole Indigenous intellectual property into a Western legal model. Drawing on diverse case studies, this book considers the existing laws in the Gitxsan, Secwepemc, and Hupacasath (Nuu-chah-nulth) legal orders, as well as from the Solomon Islands and Hawai'i. The case studies are grounded in their respective legal and oral histories, and contextualized within a broader discussion of Indigenous law, addressing issues of colonial myths, shrinking conceptions of Indigenous law, common resistances to Indigenous property and law, and important connections between Indigenous law and governance and citizenship. The book carefully considers how the governance and civic value of intellectual property points to the unsuitability of the current state and international intellectual property legal regimes to many Indigenous intellectual property concerns. Ultimately, Indigenous Intellectual Propertyreveals the various ways in which to identify and understand law within Indigenous societies - through narrative and story analysis, observations of practices and ceremonies, and political and legal ordering.
First Nations cultural heritage and law : case studies, voices, and perspectives / by Catherine Bell and Val Napoleon eds
Call Number: Electronic

ISBN: 9780774814614

Publication Date: 2008
Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage, New Edition by Marie Battiste; James Sa'ke'j Youngblood Henderson
Call Number: Electronic

ISBN: 9780774881142

Publication Date: 2024-11-28

In 2007, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples became law, extending inherent human rights for the first time to the approximately half a billion Indigenous people around the planet. But nation-states have been slow to rethink their laws and policies. Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage situates Canadian progress in undertaking these reforms within a global context and explains what Indigenous knowledge is, who may use it, and how to provide it with legal protection. By tracing decade-long negotiations with British Columbia and Canada, this book demonstrates the fundamental role of Indigenous advocacy in developing legislation and action plans to implement inherent rights. This fully new edition tackles current issues in intellectual property rights and topics such as the revision of educational curricula to incorporate Indigenous content and methodologies. What emerges is a proposal for cooperative legal reform that will invigorate Indigenous knowledge systems and heritage.

Online Resources

The Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project
The Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project is a seven-year international research initiative based at Simon Fraser University, in British Columbia, Canada. It explores the rights, values, and responsibilities of material culture, cultural knowledge and the practice of heritage research