Indigenous Data Sovereignty - Indigenous Resources - General Guide

What is Indigenous Data Sovereignty?

Indigenous Data Sovereignty refers to the ability and right of Indigenous peoples, Nations, and communities to control, steward, access, own and participate in data that was created with or about them, their land, resources, and knowledge.

What is Indigenous data?

"In general, data are any quantitative or qualitative information about a specific topic that are collected through observation, surveys and reporting. For the purpose of this Protocol, Indigenous data is any information that is from or about any Indigenous person or their community, territory or nation, including but not limited to their languages, Knowledges, customs or traditions, intellectual property and ideas." (Indigenous Innovation Initiative (2021). Indigenous Knowledges and Data Governance Protocol. Toronto: Indigenous Innovation Initiative)

CARE Prinicples for Indigenous Data Governance

The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance guide the appropriate use of Indigenous data and reflect the crucial role of data in advancing Indigenous innovation and self-determination. (CARE Principals 2019)

Collective benefit: Data ecosystems should be designed and function in ways that enable Indigenous Peoples to derive benefit from the data.
Authority to control: Indigenous Peoples' rights and interests in Indigenous data must be recognized and their authority to control such data should be empowered. Indigenous data governance enables Indigenous Peoples to determine how they are represented within data.
Responsibility: Those working with Indigenous data have a responsibility to share how this data is used to support Indigenous Peoples' self-determination and collective benefit.
Ethics: Indigenous Peoples' rights and wellbeing should be the primary concern at all stages of the data life cycle.

Visit the Global Indigenous Data Alliance for more information on the CARE Principles.

The First Nations Principles of OCAP®

The First Nations Principles of OCAP^® guide how First Nations’ data and information will be collected, protected, used, or shared.

"OCAP^® asserts that First Nations alone have control over data collection processes in their communities, and that they own and control how this information can be stored, interpreted, used, or shared." (First Nations Information Governance Centre)

OCAP^® represents the concepts of ownership, control, access, possession.

"Ownership refers to the relationship of First Nations to their cultural knowledge, data, and information. This principle states that a community or group owns information collectively in the same way that an individual owns his or her personal information.

Control affirms that First Nations, their communities, and representative bodies are within their rights to seek control over all aspects of research and information management processes that impact them. First Nations control of research can include all stages of a particular research project-from start to finish. The principle extends to the control of resources and review processes, the planning process, management of the information and so on.

Access refers to the fact that First Nations must have access to information and data about themselves and their communities regardless of where it is held. The principle of access also refers to the right of First Nations’ communities and organizations to manage and make decisions regarding access to their collective information. This may be achieved, in practice, through standardized, formal protocols.

Possession While ownership identifies the relationship between a people and their information in principle, possession or stewardship is more concrete: it refers to the physical control of data. Possession is the mechanism by which ownership can be asserted and protected." (First Nations Information Governance Centre)

OCAP^® is a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC).

Books

Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Policy by Maggie Walter (Editor); Tahu Kukutai (Editor); Stephanie Russo Carroll (Editor); Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear (Editor) This book examines how Indigenous Peoples around the world are demanding greater data sovereignty, and challenging the ways in which governments have historically used Indigenous data to develop policies and programs. In the digital age, governments are increasingly dependent on data and data analytics to inform their policies and decision-making. However, Indigenous Peoples have often been the unwilling targets of policy interventions and have had little say over the collection, use and application of data about them, their lands and cultures. At the heart of Indigenous Peoples' demands for change are the enduring aspirations of self-determination over their institutions, resources, knowledge and information systems. With contributors from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, North and South America and Europe, this book offers a rich account of the potential for Indigenous data sovereignty to support human flourishing and to protect against the ever-growing threats of data-related risks and harms. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429273957, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license
ISBN: 9780429273957
Publication Date: 2020-10-29

Indigenous Data Sovereignty : Retooling Indigenous Resurgence for Development by Chidi Oguamanam 2019

Journal Articles

Indigenous data, indigenous methodologies and indigenous data sovereignty by Walter, Maggie ; Suina, Michele The field of Indigenous methodologies has grown strongly since Tuhiwai Smith's 1999 groundbreaking book Decolonizing Indigenous Methodologies. For the most part however, there has been a marked absence of quantitative methodologies with the methods aligned with Indigenous methodologies predominantly qualitative. This article proposes that the absence of an Indigenous presence from Indigenous data production has resulted in an overwhelming statistical narrative of deficit for dispossessed Indigenous peoples around the globe. Using the theoretical concept of Indigenous Lifeworlds this article builds on the core premises of Walter and Andersen's 2013 book Indigenous quantitative methodologies. Arguing for a fundamental disturbance of the Western logics of statistical data the article details recent developments in the field including the emergence of the Indigenous Data Sovereignty movement. The article also explores Indigenous quantitative methodologies in practice using the case study of a Tribal Epidemiology Centre in New Mexico.
Indigenous data sovereignty in higher education : Towards a decolonised data quality framework by Wilks, Judith ; Kennedy, Gillian ; Drew, Neil ; Wilson, Katie In the Australian higher education sector, the challenges to successful engagement and retention experienced by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students and communities are considerable. They persist despite many well-intentioned attempts to address this issue and to strengthen equity in participation in the sector. Implicated in this is the absence of a culturally-informed data quality framework for the sector, and the resulting persistence of associated issues such as confusion with data ownership; consistency; standards; usage; and storage. In this paper we argue it is essential that rigorous inquiry be carried out into the type and nature of data required or sought in the higher education sector on, for and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This inquiry must involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators, researchers, evaluators and communities to bring into effect their aspirations for data sovereignty including stewardship and ownership of data, and for culturally beneficial outcomes relating to the use and application of data. It also mandates a collaborative approach with existing government and independent organisations, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers from higher education institutions, working together towards the development and implementation of an agreed-upon and decolonised Indigenous data framework for the sector. [Author abstract]
Indigenous Data Governance: Strategies from United States Native Nations by Carroll, Stephanie Russo ; Rodriguez-Lonebear, Desi ; Martinez, Andrew Data have become the new global currency, and a powerful force in making decisions and wielding power. As the world engages with open data, big data reuse, and data linkage, what do data-driven futures look like for communities plagued by data inequities? Indigenous data stakeholders and non-Indigenous allies have explored this question over the last three years in a series of meetings through the Research Data Alliance (RDA). Drawing on RDA and other gatherings, and a systematic scan of literature and practice, we consider possible answers to this question in the context of Indigenous peoples vis-á-vis two emerging concepts: Indigenous data sovereignty and Indigenous data governance. Specifically, we focus on the data challenges facing Native nations and the intersection of data, tribal sovereignty, and power. Indigenous data sovereignty is the right of each Native nation to govern the collection, ownership, and application of the tribe’s data. Native nations exercise Indigenous data sovereignty through the interrelated processes of Indigenous data governance and decolonizing data. This paper explores the implications of 'Indigenous data sovereignty' and 'Indigenous data governance' for Native nations and others. We argue for the repositioning of authority over Indigenous data back to Indigenous peoples. At the same time, we recognize that there are significant obstacles to rebuilding effective Indigenous data systems and the process will require resources, time, and partnerships among Native nations, other governments, and data agents.
Indigenous data sovereignty in action : the Food Wisdom Repository by Johnson-Jennings, Michelle D ; Jennings, Derek R ; Little, Meg M Explains the theoretical framework underlying the development of an online digital repository of wise food practices, grounded within Indigenous knowledges and Indigenous data sovereignty, proposed by the authors as a way to reverse the wave of biased or omitted health data affecting Indigenous communities

Indigenous Resources - General Guide

What is Indigenous Data Sovereignty?

What is Indigenous data?

CARE Prinicples for Indigenous Data Governance

The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance guide the appropriate use of Indigenous data and reflect the crucial role of data in advancing Indigenous innovation and self-determination. (CARE Principals 2019)

Collective benefit: Data ecosystems should be designed and function in ways that enable Indigenous Peoples to derive benefit from the data.

Authority to control: Indigenous Peoples' rights and interests in Indigenous data must be recognized and their authority to control such data should be empowered. Indigenous data governance enables Indigenous Peoples to determine how they are represented within data.

Responsibility: Those working with Indigenous data have a responsibility to share how this data is used to support Indigenous Peoples' self-determination and collective benefit.

Ethics: Indigenous Peoples' rights and wellbeing should be the primary concern at all stages of the data life cycle.

Visit the Global Indigenous Data Alliance for more information on the CARE Principles.

The First Nations Principles of OCAP®

Books

Journal Articles