The Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance develops research, policy, and practice innovations for Indigenous data sovereignty. Indigenous data sovereignty draws on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that reaffirms the rights of Indigenous nations to control data about their peoples, lands, and resources.
A growing number of institutions recognize the need to create policies and practices that uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights to data. Indigenous Peoples’ data encompass data and information (1) at the individual and collective levels, (2) about humans and their non-human relations, and (3) arising from Indigenous Peoples’ knowledges. Institutions include but are not limited to: Indigenous governments, research funding agencies, universities, libraries, museums, industry, and nonprofits. Institutions hold already existing data while also creating new data every day. Oftentimes, digital data or data collections do not reflect the principles of free, prior, and informed consent. Lack of provenance, permissions, and ethical norms defined by Indigenous Peoples in the collection, storage, and use of data hinder Indigenous access to data and the ability to maintain relationships throughout the data lifecycle and across data ecosystems.
We are building upon and supporting the movement to develop new institutional frameworks that center the terms of Indigenous communities around research and data partnerships.
