DSISS, based in the Information School at the University of Washington, is working to support application of the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance in libraries and repositories. Research Data Services (RDS) professionals are making considerable progress advancing the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship (Wilkinson, et al., 2016), and the statement–be FAIR and CARE– (Carroll, et al., 2020) has been important for raising awareness of the CARE and associated Indigenous Data Sovereignty initiatives. Our approach in DSISS, however, is to put CARE first, prioritizing the interests of Indigenous scholars and Indigenous communities, as a necessary precursor in advancing FAIR.
DSISS is working in partnership with the Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) at Syracuse University, the premier RDS organization for sensitive qualitative scholarship in the United States, with extensive relevant policy and technical experience and infrastructure capacity. Collaborators and advisors include experts in Indigenous librarianship and Indigenous traditional knowledge at the Xwi7xwa Library at the University of British Columbia and Washington State University.
Supporting Indigenous Data Sovereignty is essential for universities and other research institutions that have a strong commitment to Indigenous methods and scholarship, and especially to the scholars working to counter past neglect in how Indigenous data have been collected and managed. As emphasized by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (2020), “data are a cultural, strategic, and economic resource,” and have been bound up in the deliberate efforts to expunge systems of Indigenous knowledge that were “part and parcel of colonisation.” Indigenous Peoples have been “alienated from the collection, use and application of data about them, their lands and cultures” and continue to “encounter severe data deficits when trying to access high-quality, culturally-relevant data to pursue their goals.”
DSISS recognizes the important role of RDS in the practical achievement of Indigenous data sovereignty and is responding through collaborative work with scholars, libraries, and repositories to develop a framework for stewarding Indigenous data with CARE. The team is building on the strong base of international activity on Indigenous data sovereignty, guided by the interests and expertise of Indigenous scholars and informed by established qualitative data infrastructure and services, and in alignment with the direction and goals of current academic RDS operations. The two-year project aims to meet the following objectives:
- Create an Indigenous Data Services Framework of policies, protocols, and protections, aligned with Indigenous scholarly practices and the CARE principles (Collective benefit, Authority and control, Responsibility, and Ethics).
- Develop a prototype of the DSISS framework in a repository environment, setting the foundation for a transferable model for implementation in research libraries and repositories.
Project activities will be carried out by three cross-institutional work teams.
The Data Sovereignty Team will conduct the activities and engagement involving the scholars and Indigenous communities involved in DSISS.
The Library Services Team will conduct the activities and engagement with data services librarians, Indigenous librarians, and other library professionals who have liaison responsibilities with Indigenous scholars.
The Infrastructure Team will direct the specification work and development of the technical prototype.
Further details about the project can be seen in the project’s proposal. Any questions or inquiries about the project can be directed to Carole L. Palmer. Her contact information can be found on the DSISS Team Members page.
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Open in new tab Data Services for Indigenous Scholarship and Sovereignty research project is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation under the reference #2104-10533.