Scholar Case Studies

Development of the DSISS framework is guided by scholar case studies on Indigenous methods and data practices, developed with collaborators at the University of Washington and the University of British Columbia. 

Three foundational case studies were produced through previous work of DSISS team members, Carole L. Palmer, Miranda Belarde-Lewis, Tami Hohn, and Christopher B. Teuton, published as a white paper: Indigenous Research Data Case Study: Toward Contextual Integrity for Sensitive Data. Part of a larger project, Privacy Encodings for Sensitive Data (PESD) funded by the Sloan Foundation, the white paper examines the complexities and constraints inherent in the stewardship of qualitative Indigenous research data. 

Framed by a background discussion on Indigenous research approaches, ethical engagement, and Indigenous data sovereignty, the paper presents three research cases involving Cherokee, Nisqually, and Zuni communities and data sources. The case studies represent current perspectives, priorities, and practices of scholars committed to ethical work with Indigenous tribes, communities, and families. The analysis develops a contextual integrity profiling approach for explicating significant contextual factors and preliminary data curation goals for achieving CARE compliant protocols and protections for qualitative data infrastructure and services.

 

The first phase of DSISS has produced a fourth case study, with additional cases under development.

CASE 1 – Indigenous Cultural History

CASE 2 – Indigenous Language Revitalization

CASE 3 – Pueblo Knowledge Scholarship

CASE 4 – Reconnecting Archives to Indigenous Communities 

Case #1 – Indigenous Cultural History, Christopher Teuton, Professor and Chair of the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington; citizen of the Cherokee Nation.  Project: Cherokee Earth Dwellers: Stories and Teachings of the Natural World–Ani Tsalagi Elohi Anehi   Significance: This case provides a prime methodological example Indigenous community collaboration where collaborators are both research partners and knowledge authorities. The case also surfaces potential roles for data repositories in supporting scholars who produce public scholarship and create enhanced digital publications.

Data Curation Goals 

Content 

• Preserve at-risk Indigenous ecological knowledge, where appropriate 
• Instantiate unpublished research products 
• Support digital publication 

Context 

• Represent significance and meaning of Shade family collaboration 
• Document significance and meaning of Indigenous methodology Governance 
• Determine where authority lies for determining access constraints 
• Specify and implement access restrictions and conditions

 

Case #2 – Indigenous Language Revitalization by Tami Hohn, Assistant Teaching Professor, American Indian Studies at the University of Washington; Puyallup tribal member. Projects: Salish Language Research Guide; Nisqually Language Program   Contextual integrity significance: This case surfaces several intersecting problems related to humanities scholarship, where bibliographies, finding aids, and inventories often constitute data. It is also rather unique in the project’s direct relationship to library collections. The research process involved in the Research Guide raises questions about the application of descriptive practices and if and how metadata may introduce risks of exposure of sensitive content, such as spiritual and sacred knowledge or names of people and other entities. The Language Program project suggests a need for clarity on where the responsibility lies for identifying and gaining approval for use of content that already exists in an institutional collection. It highlights the need for mechanisms to assure access by tribe and community members to their cultural materials held in university libraries and other collecting institutions.

Data Curation Goals