Subject Guides: Indigenous &amp; First Nations Studies: Indigenous Data Governance & Sovereignty

About Indigenous Data Governance and Sovereignty

Data sovereignty refers to the right of Indigenous nations to govern information in a manner consistent with their laws, practices, and customs. This includes sovereignty over the collection, use, control, access, possession, and sharing of the data.

Data sovereignty is essential in achieving the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples to govern their community, lands, and resources as outlined in the Canadian adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Indigenous Data

First Nations Information Governance Centre's OCAP^® defines Indigenous data as Indigenous knowledge, information, or materials, which can include:

Data from Indigenous people, including cultures, languages, stories, song, knowledge, ceremonies, and more
Data about Indigenous people, including demographics, statistics about housing, labour, health, economics, education, and more
Indigenous lands and resources, including medicines, waters, animals and more

Please visit the OCAP Principles tab for more information on OCAP

CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance

The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance guide the appropriate use and reuse of Indigenous data. This set of principles indicates the significant and crucial role of data in advancing Indigenous innovation and self-determination.

The CARE Principles were developed in response to the FAIR principles of the general open data movement. FAIR, which stands for findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable, doesn't fully engage with Indigenous Peoples' rights and interests, as the principle lacks the understanding of power differentials and historical contexts.

CARE Principle by Global Indigenous Data Alliance (GIDA) includes:

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.

Indigenous Data Governance and Sovereignty Resources

BC First Nations Regional Information Governance Centre
The BC First Nations Regional Information Governance Centre (BC RIGC) supports BC First Nations governments and organizations in owning, protecting, and using their data as a foundation for self-determination and good governance
First Nations Information Governance Centre
The First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC) is the home to the First Nations principles of OCAP®, and FNIGC's wide range of work also includes research, training, capacity building, and knowledge translation, as well as data gathering initiatives on- reserve and in Northern First Nations communities. FNIGC's First Nations Data Centre provides access to published, unpublished, and record-level data from their respected national survey work, including the First Nations Regional Health Survey (FNRHS, or RHS) and the First Nations Regional Early Childhood, Education and Employment Survey (FNREEES, or REEES).
Global Indigenous Data Alliance
The Global Indigenous Data Alliance (GIDA) is a network of Indigenous researchers, data practitioners, and policy activists advocating for Indigenous Data Sovereignty within their nation-states and at an international level. The aim of the Global Indigenous Data Alliance is to progress International Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance in order to advance Indigenous control of Indigenous Data.
Indigenous Protocols dot Art
The purpose of the Indigenous Protocols for the Visual Arts resource guide is to provide practical guidelines for respectful engagement with Indigenous Peoples. It is part of an ongoing initiative to strengthen respect for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis visual art and artists, and legal and moral rights in the lands commonly known as Canada.
Indigitization: Tools for Digitizing and Sustaining Indigenous Knowledge
Indigitization is a collaborative initiative between BC Indigenous groups and academic partners from the University of British Columbia and the University of Northern British Columbia to facilitate capacity building in Indigenous information management. The Indigitization Program provides resources through the Indigitization toolkit, enables community-led digitization projects through training workshops, identifies funding opportunities, and advocates for ongoing funding directly to Aboriginal partners for sustained cultural heritage management.
Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy
The Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy's Indigenous Research section provides support to the development of Indigenous RDM protocols that aim to ensure community consent, access and ownership of Indigenous data, and protection of Indigenous intellectual property rights.