Technologies to Operationalize Indigenous Data Sovereignty
Collection Editor(s):
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Introduction
Throughout history, data about Indigenous communities, cultures, and territories have been collected and collated through research and surveillance as part of processes of colonisation and assimilation. Settler colonialism occurs not only on the land but also in the academy where the omission of Indigenous leadership in data production positions Indigenous Peoples as objects of study. Limiting the sovereignty of Indigenous communities and removing their right to define themselves has created a deficit-focused narrative that characterises these communities by “5D data” (disparity, deprivation, disadvantage, dysfunction, and difference as set forth by Maggie Walter), and fails to satisfy self-determined data priorities.
Indigenous Data Sovereignty is focused on enhancing Indigenous control of Indigenous data. Western intellectual property systems are organised in ways that recognise authorship and copyright of non-indigenous scholars and institutions in libraries, archives, and museums with little regard to the Indigenous communities to whom the material belongs. The inability to control the access, use and circulation of Indigenous data is not just limited to…
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Suggested Citation
Hudson, M., & Carroll, S. (2025). Technologies to operationalize Indigenous Data Sovereignty. In ELSIhub Collections. Center for ELSI Resources and Analysis (CERA). https://doi.org/10.25936/7sej-bj09
About ELSIhub Collections
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ELSIhub Collections are essential reading lists on fundamental or emerging topics in ELSI, curated and explained by expert Collection Editors, often paired with ELSI trainees. This series assembles materials from cross-disciplinary literatures to enable quick access to key information.