USF Intro to Anthropology - Research and Native American Communities Resource Guide: Ethics

ANKN is a resource for compiling and exchanging information related to Alaska Native knowledge systems and ways of knowing. We are pleased to create and distribute a variety of publications that assist Native people, government agencies, educators and the general public in gaining access to the knowledge base that Alaska Natives have acquired through cumulative experience over millennia.

2012 Ethnic Statement

The Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project is a seven-year international research initiative based at Simon Fraser University, in British Columbia, Canada. Our work explores the rights, values, and responsibilities of material culture, cultural knowledge and the practice of heritage research. IPinCH is a collaboration of scholars, students, heritage professionals, community members, policy makers, and Indigenous organizations across the globe.

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), or Memorandum of understanding (MOU), is a document that describes the terms of a cooperative agreement between two or more parties, as well as the goals of the cooperation.

In her Munro Lecture at SFU’s Harbour Centre, Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith shares her tremendous insights into indigenous knowledge, language revitalization, decolonizing research practices, and how to "make knowledge live.”
Professor Smith is an internationally recognized educator and researcher, and her book Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples has been one of the most widely cited publications relating to decolonizing research practices. She is Professor of Education and Maori Development, Pro-Vice Chancellor Maori, Dean of the School of Maori and Pacific Development and Director of Te Kotahi Research Institute, at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.

Health research involving Indigenous Peoples (IP) has generally been initiated and controlled by research institutions (RI); IP have often had little or no representation or rights with respect to the research process, or to the interpretation and use of the resulting data. Fundamental differences in perception between non-indigenous and indigenous peoples can affect the research process, and need to be clearly understood and taken into account before any research is started. These may include differing perspectives on what constitutes public and private life, notions of property, and the rights and interests of the group or collectivity as opposed to those of the individual (Tri-Council, 1998).

The Indigenous Research Ethics research theme explores the dynamic intersection of policies, procedures, practices, and philosophies of contemporary Indigenous research ethics.
Contains links to: presentations, readings, reports, and blog poses

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 13 September 2007

Whether existing knowledge is digitised or new data are ‘born digital’, the impact they have on decision-making, allocation of resources, and innovation is significant. Data have important implications for Indigenous Peoples’ ability to exercise their individual and collective rights to self-determination.