Indigenous scientists are fighting to protect their data — and their culture

Every month, a group of indigenous scientists from all over the world gather. They have no agenda. They meet as colleagues to catch up and communicate with the challenges of being indigenous in Western academic circles.

Their meeting in February, however, quickly hit a different tone.

“There was this waterfall that began to happen,” said Max Lipuron, a professor at the University of Memorial in Newfoundland, who hosts virtual calls. “Everyone in the United States was like”Bible. My career ended. Tight student financing” ”

Enter Liboiron immediately sorting. Liboireon, a geographical director and a university director by trade, is used to organize with the occupation of Wall Street. “I was a full -time activist,” they said to be enlarged. With their hair with an arms tattoo, the previous Liboireon life is not difficult to imagine. They are Red River Métis, the indigenous peoples in the wild clips in Canada, and they speak with a cold and compassionate candidate.

Since Donald Trump has entered his post, Lipuron has placed rapid response skills for their use to support their colleagues in the United States. American federal law Confess Many tribal states as sovereign political entities, not ethnic or ethnic groups, but that did not prevent Trump from Configure the indigenous peoples He has Attacks On diversity, fairness and inclusion (Dei). From Alaska to New England, the indigenous researchers – and the societies they serve – lose the ability to reach dollars for decisive sciences that can help them amid the changing temperatures of the planet. They are concerned that loss, theft, seizure, or privatization of their research – which often includes ancient cultural knowledge – can be the next.

After all, the United States and Canada hold a bad record on the rights of the indigenous population Century of theft, genocide and continuous repression: “This begins in 1492.” The indigenous population societies are now concerned that the government may be a weapon of data against it, using it to justify monitoring its activities or extracting valuable resources on their lands.

“We must have more control of how the settlement country is represented in the data, how to collect data about us,” said Lipuron, describing the discussions about the rule of original data in the 1990s. “The movement comes from the idea of ​​mismanagement through bad data practices from the state.”

There is a new level of uncertainty since the billionaire technology invaded the mysterious Eleon Musk of sensitive federal data.

“There is an unknown relationship between what Musk can touch and our data,” said Lipuron.

After discussing the annoying February, Liboireon sent a survey to assess the needs of everyone: “The servers were immediately on that list.”

These servers are warehouses for anything digital, including research. Liboireon, and this group is part of a decades -long movement around it The rule of original data and judgmentWho calls for the rights of the indigenous peoples to determine who runs, runs and possesses their information. Data can include anything from environmental DNA to audio records of the history of the mouth. It is often sensitive as well. The indigenous peoples do not want this information to fall into the wrong hands – or worse than that, completely disappear – but the federal government looks less than an ally with every day that passes. Under Trump’s first presidency, scientists were only concerned about federal data, but behavior in the second chapter unprecedented.

“The rule of law and rules of government, standards and laws of the state are no longer applied,” said Lipuron. “Even if the federal government does not keep your data or funds the federal government, it has become very clear that different parts of the federal government can reach almost anywhere and enter.”

A possible solution appeared: the special servers in foreign countries.

through Interterb network CODIRECTS LIBOIRON, the members already identify at least three sites in Canada where the original population data can be stored safely. While the researchers end access to new servers, they have turned into cloud storage, using service providers such as CryptpadAn alternative to France for Google Documents, and SynchronizationDropbox Canadian alternative.

“I have moved mainly and kept safe to fill resources widely with the same technologies,” said Lipuron.

One of the ally is Angie Saltman, a citizen of Métis Nation of Alberta, founder and president SaltCanada -based technical company with its data center. Solmidia and its sister company, HorizonsWork with a group of clients, including the private industry, the government, the first nations, and the original and institutional non -profit organizations. Saltman is considering her customer relationships similar to the owner’s relationships and the tenant.

“We will take care of the house, but we usually create it so that our team cannot crawl at home,” she explained.

Meanwhile, large technology companies in the United States, such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta, can crawl everything they want. They have long cooperated with law enforcement agencies to deliver private data to users. Recently, they were The alignment of themselves With Trump through donations and changes in internal politics.

Storing data is not everything

Ultimately, the sovereignty of the original data deepens from servers and technology. It comes to the supervision of cultures and self -independence of the indigenous peoples, recognition of the mind of the original peoples, and training the next generation to continue this legacy.

“The indigenous people have always been data experts,” said Riley Titting Fung, post PhD researcher in original governance. Who is Chamoro. Refers to the historical Marshali stick plans, Made of coconut strips and Kauri shellsUse its ancestors to safely record sea and trips. The indigenous peoples in unlikely American territory, such as Guam, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Virgin, face unique challenges about the rule of original data because of their lack of federal recognition.

This movement revolves around trust – between researchers and the societies they serve, as well as among the indigenous peoples and the federal government. But trust was not built overnight.

“You have to calculate all the things you did as an institution and also as an individual. Principles of care This directs conversations on the rule of original data. “Even as an indigenous individual, you have to count how your mind has been colonized.”

At Memorial University, Lipuron A. Contract Between the university and the indigenous communities in 2019 who have indigenous partners and benefit from a specific research project. Maine University is similarly signed by memoranda of understanding with the researchers of the states and the Panaki with whom you cooperate regularly.

“The solutions are not just digital technical solutions,” said Carroll, AHTNA, a citizen of the original Kluti-Kaah village in Alaska. “We are talking about real transformations in power, real transformations in power and true depth of the action.”

Relationships are progressing forward: The Trump administration has not prevented the national health institutes from completing the policy that requires federal researchers to obtain permission from the tribes to reach their data on the agency’s databases, according to the director of the Tribal Health Research Office at the National Health Institutes. Elsewhere in the federal government, indigenous leaders lose their contacts as Trump administration employees. Now, defenders are increasingly looking to state governments, which also houses the health and environment data that indigenous peoples need.

The climate crisis adds urgency

In Washington, for example, Tulalip tribes and the Ministry of Health recently Fell Agreement-the first-which gives tribes direct access to laboratory reports and diseases of diseases that will help protect the welfare of their societies. Since climate change contributes to more general health emergencies, indigenous peoples also need access to data from satellites for weather, medical plants and non -human relatives, such as salmon and bonuses.

After all, each community differs from the indigenous people, but the common thread unites them: their connections with the land, plants and animals that they share with them. In many cultures, animals, plants, waterways and the universe are seen as relatives.

“The people’s health” said. Seven directionsThe original public health institute at Washington University. She is the descendant of Andz Peru.

Returning to Maine University, Anthropology Professor Darren Ranko, a citizen of Penobscot result, concluded a project in December where his team collected audio recordings of knowledge holders in Wabanaki (wise men who are devoted to care for guardianship and sharing of the original knowledge) who lived through previous disasters. The researchers analyzed oral history and cultural experiences as well as climate change data, such as rainfall and air and water temperatures, to determine previous adaptation strategies that may be useful in responding to the current climate effects.

“The data was related to tribal perspectives on environmental change and climate in the past, current and future,” Ranko explained. “This is not the first time that we adapt to a changing climate.”

Data was jointly controlled by tribal scientists and societies during the research, but instead of following the standard protocol to delete the human topic data upon completion of the project, the team issued all the information to the tribes. Now, relevant communities can access information as long as they love without having to ask for permission or jumping across hoops.

Desi Small-Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Data Warriers laboratory and sociology professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, works with her leaders in northern Shayan, a nation to get rid of these entire holes by formulating a tribal law to protect their knowledge of their ancestors. Hope is to pass it later this year. Currently, tribal leaders are struggling to access the necessary information about fisheries, air quality and water. In some cases, the government is already collecting this data. Tribes are not only allowing entry.

“How do we get the data already in our hands? How can we also rebuild the data that we have not in our societies for a very long time?” The little Rodriguez said. “We are applying for how to use the white man’s law to protect Cheyenne data.”

Rodriguez Small Rodriguez worries about who currently runs the US federal government. You cannot trust Trump – and certainly not musk – with her cultural people’s knowledge. She trusts her indigenous relatives in the United States and beyond. In March, she visited her Mauritanian peers who invited her to New Zealand to cooperate in solutions to the crisis faced by American indigenous researchers. In April, Small-Rodriguez was in Australia for Global indigenous data governance conference.

She said: “We are very committed to cultivating and sponsoring our international original relations because there is a lot to learn and share it with each other.” “What a beautiful thing. It makes me cry to think that we have colleagues and their indigenous relatives around the world,” like. “We see you, and we want to help you.” ”