Boozhoo News River Readers,

All three articles this week’s News River Express are connected to the idea of free and prior informed consent.

Who gets to say how Indigenous data is used, whether that's an AI model, a genome or a census form? We work on variations of this same question on every day here at Animikii. Feel free to reach out if you have a project where our expertise might be useful!

This Week’s Curated Articles

The algorithm of consent

The Quad, University of Alberta

At a University of Alberta research symposium, scholars including Chris Andersen and Kisha Supernant made the case that "open" data and AI training can repeat old patterns of extraction unless Indigenous consent is built in at every stage, governed by OCAP® and CARE. Andersen names the one of the issues inherent in “openness”:

"The problem with using an open data model is that when you democratize knowledge, it may seem like it's great for everyone, but from an Indigenous perspective, it may not be."

Data as a relation: a blockchain platform for Indigenous data sovereignty

The Lancet Digital Health

After the NIH's All of Us program was criticised for collecting Native American DNA without consulting tribal leaders, the Native BioData Consortium and a UC San Diego team set out to build a different model. Working with the Cheyenne River Sioux Nation, they prototyped "b-IDS," a blockchain system that records community decisions about genomic research so approval, consent, and benefit stay with the community. What began as a data-storage tool became something closer to a shared decision-making record: immutable proof of who agreed to what, and why.

First Nations peoples are often undercounted in Australia's census

The Conversation

Australia's 2021 census missed an estimated 17.4% of First Nations peoples, and the researchers behind this piece argue the cause is a lack of Indigenous data governance. They offer a term for the mindset that treats Indigenous information as ownerless, "data nullius," an echo of terra nullius. 

“Our research found public datasets often treat First Nations information as free to access, use and interpret without community consent. This renders it “ownerless” and available for use by governments and researchers without First Nations input.”