RESOURCE: Guidance for Indigenous Collections and Data

Two organizations, Local Contexts and Creative Commons, have collaborated to create guidelines that “share commitments to equitable knowledge sharing, proper attribution, and respect for diverse cultural and community protocols,” in support of cultural heritage institutions that are creating access to data for Indigenous collections. These guidelines go beyond the usual protocols of copyright, priming museum, library, and archive workers to consider ethical and legal issues of open access to Indigenous cultural heritage. The new guidelines

“advance practical understanding among cultural heritage practitioners of how open heritage interplays with the protection of Indigenous rights over their heritage and data. Following a hands-on approach, the guidance unpacks the key issues underlying equitable access to and reuse of Indigenous cultural heritage and maps out the practical steps institutions can take when engaging with Indigenous communities… [and] clarifies how the CC licenses and tools and Local Contexts Labels can work together towards greater cultural equity, supporting communities in sharing on terms that reflect their cultural authority, and supporting respectful cultural exchanges and intercultural dialogue. In other words, it aligns open licensing tools with Indigenous data sovereignty frameworks.”

The guidelines themselves and a webinar explaining an overview are available on the Creative Commons webpage.