Governance of Indigenous data in open earth systems science

Abstract

In the age of big data and open science, what processes are needed to follow open science protocols while upholding Indigenous Peoples' rights? The Earth Data Relations Working Group (EDRWG), convened to address this question and envision a research landscape that acknowledges the legacy of extractive practices and embraces new norms across Earth science institutions and open science research. Using the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) as an example, the EDRWG recommends actions, applicable across all phases of the data lifecycle, that recognize the sovereign rights of Indigenous Peoples and support better research across all Earth Sciences.

Fig. 1. Indigenous lands and Earth science field sites.

Overlaying the major Earth Science network sites and NEON domains on a map of traditional and current Indigenous territories of North America from Native Lands Digital (native-land.ca) highlights the overlapping relationships with these locations. The main panel on the right depicts the contiguous United States, and the left panels depict (from top to bottom) Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Colored dots indicate the location of network sites, including Long Term Ecological Research (orange squares), Long Term Agricultural Research (red square), Forest Global Earth Observatory (orange diamond), Critical Zone Observatory (light blue diamond), NEON Aquatic (blue circle), and NEON Terrestrial (green circle) sites. NEON domains are outlined in black. Image credit Colin Wiliams and Rachel Swanson, NEON/Battelle.

Fig. 2. Relationships across individuals and collectives to initiate CARE for data governance.

CARE may be implamented by data actors anywhere on the spectrum from individuals to multi-national bodies. Interactions across scales reinforce data governance practices to normalize data ethics within Earth System Sciences. Image credit Kathy Bogan, CIRES.

Fig. 3. Recommendations for governing Indigenous data across the data lifecycle.

For many Indigenous Peoples of North America, the medicine wheel teaches about balance in contrasting aspects of the world and the nature of recurring cycles. The medicine wheel may, at times, represent the cardinal directions, natural elements, aspects of self, stages of life, seasons of the year, and times of the day (inner circle); here, we use it to think about the data and specimen life cycle (shaded outer circle) and the iterative nature of long-term research. We offer suggestions for bringing each aspect of an Earth Science project or institution into balance with sovereignty and multiple ways of knowing across settler colonial and Indigenous systems (bulleted text). Image credit Colin Wiliams, NEON/Battelle.