Indigenous Science

In September 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of indigenous peoples. For example, the General Assembly is “[…] Recognizing that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment, […]”

Article 31 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.

Read more at un.org/…/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html

Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH)

The Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project was a seven-year international research initiative based at Simon Fraser University, in British Columbia , Canada (2008-2016), exploring the rights, values, and responsibilities of material culture, cultural knowledge and the practice of heritage research.