Lesson 4
Gary Holton, Wesley Leonard, and Peter Pulsifer
Synopsis
This chapter centers the principle that data should never be thought of as being divorced from their source. In the case of linguistic data, this means that data are inherently associated not just with “language” in the abstract but with the individual users of those languages, the roles and relationships of those users within the communities they belong to, and the broader sociopolitical contexts in which data are created and curated. Developments in technology and data sharing bring new opportunities to share and analyze linguistic data; however, this brings new questions and possibly risks related to ethical use and deployment of emerging technologies. Indigenous data sovereignty plays an increasingly important role in discussions of data sharing, providing a framework for managing the production, interpretation, and dissemination of linguistic data. Appropriate protocols are needed to facilitate direct oversight of these data by the communities from which they are sourced.
Core concepts & keywords
Collaborative Consultation: Community-based research approach which frames ethical issues relating to research not as unilateral decisions but rather as negotiable determinations developed through consultation among the stakeholders in a research project.
R- Words to Guide Research: Relationships, responsibility, respect, reciprocity, rights and regulations. These concepts often underlie Indigenous approaches to knowledge production and circulation, especially in terms of ethics.
Indigenous Data Sovereignty Movement: A direct response to exploitative relationships toward data collection and research with Indigenous peoples. The IDS Movement argues that Indigenous people should be directly involved in the collection, management, and application of data about them. The IDS Movement recognizes that access to knowledge is not a universal right—a position which may be at odds with the Open Data Movement.
Legacy Data: Data that was created when there was less discussion around intellectual property issues than there is today. Legacy data may also be stored in formats which are more fragile and less accessible.
Open Data Movement: Emphasizes empirical research, data-backed arguments, and results that can be verified and replicated through unhindered access to the data on which the research is based. While sometimes viewed as a universal good, the Open Data principles may contradict the principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty.
Activities
Exercises - Practice what you've learned
Research the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance and the FAIR principles. Where do they overlap, and where do they differ? How do these principles guide linguistics research and how could we do better as a field?
Implement these practices in your career
If you are using or plan to use legacy data in your current or future research, consider the ethical questions laid out in this chapter. Consider whether consent was given for the data to be collected. Think about how you could confirm what the language community currently feels about using the data, and how you can use it ethically.
Quiz - Test yourself!
Relevant data management use cases
Data management practices in an ethnographic study of language and migration by Lynette Arnold
Managing sign language acquisition video data: A personal journey in the organization and representation of signed data by Julie A. Hochgesang
Managing data from archival documentation for language reclamation by Megan Lukaniec
Managing sign language data from fieldwork by Nick Palfreyman
Related readings
Carroll, Stephanie Russo, Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear, and Andrew Martinez. 2019. Indigenous data governance: Strategies from United States Native Nations. Data Science Journal 18(1): 31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2019-031
Leonard, Wesley Y. 2018. Reflections on (de)colonialism in language documentation. In Bradley McDonnell, Andrea L. Berez-Kroeker, and Gary Holton (eds.), Reflections on language documentation 20 years after Himmelmann 1998, 55–65. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24808
Linn, Mary S. 2014. Living archives: A community-based language archive model. Language Documentation and Description 12: 53–67. http://www.elpublishing.org/itempage/137
International Arctic Science Committee. 2013. IASC Data Statement. https://iasc.info/data-observations/iasc-data-statement.
Share your thoughts on this article or topic
Use #LingData #IndigenousDataSovereignty #EthicalDataManagement on your favorite social media platform!
About the authors:
Gary Holton is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where he teaches courses in documentary linguistics and biocultural diversity. His research focuses on the diversity of linguistic and cultural knowledge systems, employing interdisciplinary, community-based approaches to language maintenance and language documentation.
Wesley Y. Leonard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Riverside. As a linguist and activist in language reclamation efforts, he works to build capacity for Native American communities engaged in language continuance.
Peter Pulsifer is an Associate Professor of Geography at Carleton University. His interests include data management and sharing protocols, traditional and community-based knowledge, and web-based mapping technologies.
Citations
Cite this chapter:
Holton, Gary, Wesley Y. Leonard, and Peter L. Pulsifer. 2022. Indigenous peoples, ethics, and linguistic data. In The Open Handbook of Linguistic Data Management, edited by Andrea L. Berez-Kroeker, Bradley McDonnell, Eve Koller, and Lauren B. Collister, 49-60. doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12200.003.0008. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press Open.
Cite this online lesson:
Gabber, Shirley, Danielle Yarbrough, Andrea L. Berez-Kroeker, Bradley McDonnell, Eve Koller, Lauren B. Collister, Gary Holton, Wesley Y. Leonard, and Peter L. Pulsifer. 2022. "Lesson 4." Linguistic Data Management: Online companion course to The Open Handbook of Linguistic Data Management. Website: https://sites.google.com/hawaii.edu/linguisticdatamanagement/course-lessons/04-indigenous-people-ethics-and-linguistic-data [Date accessed].