Written Modules

Learning to work with communities in a good way necessitates making an effort to become familiar with and appreciate their history; as such, this document provides a high level chronology that describes the evolution of American policies toward, and more often against, Tribes within the continental United States. 

We recognize that this is not the NERRS Science Collaborative program’s story to tell and that this short document cannot convey the depth and lasting impacts of so many lived experiences. Rather than being comprehensive, our intention with this module is to present that the dominant historical narrative has overlooked or avoided foundational experiences of Indigenous people living on the land claimed by the United States, and to provide a starting point that encourages further independent exploration. 

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This document provides an overview of the relationship between the U.S. federal government and the governments of federally recognized Tribes, the process of formal Consultation, and what these policies and other international agreements mean for the sovereignty of Native Nations. In particular, this document is meant to help those hoping to engage Native Nations in the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaiʻi in the development of a collaborative science project understand the baseline expectations when working with external partners in those regions. Every Native Nation is unique and each has their own history with the U.S. federal government, which may impact how invitations to collaborate are received.

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This document provides an overview of the principles of free, prior, and informed consent, in the context of sovereignty. The goals of this document are to: a) demonstrate why informed consent is so important in collaborative science; and b) highlight what achieving informed consent entails. Building trust and nurturing reciprocal relationships are core tenets of collaborative science. As such, meaningful collaboration encourages the design of project approaches in a way that achieves those goals, which includes ensuring that participants understand and help shape how their contributions will be incorporated. This is especially relevant when engaging with members of Native Nations, who may be knowledge holders with specific needs for ensuring the information they share will be protected. 

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This document provides an overview of intellectual property and its implications for knowledge sharing and attribution in collaborative science. Intellectual property is a common thread connecting the concepts of authorship, ownership, and attribution, all of which are especially important to consider when projects incorporate Indigenous Knowledge. The goals of this module are to: 1) highlight key requirements for U.S. intellectual property protections and how they fail to protect Indigenous Knowledge; and 2) provide advice and best practices to ensure that Indigenous partners receive proper attribution for their contributions to collaborative science projects.

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This document provides a high-level introduction to sovereignty related to Indigenous Knowledge and institutional review boards (IRBs). In the context of collaborative science, approval of scopes of work from IRBs are generally required for research projects that include interactions with human subjects. The goals of this module are to: 1) introduce readers to the concepts of sovereignty as it relates to Indigenous Knowledge and storytelling; 2) briefly outline what institutional boards do and do not protect; and 3) describe data sharing agreements and other tools to protect data sovereignty.

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This appendix contains short definitions for terms found throughout the collection, as well as terms that may be used in external resources linked throughout. 

A note about terminology

Throughout these documents and their associated reference resources, there are multiple instances of terms such as Indigenous, Native, Tribal, and American Indian. In general, the term we use within the document depends primarily on the context of the source we cite; these terms sometimes, but do not always, have the same meaning. We typically use “Native Nation” as a general term that describes both federally-recognized and non-federally-recognized Indigenous communities, whereas “Tribal Nation” describes only federally-recognized Tribes. 

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This appendix provides short descriptions of the legislation, executive orders, and treaties referenced in this collection. Please note that external resources linked in modules may include references to legislation or treaties that are not covered here.

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This appendix highlights key articles of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that specifically reference protected rights related to resource access and management, consultation, and data sovereignty.

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This appendix lists the conditions necessary to qualify for intellectual property protections in the U.S. and some examples of how these requirements fail to protect Indigenous intellectual property.

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This appendix highlights the difference between gift-giving and financial compensation. It also includes notes and best practices for appropriate gift-giving, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

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This appendix outlines our programmatic approach to understanding and applying terminology associated with sovereignty and Native Nations in the context of our work supporting collaborative science.

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