Base de données de recherche des TNO

Régions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

étiquettes: social sciences, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, cultural heritage, Inuvialuit Living History Project, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, data sovereignty

Objectif(s): To move towards Indigenous data sovereignty, this research will critically analyze Inuvialuit heritage data governance structures, by examining the existing approaches to managing Inuvialuit heritage data and the perspectives of diverse actors involved in this process. Specific questions to be addressed to fulfill the above objective include: By identifying and supporting the need for Inuvialuit sovereign rights over cultural heritage and suggesting best practices in Indigenous digital heritage data governance, this research will help improve Inuvialuit access, control, possession, and ownership over digital cultural heritage.

Description du projet: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5449. To move towards Indigenous data sovereignty, the research will critically analyze Inuvialuit heritage data governance structures by examining the existing approaches to managing Inuvialuit heritage data and the perspectives of diverse actors involved in this process. The research asks: (1) What are Inuvialuit aims and concerns regarding heritage data sovereignty? (2) What data governance frameworks are currently in place in these contexts? (3) How do these frameworks support and/or undermine Inuvialuit data sovereignty? (4) What changes are needed to better support Inuvialuit data sovereignty and what are the barriers to implementing them? By identifying and supporting the need for Inuvialuit sovereign rights over their cultural heritage and suggesting best practices in Indigenous digital heritage data governance, my research will help improve Inuvialuit access, control, possession, and ownership over their digital cultural heritage. Four main constituencies will be involved with this research, to understand the current data governance frameworks for Inuvialuit heritage and how they support and/or undermine data sovereignty: (1) Leadership of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) who are responsible for setting strategic priorities; (2) staff at the Inuvialuit Cultural Centre (ICC), the cultural arm of the IRC; (3) staff at Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (PWNHC), who curates archaeological collections from Inuvialuit cultural sites and implement NWT heritage legislation; and (4) academic researchers involved in digital heritage projects in partnership with the ICC. Semi-structured interviews may be conducted with individuals from all these constituencies, which include Inuvialuit community members (IRC, and ICC). Interviews with leadership and staff of the IRC and ICC will take place in person at the ICC in Inuvik, NWT; interviews with staff at PWNHC will take place in-person at the PWNHC in Yellowknife, NWT; interviews with academics in partnership with the ICC will take place virtually. Between 10-40 individuals will be interviewed, spread out as evenly as possible across these four constituencies. Interviews will take approximately 1-2 hours. Interviews will be audio-recorded and supplemented by notes (either taken by hand or via laptop), as per participant consent. Willingness to be audio-recorded is not necessary for participation. In the interviews, the interviewer will ask questions to determine how these constituencies define data governance and data sovereignty, why/if they consider it important, what policies and/or legislation govern their approach to data governance, and what challenges they face in moving towards Inuvialuit data sovereignty. In other terms, the interviewer will ask how collections are managed, accessed, controlled, owned, and organized, by whom, and how these conditions are governed (or not) by legislative protocols and heritage policies. In addition to these semi-structured interviews, the researcher will also spend time at the ICC and PWNHC observing how their data governance processes are implemented to better understand how they relate to data sovereignty. To gather this information, participant observation will be utilized as a method. Time will be spent volunteering at the ICC and PWNHC (approximately 20-80 hours at each). This will involve watching how the institutes are utilized on a day-to-day basis, participating in/listening to informal conversations about governance structures and collection management, and taking photographs of the space (no individuals or identifiable information will be pictured). This will allow investigation into how, and by whom, files related to cultural sites and belongings, such as site records, collections catalogs, photographs, and oral history transcripts, are organized, protected, accessed, and controlled. The processes and results of this MA research will be shared with participating constituencies and the broader Inuvialuit community in multiple ways: (1) through community meetings, (2) over social media, (3) through the ILHP website, and (4) through publication, in which all participating research constituencies will have access. By making my research steps and findings accessible, the possibility for response and engagement within Inuvialuit communities will increase and thus improve Inuvialuit data governance-- reflecting the purposes of my research. Apart from the sharing of data, other ILHP team members will also be available to the Inuvialuit community through the same channels, allowing members of the community to voice concerns, share ideas, and further build relationality. See Inuvialuit Living History website: www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca and Facebook page. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: June 01 - August 10, 2023