Indigenous Media Network
Presentation

• Information is processed against an existing body of knowledge, which defines its meaning and value
• Information is as diverse as individual, social and cultural diversity
• The concept of knowledge is as diverse as the idea of information
• Communication is shaped by and depends on culturally defined regulations

• Linked to relationship with ancestral territories
• System of knowledge and practices
• Provides philosophy defining the place of humans in the “web of life”
• Includes inherent ethics for interaction between human, natural and spiritual worlds

Traditional Knowledge and
Indigenous Ethics
•
Traditional knowledge includes
Indigenous ethics towards:
- Utilization of resources for human use
- Application of knowledge for human purposes

Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Customary Law
• Indigenous customary law provides for:
- classification of different types of knowledge
- Proper procedures for its acquisition and sharing
- Rights and responsibilities which attach to its possession

Summary:
What is Indigenous Knowledge?
• Deeply holistic
• Collective in nature
• Contains an entire worldview
• Rooted to a particular place
• Some of its aspects are sacred and secret
• Includes social and political relations
• Includes regulations for its use and dissemination
• Managing principles:
1.Stewardship
2.Guardianship
3.Intergenerational responsibility

• Elders and other traditional authorities
• Certain or all males/females
• Certain clans/families
• Specialists
• Age specific
• Gender specific
• Social and individual responsibilities

• Sharing and acquiring knowledge involve specific procedures to be observed:
- Exchange of information, with appropriate protocols to follow, highly depend on the given communication situation and its actors
- Information communication is bound to the ethical and cultural obligations related to the shared knowledge
- Teachings are specific in time and place, and adapted to the respective recipient(s)

• Allows adaptation to the context of the situation and the maturity of the receiver(s)
• Allows adaptation to readiness of recipient(s) to use the given information responsibly
• Allows fullfilling ethical obligations related to the communicated knowledge and information

Indigenous Knowledge in the
Economy of the Information Society
• Traditional knowledge is increasingly reduced to
- an important resource
- valuable raw material for the knowledge - economy of the Information Society
• Indigenous knowledge, cultivars and inventions are mainly utilized by:
- agri-business (to improve commercial food and fibre crops)
- pharmaceutical industry
(production of new drugs)

Commercial Exploitation of
Indigenous Knowledge
• Scientific estimates indicate that Indigenous Peoples possess as much as 99% of existing knowledge about usable species
• Commercial exploitation of traditional knowledge and inventions often takes place without authorization and consent of Indigenous Peoples
• Digitalizing Indigenous knowledge and disseminating it as local content, places it in the public domain and thus makes it vulnerable to exploitation

Public Domain
Developed in the framework of
European economic philosophy
Includes knowledge and information that is considered shared, disclosed or generally known
Is considered a common resource
Viewed freely available for economic utilization
Traditional Knowledge
Is not recognized as a valid economic, legal, ethical and philosophical framework
Is denied its holistic concept including related protocols for sharing and dissemination
Is considered a res nullius and is appropriated from Indigenous
Peoples
Is denied its ethical implications and related cultural obligations

• Access to a vibrant public domain is the backbone of the envisioned global
Information Society
• At the same time, Indigenous Peoples need to assert their rights and obligations towards their traditional knowledge

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) –
A Solution for Indigenous Peoples?
IPRs Traditional Knowledge
temporary protection of a creative work against commercial use by third parties
often require disclosure of related knowledge and thus placing it into the public domain
are an instrument to reap economic benefits from a commercial creative work by granting the owner temporary private property rights
protection of knowledge as such against unauthorized use and commercial exploitation
permanent removal from the public domain, unless authorized by
Indigenous Peoples
commercial exploitation is often problematic, since creation is considered a gift with human owners as custodians and future generations as strong rights-holders

•
For Indigenous Peoples, two essential questions emerge regarding their participation in the Information Society:
1.
Is it possible to share their knowledge and information without violating their cultural obligations and customary laws?
2.
Is it possible to utilize ICTs within their cultural contexts without risking to lose their cultural identity?

Indigenous participation must be rightsbased
Its implementation and applications must be culturally appropriate
It must include Indigenous philosophies and ethics

Adequate Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Equal participation of Indigenous Peoples in the
Information Society requires:
New standard setting activities to develop adequate
Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Information Society
Recognition of existing Indigenous Rights

Creation of Adequate Legal Instruments
•
•
•
Full ownership, control and protection of Indigenous cultural and intellectual property
Alternatives to the application of the public domain concept to their knowledge and cultural expressions
Alternatives to the application of current IPR regimes to their knowledge
•
Recognition of Indigenous culturally diverse concepts and provisions of their customary laws in defining the term intellectual and cultural property
•
Recognition of Indigenous cultural obligations towards communication and dissemination, use and application of their knowledge
•
Legal protection must recognize:
1. collective nature of knowledge
2. culturally diverse concepts of ownership and ethical implications
3. multi-generational view

ICTs and
Indigenous Communication
• ICTs are a cultural expression of the society that has developed them
• ICT-applications for Indigenous Peoples have to be culturally appropriate and must adapt to
Indigenous modes of communication
• Indigenous Peoples must be able to determine
ICT-utilization in their communities on their own terms

Recognizing Existing Indigenous Rights in the Information Society
•
Recognition of existing Indigenous Rights is essential to:
allow Indigenous Peoples to participate in the
Information Society without losing their cultural identity
support the survival of their living cultures without risking their museumization

• Rights to ancestral territories
• Rights to transmission of cultural values and customary laws
• Rights to educational systems and traditional knowledge transmission
• Rights to Indigenous languages
• Rights to the integrity of
Indigenous health systems and healing practices

• ICTs cannot replace traditional elements of
Indigenous cultures, such as:
- interaction with ancestral territories for generation and preservation of knowledge
- inter-generational knowledge transmission

Participation of
Indigenous Peoples is vital
• Indigenous Peoples must control and determine ICTutilization in their communities
• Involvement of Elders and other traditional authorities in related decision-making processes is important
To identify:
- culturally appropriate content
- culturally appropriate forms of digitalization of Indigenous cultural elements
- culturally appropriate e-applications

Indigenous Peoples are affected by the
Digital Divide
• Lack of basic infrastructure
• Lack of electricity and telephone services
• Availability of servers • Lack of equipment
• Lack of knowledge on operating and maintaining ICTs
• Lack of financial resources for necessary acquisitions

• Indigenous Peoples have the right to bridge the digital divide on their own terms
• Avenues to take include:
1. Design of culturally appropriate ICT capacity-building programs by Indigenous ICT experts
2. Indigenous-Indigenous co-operation programs
3. Support for “Elders-and-Youth” Initiatives to develop strategies for bridging the digital divide

• If all these pre-conditions are met, ICTs could become a usefull complementary tool for:
Preservation of Indigenous cultures and languages
Indigenous education (especially through distant learning)
Indigenous language training
Health assistance for remote Indigenous communities
Environmental education and monitoring
Support for traditional ways of life, for instance: nomadic communities

Other important applications include:
- E-business
- Establishment of Indigenous Media
- Intercultural education and combating racism and discrimination against Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous Research is vital to develop
Indigenous ICT-approaches
• Promotion of Indigenous research to explore Indigenous aspirations of Indigenous Peoples towards the
Information Society and challenges and potentials they perceive
•
Support for Indigenous Studies to develop strategies of Indigenous
Peoples how to bridge the digital divide in their regions on their own terms and ensure affordable access solutions
•
Design of culturally appropriate capacity-building instruments on
ICT-use by Indigenous experts to allow for informed decisionmaking of Indigenous Peoples on their ICT-needs
•
Support for Indigenous research on the effects of ICT-utilization on the survival of Indigenous cultures, languages and identities

Intercultural Communication on the
Evolution and Implementation of the Information Society
• Intercultural communication between Indigenous and non-Indigenous actors of the Information Society is essential to
allow for equal participation of Indigenous Peoples
include Indigenous visions and philosophies in the process of its evolution and implementation
develop respect for Indigenous cultural obligations and protocols

• Establishment of a high-level mechanisms that brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous actors
• Promotion of exchange between Indigenous and non-Indigenous practitioners to foster mutual understanding and develop solutions that respect
Indigenous approaches

Q: What is the Indigenous Vision of the
Information Society?
A: The Global Net as the Embodiment of the Web of Life