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About Local Contexts

Local Contexts was founded by Jane Anderson and Kim Christen in 2010. The primary objectives of Local Contexts are to enhance and legitimize locally based decision-making and Indigenous governance frameworks for determining ownership, access, and culturally appropriate conditions for sharing historical, contemporary and future collections of cultural heritage and Indigenous data. Local Contexts is focused on increasing Indigenous involvement in data governance through the integration of Indigenous values into data systems. Local Contexts offers digital strategies for Indigenous communities, cultural institutions and researchers through the TK (Traditional Knowledge) & BC (Biocultural) Labels and Notices. Together they function as a practical mechanism to advance aspirations for Indigenous data sovereignty and Indigenous innovation.

MĀORI

HE WHAKAMĀRAMA

Nā Jane Anderson rāua ko Kim Christen a Horopaki ā-Rohe i whakatū i te tau 2010. Ko ōna whāinga, ko te whakatairanga, ko te whakapūmau hoki i te mana o ngā whakatau a ngā iwi kāinga me ngā momo whakahaere iwi taketake mō runga i ā rātou taonga, arā, te wāhanga, nā wai aua taonga, ko wai mā e whai wāhi atu ai, me ngā tikanga taketake hei tuari i ngā taonga onamata, anamata hoki o tēnei rangi, o āpōpō anō hoki. Ko tā te Horopaki ā-Rohe, he whakapakari ake i te whai wāhitanga mai o ngā iwi taketake ki te rāngai whakahaere raraunga mā te whakanoho i ngā uaratanga a ngā iwi taketake ki te pūnaha raraunga. Kei a ngā Horopaki ā-Rohe nei, mā āna Tohu, Pānui Whakamārama BC, TK hoki ngā rautaki matihiko hei tiki mā ngā hapori iwi taketake, mā ngā wānanga me ngā kairangahau . He waka ēnei kaupapa e rua hei waha i ngā wawata mō runga i ngā kaupapa Mana Raraunga Iwi Taketake, me te auaha Iwi Taketake.

Mission

To enhance and legitimize locally based decision-making and Indigenous governance frameworks for determining ownership, access, and culturally appropriate conditions for sharing historical, contemporary and future collections of cultural heritage and Indigenous data.

Vision

To increase Indigenous involvement in data governance through the integration of Indigenous values into data systems by offering digital strategies for Indigenous communities, cultural institutions and researchers through the Traditional Knowledge and Biocultural Labels and Notices.

Project History

The Local Contexts project grew from the needs of Indigenous and local organizations who wanted a practical method to deal with the range of intellectual property issues that arise in relation to managing cultural heritage materials. Emerging from Mukurtu CMS platform’s use of traditional knowledge fields to incorporate traditional knowledge and copyright concerns, Local Contexts started as a way to provide strategies for managing, sharing, and protecting digital heritage. In an increasingly complex legal, social and cultural environment, the TK (Traditional Knowledge) & BC (Biocultural) Labels offer Indigenous communities the tools to add cultural and historical context and political authority to cultural heritage content in non-Indigenous digital archives, libraries, museums and other digital repositories globally as well as to their own local digital heritage archives. 

The BC (Biocultural) Labels extend the TK Label initiative to genetic resources and within the biological and genomic data sciences. The BC Labels were conceptualized and developed by Jane Anderson and Maui Hudson in 2019. Focused on accurate provenance, transparency and integrity in research engagements with Indigenous communities, this initiative offers the possibility for substantive change in how biological data from Indigenous contexts can maintain cultural relationships and responsibilities, connecting Indigenous people and places over time with data and in the metadata and with future researchers for the cultural, ecological and commercial benefit of Indigenous peoples. The BC Labels have broad international interest and are being initially piloted in Aotearoa, New Zealand with new use cases developing in the US, Australia and Canada.

MĀORI

I whānau mai te kaupapa Horopaki ā-Rohe nei i ngā tūmanako o ngā Iwi Taketake me ngā whakahaere ā-rohe, i pīrangitia ai e rātou ko tētahi huarahi ā-ringa nei ki te whakatau i ngā tini take e pā ana ki te Mana Pupuri e puea ake ana i ngā whakahaere mō ngā taonga tuku iho. I puta mai te whakaaro nei i tā Mukurtu CMS tauira, me tāna whakatairanga i ngā wāhanga mātauranga taketake e whai wāhi mai ai ngā kōrero tuku iho me ngā take, nō wai rānei te mana o aua taonga. Me te aha, tīmatahia ai a Horopaki ā-Rohe hei rautaki mō te taha whakahaere, tuaritanga, me te tiakinga o ngā taonga ki tētahi ao matihiko. Ki tētahi ao ture pīroiroi, ao pāpori, ao taketake hoki, ko tā ngā Tohu TK, BC hoki, he whakapuare i te huarahi e whai wāhi atu ai ngā iwi taketake me ōna tikanga ake ki āna taonga, i roto i ngā puna matihiko, whare pukapuka, whare pupuri taonga, me ērā atu pātaka matihiko puta i te ao tae atu ana ki ō rātou ake pātaka kōrero tuku iho.

Ka whakawhānui atu ēnei Tohu BC i te kaupapa e kīia nei ko te Tohu TK. Ināianei, ka toro tēnei kaupapa ki ngā rauemi mātai iranga o roto o te pūtaiao mātauranga koiora me te pūtaiao mātai iranga. I ahutia, i waihangatia hoki ngā Tohu BC e Jane Anderson rāua ko Maui Hudson i te tau 2019. I runga i te tūturutanga, te mārama me te pono o ngā kōkiri rangahau me ngā hapori iwi taketake, kei tēnei kaupapa tētahi huarahi hou e kaha ake ai te mau o ngā raraunga mātai iranga i hua ai i ngā horopaki iwi taketake. Otirā, he whakapakari ake i ngā hononga iwi me ōna haepapa e tūhono ai i ngā iwi taketake ki te whenua, ki ngā raraunga, kōiriiri raraunga hoki me ngā kairangahau o āpōpō hei painga mō te wāhi, ahurea, mātai hauropi, ōhanga anō hoki a ngā iwi taketake. E hiahia whānuitia ana ngā Tohu BC nei e ētahi iwi o te ao, engari, tuatahi ake, ka whakamātauria ki Aotearoa, ā, tērā hoki ka whakamātauria ki Amerika, Ahitereiria me Kānata.

Project Directors

Jane Anderson

Co-Director

Māui Hudson

Co-Director, Whakatōhea Nation

Kim Christen

Co-Director

James Francis, Sr.

Co-Director, Penobscot Nation

Job Opportunities

Interested in working in Indigenous data sovereignty and developing innovative technological solutions in data ethics?

The ENRICH team is looking to fill a full-time position for a Web Developer. This position will support and extend the Local Contexts Hub, including developing support for users and building and delivering resources for the TK & BC Labels and Notices. The position will also:

  • Provide technical support (including answering user questions about working inside the Hub environment; tracking down potential error codes and conditions displayed on the user interface as well as unexpected application behavior; interpreting and managing feature requests from researchers and communities and modifying and updating user help and system documentation) and training for internal and external constituents in the use of the Local Contexts Hub and coordinating technologies;
  • Research and evaluate the feasibility, scalability and scope of work for deploying Local Contexts Hub in different environments;
  • Work to extend the Local Contexts Hub by adding, testing and deploying new features as a part of a larger development and support team (for example the GIS Extension);
  • Provide technical support to the communities/institutions and address interoperability issues with different database systems;
  • Assess tech support needs as scaling increases.

To apply please send a cover letter and resume to Vanessa Smith at vjs298@nyu.edu

Acknowledgements

The designs for the TK Labels were developed in collaboration with Alexander Hage.

The designs for the BC Labels were developed in collaboration with Miriame Barbarich and John Moore from IDIA (Indigenous Design and Innovation Aotearoa).

Design and development of Local Contexts Hub by John Deck, Dianna Lovette, Steve Taylor, Alex Merrill and Miriame Barbarich, and John Moore and Renee Waiwiri (Indigenous Design and Innovation Aotearoa). 

Biocultural Labels developed with advice and support from the Aotearoa Biocultural Labels Working Group.

Label and Notice implementation support by Michael Wynne. 

Te Reo Māori translation of Labels and Notices provided by Dr. Haki Tuaupiki (most recent translation: September 2021). 

Spanish translations of Labels provided by Maria Montenegro.

French translations of Labels and Notices provided by Francoise McNeil and Patricia Raynault-Desgagné.