Data is a resource and indigenous nations want theirs back.

As we saw, settler colonial movement across the country and taking of land and taking of people.

Today we're taking of data. This is the new quote-unquote frontier.

It's Wednesday June 5th and you're listening to Science Friday. on power. Because when you have data, you can decide how they're used and who gets to use them.

The growing field of indigenous data sovereignty is fighting for that power to go back to the

hands of indigenous nations and peoples.

So today on the show, we'll dig into the history of data colonialism, instances of data misuse

and abuse, and what the future of indigenous data sovereignty could look like.

Here's guest host Ariel Dumras.

The history of research on indigenous communities in the U.S. is full of stories of exploitation, power imbalances, and stolen knowledge.

Be it through the iodine experiments of the 1950s in Alaska, the racist and pseudo-scientific

conclusions drawn by American anthropologists in the 20th century,

or through more recent examples in which genetic data from communities were used in studies without

their consent, these practices have caused lasting mistrust and harm.

The growing field of indigenous data sovereignty

demands that indigenous communities have the right to decide

how data about their people are collected, owned, and used.

Joining me now are two people on the forefront of this movement.

Dr. Stephanie Carroll, director of the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance, and Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

She is Ottna, and a citizen of the Native Village of Clutica in Alaska.

Dr. Crystal Sossi, co-founder of the Native Biodata Consortium

and assistant professor and geneticist, bioethicist

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