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National | Indigenous

Protection of indigenous culture a must to avoid digital exploitation

Protecting indigenous culture and knowledge from being exploited in the digital world is an important topic that was addressed at the National Māori ICT conference in Hawke's Bay.

Cashing in on indigenous culture is a lucrative business in the digital realm.

Māori Data Sovereignty Network member Māui Hudson says, “Certainly iwi hapū marae are all interested in putting up websites and putting their information out there trying to make it more accessible to their whānau that live overseas, but at the same time they're really concerned that other people might be using it for things that their not comfortable with.”

Mikaela Jade, a Cabrogal Aboriginal, runs her own company called In-digital that helps to digitise and translate culture and knowledge from indigenous communities.

Indigenous Issues Delegate for the United Nations Mikaela Jade says, “A lot of the time people want to work with indigenous peoples and they'll say hey we want to share your story it's great exposure for your culture or we'll give something that’s not money for the exchange of your cultural knowledge not to give away your all our assets in this new economy by not thinking that they don't have an economic value.”

Ngā Uri Whakatipuranga has been digitising Rātana history since 1999. By creating their own platform, they get to control who can access their valuable information.

Puawai Hagger says, “What is important is our content, that is us, that is the culture and unless we nurture that and expand that in our next generation to take forward into the digital world and make it up the way they want it, we really will lose it.”

Jade is creating a document that will sit beside the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and protect indigenous information in the digital world.

“It's really important for us to consider what data we're making who owns that and how we take control of it in a sense that allows us to develop economic benefits from that data,” says Jade.

A document that would help to aid Māori in protecting and owning their own data.