[Esip-discovery] Indigenous data and Knowledge integration in Earth science information resources and discovery tools

[Blythe, Jonathan N]

Discovery Cluster Meeting
December 19, 3-4 PM EST
Agenda:
Indigenous data and Knowledge integration in Earth science information resources and discovery tools with Darryl Reano of Arizona State University.

Meeting synopsis:

Last week I attended a training session at AGU: Introduction to Ethical Space, Indigenous Knowledges, Indigenous Science, and Reconciliation for Earth and Space Scientists; https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Session/228280.  Afterwards, I reached out to the instructor, Darryl Reano, and he has graciously agreed to join us on our next Discovery Cluster.  The purpose of this exchange is to help us understand what is meant by Indigenous Data, and how we would add these data to Earth science information resources, such as agency hosted discover tools.

One of the questions that always comes up in discussions of federal data management is: what is meant by data?  It's very difficult to pin down a precise definition for data that applies across a variety of federal agencies.  For example, in some agencies, data are the observations from sensors in their raw form or the best scientific quality data when processed to engineering units.  In other contexts, data can include maps and products that derive from observational data and are actionable and relatable in analysis and assessment documents.  Across disciplines there is a continuum of data definitions, and there isn't really one rigorous definition for data.  Indigenous Data is no different, and I think the discovery cluster should be leading the charge on this issue, because the community has shown it is possible to pull together data from a variety of sources into federated discovery tools, despite this underlying heterogeneity of Earth science data.

However, there are other considerations for working with Indigenous Data that Darryl taught in his AGU session that draws further distinctions from Earth science data.  In a nutshell, Indigenous Data imply relationality to Indigenous lands, waters, and resources, which is privileged information that a Tribe identifies with and guides a Tribe's self determination. It's important to continue this discussion within the Earth science data community to help us appreciate and better handle underlying assumptions and heterogeneity in data pervasive across the Earth Sciences, and to develop the vocabulary that is necessary to collaborate with Tribal partners on Indigenous Data.

Meeting details:
https://www.esipfed.org/event/discovery-11-7/
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Thank you,
Jonathan Blythe

Scientific Data Manager
Environmental Studies Program
Bureau of Ocean Energy management
jonathan.blythe at boem.gov
703-787-1543
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