Information Maintainers October 2020 Meeting

15/10/2020 5:00 pm

“Info-Maintainers Panel: Perspectives on the Maintenance of Indigenous Information, Data, and Cultural Knowledge”

On October 15, 2020, our meeting focused on information maintenance frameworks for Indigenous data sovereignty and the preservation of Indigenous cultural knowledge. Our panel of speakers represented perspectives from across the continuum of information maintenance, from Public Health to Librarianship, to Indigenous data governance:

  1. Kayla Lar-Son is Metis from MNA Region 4, Treaty 6 Territory, amiskwaciwâskahikan in what is now known as Alberta. Recently she moved to Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Territory, now known as Vancouver, to join the University of British Columbia as the program manager for the Indigitization program, and the Indigenous Programs and Services Librarian for the Xwi7xwa library. As well Kayla is a co-host of masinahikan iskwêwak the Book Women podcast.

  2. Associate Professor Maui Hudson is the Director of the Te Kotahi Research Institute at the University of Waikato. He is a founding member of the Global Indigenous Data Alliance and helped develop the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance. He leads a new research programme looking at Indigenous approaches to transforming data ecosystems.

  3. Dr. Siobhan Wescott, MD, MPH, is the Assistant Director to the Indians into Medicine (INMED) program and faculty of the new Indigenous Health Ph.D. program at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences. She is Athabascan from Fairbanks, Alaska. Dr. Wescott holds a medical degree from Harvard Medical School, a Master of Public Health degree from the UCLA School of Public Health, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Dartmouth College. Her heritage and experience have shaped her career toward the goal of improving the lives of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Dr. Wescott currently serves on the board of directors of the Association of American Indian Physicians as well as the American Medical Association Minority Affairs Section Governing Council as Vice Chair. She also serves on the Working Group on Workforce Diversity for the National Institutes of Health Advisory Committee to the Director.