Category: Module 3

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Module 3

Walking A Tightrope

I have found some online excerpts of what looks to be a great book – Walking A Tightrope: Aboriginal People And Their Representations (Eds.) David McNab, Ute Lischke. (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2005) (Links for online excerpts here).

I found Chapter 5 particularly relevant to the current module of the course (Module 3:  Decolonization and Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights) . Chapter 5 (Chapter 5 excerpts here) is a paper by Mark Dockstator – “Aboriginal Representations of History and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples” (RCAP) . Dockstator’s doctoral thesis provided the model for the historical foundation for the RCAP report.  His model is based on traditional Aboriginal teachings.  Dockstator’s paper discusses the societal interactions between Western society and Aboriginal society from different perspectives, and through stages ranging from pre-contact, contact, treaty, and contemporary relationships. Reading through Dockstator’s presentation and seeing the contrast (diagrams here)  between Western and Aboriginal views with respect to these relationships is quite a revelation. Dockstator’s model contributes to a better understanding of Aboriginal/Western relationships and provides useful background for our ETEC 521 analytic papers.

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Module 3

imagineNATIVE Film Festival

The 2008 imagineNATIVE film and media arts festival has recently wrapped up in Toronto.   It was interesting to see the cover image they chose for the festival program this year.

What immediately struck me was the cover of the program, which is a mock-up of the original Indiana Jones movie poster.  The festival has replaced the image of Indiana Jones tipping his fedora with one of “Indian Jane”. The festival represents some good film media – intellectual property belonging to native authors, while at the same time, the cover image grew out of a western culture, and highly commercial product (the series of Indiana Jones films), and a character who makes his living as a relic hunter.  The imagery this site evoked for me at first glance cried out as the perfect poster child for our ETEC 521 Module 3:  Decolonization and Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights.

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Module 3

Intellectual Property Watch

This is a Weblog aimed at providing original, open-access and subscriber-based news and analysis on international IP policy making.
The site includes a number of posts on various issues of Indigenous Intellectual property rights.  Some highlights from these include the following:

3 March 2008: Indigenous Groups Express Concerns On IP Protection Of Their Knowledge

This post discusses an informal meeting held by Indigenous groups in February, during the meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) in Geneva.  The informal meeting was to develop an approach on how the WIPO should proceed in protecting indigenous and traditional knowledge.  Discussion includes whether patents can protect Indigenous knowledge, and how to rationalize western concepts not found in indigenous cultures, for example, concepts such as ownership and stewardship.

7 March 2008:  Inside Views: Interview With Debra Harry, Indigenous People’s Council on Biocolonialism

This link includes a video interview with Debra Harry, a member of the Northern Paiute from Pyramid Lake, Nevada, and founder and executive director of the Indigenous People’s Council on Biocolonialism. The interview was recorded at the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge, and Folklore in Geneva.  In the interview, the WIPO interviewer asks the questions: “What needs to be done to protect traditional knowledge and genetic resources in a way acceptable to the indigenous peoples who own them?   What rights are in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples?”

Harry argues that the indigenous peoples hold inherited prior rights to the knowledge and resources. She argues that traditional knowledge represents the cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples and is very specific to them.  As outsiders have begun to mine this knowledge for commercial benefits, regulations need to be developed to help protect rights of indigenous peoples. Regulations are currently aimed at protecting inventions and market commodities.  Cultural heritage is not a commodity rather is part of cultural people and cultural heritage.

6 December 2006: Inside Views: Indigenous Groups Tell WIPO, ‘Don’t Patent Our Traditional Knowledge’

This post presents the interesting argument by Indigenous groups that attempts to patent their Indigenous Knowledge will pose more threats rather than provide protection.

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Module 3

Trademarks, permission, and ownership

Our ETEC 521 Vista discussion forum the last couple of weeks has raised issues around trademarks, permission, and ownership of native imagery.  In one of our readings, Rachel Grad (2002) provides a comparison of indigenous rights in intellectual property law in the US and in Australia.  Philip Bellfy (2005) presents a number of examples of appropriation of native imagery and symbols for corporate logos in the US.  One of those examples appeared in a trademark dispute that eventually found in favour of the use of the Redskins trademark by the Washington sports team franchise.  The dispute and the eventual ruling are discussed in the following articles:

Petition seeks to cancel ‘Redskins’ trademark, article by Sarah Moses  published on MSNBC Aug. 9, 2006.

The court ruling from July 13, 2008 is discussed in the article “Pro Football v. Harjo — Trademark Claim Against Redskins Dismissed”

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Module 3 Uncategorized

Indigenous Peoples Issues Today

This blog claims to highlight contemporary issues facing indigenous peoples from around the world.  The site includes a discussion about intellectual property rights.  The author describes intellectual property not as knowledge gained by scientific means, but rather knowledge that is “earned”, through experience in time and place.

The blog also provides links to sites offering different perspectives on the intellectual property issue.  For example, the link to the Alaskan Native knowledge Network has its own links to a page entitled “Guidelines for Respecting Cultural Knowledge”,   and another entitled “Principles for the Conduct of Research in the Arctic“.  As another example, the site links to an Australian Government research paper entitled Indigenous Peoples Intellectual Property Rights.  This paper seeks to identify the issues, describe the impacts, and analyse international developments.

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