The First Nations principles of OCAP® are a set of standards establishing how First Nations data should be collected, protected, used, and shared. These principles were established by the Assembly of First Nations at a National Steering Committee meeting in 1998 and have since become the de facto ethical standard for conducting research using First Nations Data.
The First Nations Information Governance Centre provides the following helpful descriptions for each principle:
Ownership refers to the relationship of First Nations to their cultural knowledge, data, and information. This principle states that a community or group owns information collectively in the same way that an individual owns his or her personal information.
Control affirms that First Nations, their communities, and representative bodies are within their rights in seeking to control over all aspects of research and information management processes that impact them. First Nations control of research can include all stages of a particular research project, from start to finish.
Access refers to the fact that First Nations must have access to information and data about them selves and their communities regardless of where it is held. The principle of access also refers to the right of First Nations’ communities and organizations to manage and make decisions regarding access to their collective information. This may be achieved, in practice, through standardized, formal protocols.
Possession, while ownership identifies the relationship between a people and their information in principle, possession or stewardship is more concrete: it refers to the physical control of data. Possession is the mechanism by which ownership can be asserted and protected.
These should not be considered strict definitions as the interpretation and implementation of OCAP® will be unique to each First Nation community or region.
Ways in which Nee Kee Wa Nan is working to uphold the OCAP® Principles:
· Establishing Survivor-led Research Processes, Consent Procedures, and Review Committees
· Supporting the Building of Capacity within Fort Albany
· Using Participatory and Indigenous Research Methods
· Returning all Collected and Generated Research to Fort Albany
· Advocating and Supporting Indigenous DataSovereignty
OCAP®is a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre(FNIGC). For more information, please visit https://fnigc.ca/.
