Protocol and Best Practice for the Research on and Public Distribution of Information from Projects involving Indigenous Peoples

This is a protocol that seeks to protect a federally recognized American Indian tribe’s intellectual property (IP) and traditional knowledge (TK) from unapproved usage, while securing a process through which research ed information can be effectively obtained and disseminated. While acknowledging that each American Indian community may vary regarding its own unique protocol practices, the following document covers four sets of principles and issues which are over-arching recommendations for developing positive communications and collaborative research relationships between a tribe(s) and researchers funded by federal and/or state agencies. Illustrative case examples will be provided throughout this document that were derived from [...]