Andrew Huff (Chippewa Cree), Senior Legal Advisor, Center for Indian Country Development, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Helena Branch, Helena, MT

1. DATA SOVEREIGNTY IN A
DATA-DRIVEN ERA
ANDREW I. HUFF, SENIOR LEGAL ADVISOR
2023 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE EDA DENVER REGION
APRIL 10, 2023

2. Disclaimer
The views expressed here are
the presenter's and not
necessarily those of the
Federal Reserve Bank of
Minneapolis or the Federal
Reserve System.

3. CENTER FOR INDIAN COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT: QUICK PRIMER
Federal Reserve: Functions
Set monetary policy
• Stable prices
• Maximum employment
Supervise & regulate banks
Offer financial services
• Payment and settlement system
• Lender of last resort
Community development
• Economic growth
• Financial stability

4. CENTER FOR INDIAN COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT
Mission: The Federal Reserve System’s
Center for Indian Country Development
(CICD) advances the economic self-
determination and prosperity of Native
Nations and Indigenous communities
through actionable data and research that
make substantial contributions to public
policy.
Vision: We envision a future in which
resilient and robust Indian Country
economies enhance the economic,
community, and cultural well-being of
Native nations, Indigenous communities,
and the United States.

5. TRIBAL DATA SOVEREIGNTY
• “The right of each tribe to govern the collection, ownership, and
application of data, information, and knowledge about its peoples,
lands, and resources.”
NCAI, Resolution #KAN-18-011
• “Indigenous data sovereignty refers to the right of Indigenous peoples
to govern the collection, ownership, and application of data about
Indigenous communities, peoples, lands, and resources.”
Rainie, Kukutai, Walter, Figueroa-Rodriquez, Walker, Aceslsson, Chapter 21, Indigenous Data
Sovereignty, in The State of Open Data, Histories and Horizons, Davies, Walker, Rubinstein, Perini
(Eds.) (2019).
• “Indigenous data sovereignty is the right of each Native nation to
govern the collection, ownership, and application of the tribe’s data.”
Caroll, Rodriguez-Lonebear, Martinez, Indigenous Date Governance: Strategies from United States
Native Nations, Data Science Journal, 18:31 (2019).

6. TRIBAL DATA INCLUDES MORE THAN DIGITAL INFORMATION
• Standard statistical categories in digital form: employment, health, education
• Article 31 of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples:
“Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their
cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as
well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including
human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of
fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games
and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control,
protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage,
traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expression.”

7. • Data long gathered by outside
governments and entities; external
control of data; data inaccessible
• Data inaccurate, incomplete (e.g., 2020
Census 5.64% undercount of AIAN on
reservations)
• Small sample sizes; mismatched
geographies; unique data characteristics
• Data collected not used for the benefit of
Native communities
• Bad data = bad policy
DATA GAPS AND PROBLEMS

8. • Data sovereignty arises from the right of self-determination
• Evidence based decision-making to govern people and land
• People: labor markets and economic trends; grant programs and
disbursements; health information; educational status; housing; government
revenues and expenditures; business growth and economic development
• Land: natural resource management; land recovery; wildlife management;
land use and management; economic development
• Lack of good data can impede tribal self-governance
• Lack of access to data can impede tribal self-governance
DATA IS CRITICAL FOR SELF-GOVERNANCE

9. • Access to credit and banking
• Labor market conditions
• Access to grants and other funds
• Availability of broadband
• Products and services market
analyses
• Access and availability of business
assistance
• Demographic statistics
• Wage rates
• Insurance availability and costs
DATA FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

10. • Data collection and sharing is
necessary between rights holders,
stakeholders, other governments.
• Open data, data sharing, big data,
AI
• Data governance: a shared
obligation to maintain tribal data
sovereignty while making sure that
the best data (accurate, timely) is
the foundation for policymaking in
Indian Country
MAINTAINING DATA SOVEREIGNTY IN A DATA-DRIVEN ERA

11. Right Holders – Tribal governments, Native Nations, Indigenous
Peoples
• Bay Mills Indian Community tribal census
• Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes workforce survey and data
agreement
• Trademarks, patents, copyrights, trade secrets
• Institutional review boards
DATA GOVERNANCE AS A SHARED OBLIGATION

12. Stakeholders – Non-governmental organizations working with tribal data
• CICD Principles for Research and Data Use
• Informed and prior consent
• Data protection
• Data governance
• Prior review of research publications
• Do no harm
• CARE principles: collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility, ethics
• Data agreements – collection, ownership, conditions of current and future use
DATA GOVERNANCE AS A SHARED OBLIGATION

13. Other Governments
• Federal Government
• Consultations – collection, use, access, ownership
• Trust obligation? Tribal data as a trust asset to be managed with the highest fiduciary
care.
• Standards for maintaining data sovereignty
• Accepting tribally-produced data
• Challenging federally-produced data
• Reliable data for all Tribes = good federal policy for Indian Country
• State Governments
• Cooperative agreements/consultation protocols
• Standards for maintaining data sovereignty
• Accepting tribally-produced data
• Challenging state-produced data
DATA GOVERNANCE AS A SHARED OBLIGATION

14. THANK YOU
A n d r e w I . H u f f
A n d r e w. H u f f @ m p l s . f r b . o r g