AMY CRAVER

University of Alaska Anchorage

Stewardship Not Ownership: Alaska Natives Speak on Intellectual Propery Protection.

During the 2001 American Folklore Society Annual Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, a plenary workshop was organized entitled Ethical Practices for Documenting Alaska Native Cultures. Over fifty Alaska Native researchers and tradition bearers as well as non-Native researchers participated in this workshop. Drawing on the workshop discussion, this presentation will explore three aspects of intellectual property protection: first, intellectual property rights as a Western concept that is often misapplied to non-Western cultures; second, the tension between traditional community obligations towards collective ownership and Western discourse based on individual rights; and finally, the dilemma of developing a single standard for protecting the cultural heritage of diverse Alaska Native communities.

The Ethical Practices for Documenting Alaska Native Cultures workshop had four goals. The first was to bring Alaska Native researchers and tradition bearers together with non-Native researchers to talk about the ethical issues involved in documenting oral and material culture. The second goal was to outline methods for protecting and preserving cultural estates and other property. Third, the workshop allowed others to learn from Alaskans' experiences with collaborative cultural documentation projects. Finally, from the workshop a set of ethical guidelines were developed for researchers working with Alaska Native communities.