Indigenous Knowledge: What Is Public, What Is Restricted and Why It Matters

Why "public" and "restricted" are community decisions

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted on 13 September 2007 [1], says Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage and traditional knowledge. [2] It also names medicines and knowledge of the properties of plants and animals in that list. [2] In other words, the community, not an outside writer, decides what is shared.

Not every people uses the same words or rules. This page uses examples, not a universal rule.

Examples of how communities describe control

OCAP (First Nations in Canada). The First Nations Information Governance Centre describes ownership, control, access and possession of First Nations information. Ownership refers to the relationship of First Nations to their cultural knowledge, data and information. [3] A community owns information collectively, in the way a person owns personal information. [3] First Nations, their communities and representative bodies have the right to control research and information management that affects them. [3]

Kallawaya communities (Bolivia). UNESCO reports that Kallawaya communities documented their healing practices and botanical knowledge in a publication that will not be widely distributed and will be exclusive to the Kallawaya communities. [4] The stated reason is to keep knowledge passing to younger generations. That is a community choosing to record knowledge and also to limit who sees it.

Traditional Knowledge Labels. Local Contexts, an initiative for Indigenous communities and local organizations, offers Labels that let communities state conditions for sharing and for research. [5] The Labels can mark sacred or ceremonial material, material with gender restrictions, or seasonal conditions of use. [5] They show that "restricted" can mean many different things.

Health care policy. The Center for Health Care Strategies reports that US waivers allowing Medicaid coverage of traditional health care include no list of covered services, because of the wide variability of practices and their sometimes religious or spiritual meaning. [6] Our overview of Native American and First Nations healing has more.

What this site does

• Public information only. We use what communities and their organizations, public bodies or credible scholars have published.
• No ceremony or sacred-plant instructions. Where a practice is sacred, ceremonial or restricted, we say so and point to community sources.
• No single "Indigenous healing." We name specific peoples and places.
• No claimed authority. This site has no lineage and does not speak for any community.

Why it matters for plants and products

Traditional knowledge has become a source of commercial products. The Nagoya Protocol aims at fair and equitable sharing of benefits from using genetic resources. [7] A 2024 WIPO treaty, once in force, will require patent applicants to disclose the Indigenous Peoples or local community that provided associated traditional knowledge. [8] The World Health Organization's Global Traditional Medicine Centre says it values respectful knowledge exchange with Indigenous Peoples on medicinal plants and conservation. [9] For buying advice see cultural appropriation and healing products.

Public does not mean tested

Knowledge that a community shares publicly is not automatically proven safe or effective in clinical trials, and untested does not mean worthless either. A 2015 literature review for the National Council of Urban Indian Health said valid, culturally based methods are needed to substantiate Indigenous wellness. [10] Until then, treat traditional use as traditional use. See historical use vs clinical evidence.

What you can do

• Read community-authored sources first, such as health organizations run by Native communities.
• If you want to learn a practice, approach a person your community of interest recognizes, and expect that some things may not be shared.
• Be wary of anyone selling "secret" or "sacred" knowledge. A label alone does not show community approval.
• If you take medicines, tell your clinician about any plant product. Some change how medicines work. [11]

For the wider context see Indigenous and community traditions.