Abstract
This paper presents a new conceptual framework for the ownership of cultural and intellectual property that is developed by researchers and Indigenous peoples. We argue that ethnographic research produces a new form of knowledge, the creation of an ‘intellectual soup’ that arises from a reformulation of two intellectual traditions and bodies of knowledge. We conclude that all of the people who played a major role in contributing ingredients, tweaking the recipe or providing facilities or equipment have some rights in that intellectual soup. This paper contributes to discussions by archaeologists, Indigenous communities and other stakeholders who are seeking to develop more equitable and successful resolutions and policies regarding the cultural and intellectual property issues. The conceptual framework should help others to constructively negotiate cultural and intellectual property issues, foster positive relationships and head off adversarial or exploitative situations. Though the case study is that of an Australian Aboriginal group, the issues we raise have international applicability.
Thou art rude, and dost not know the Spanish composition... What is the Recipe? Name the ingredients.
Ben Jonson New Inne iv. ii. sig. E7v, Oxford English Dictionary
The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68652-3_11
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Notes
- 1.
We use the term ‘Aboriginal’ to refer to Ngadjuri people, or Australian Aboriginal people, as this is the term they use to describe themselves. We use the term ‘Indigenous’ to refer to Indigenous people worldwide, including Australian Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders.
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Acknowledgements
The ideas presented in this paper were initially discussed in a forum presentation at the ‘Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights’ symposium, held on Ngadjuri lands in Burra, South Australia, in December, 2006. Since then we have discussed these ideas with numerous people. We thank them for helping us to refine our argument. Claire Smith and Gary Jackson express their thanks to all of the Ngadjuri people they have worked with since 1998, particularly Vincent Branson, Vincent Copley junior, Quentin Aegius and Fred Warrior senior. We are grateful to T.J. Ferguson, Amy Roberts and George Nicholas for commenting on various drafts of this article. Figures 2.1 and 2.3 were drawn by Antoinette Hennessey. We thank Veysel Apaydin for encouraging us to write this chapter.
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Smith, C., Copley, V., Jackson, G. (2018). Intellectual Soup: On the Reformulation and Repatriation of Indigenous Knowledge. In: Apaydin, V. (eds) Shared Knowledge, Shared Power. SpringerBriefs in Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68652-3_2
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