The U.S. has a data problem.

The federal government limits the general public’s access to critical data while allowing corporations to extract, exploit, and commodify our data without consent or accountability to our wellbeing or the wellbeing of future generations. With no comprehensive national data governance law or policy protecting the privacy, commercialization, and exploitation of Americans’ data, the harms continue...

Another way is possible, and Indigenous Peoples are building it.

As Indigenous Peoples, we’ve long held data expertise and protocols related to our homelands, our waters, and our Peoples. We understand and steward the power of data as a sacred relative. Our collective memories span millennia, revealing intricate data patterns entwined through time. These data stories imbue Indigenous leadership with ancestral intelligence, understanding, and vision which transcend the unstable pendulum of US policy over the centuries. Each unique data story can be harnessed to map our collective path forward toward our shared futures. 

Data are power.

Data are one of our most valuable resources for governance. Reliable, quality data are necessary for critical, timely decision-making to navigate society’s most pressing issues, from public health and safety to climate change and social and environmental justice.