Cultural Protocols Workshop

This workshop brought together a small group of legal and cultural scholars to explore the concept and the utility of cultural protocols in relation to Indigenous and local knowledge management issues. The focus of the workshop was predominately legal – and this is quite deliberate. In thinking about the possibilities of protocols and how they can be used as a useful strategy as well as a tool of leverage for Native American communities in the United States, as well as elsewhere, it is critical that there is an inter-linked and robust legal framework that can work in support of the further development of cultural protocols. This will not only contribute to the ability for communities to make informed decisions about how cultural protocols can be effectively utilized, but also provide significant background work in the instances where specific cultural protocols are undermined or delegitimized by third parties.