Asserting Tribal Data Sovereignty: Transforming Indigenous Futures and Challenging Colonial Systems in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Indigenous peoples have long endured the harmful impacts of extractive data practices imposed by colonial powers. In settler-colonial regions such as Australasia and North America, governments have gathered extensive data on Indigenous populations, to monitor, control, and intervene in their lives. Given the historical and cultural significance of Indigenous data and the growing risks posed by data colonialism and surveillance capitalism, Indigenous communities are asserting their right to control the collection, ownership, and application of their data. This paper discusses the seven-year journey of Ngāti Tiipa, a hapū (sub-tribe) from Aotearoa, New Zealand to reclaim sovereignty over their most precious data—that is, data relating to their ancestral genealogies and territories. Funded through various research grants, Ngāti Tiipa undertook a massive data collection exercise, digitising a wide range of hapū-relevant information from government-controlled archives, libraries, and online sources. They then worked with data scientists to create their own virtual data repository including a bespoke genealogical database. Community-wide wānanga (customary deliberations) were held with elders and families to develop protocols to ensure that the data collection, protection, and approaches to data privacy aligned with their tribal values and knowledge systems. The Ngāti Tiipa journey toward data sovereignty is one worth sharing because it illustrates how community-led approaches support making informed choices regarding the protection, access, and use of their precious data to benefit families. This agency and self-determination bring about positive change, support future generations and reveal how Indigenous Data Sovereignty promotes data justice and Indigenous rights in a post-colonial era.