Paper short abstract:

Concluding a four-year language revitalisation and Elder knowledge project with First Nations colleagues, I reflect on the anticipated and the unexpected complexities of working across 21st century cultural boundaries in light of intellectual property protection.

Paper long abstract:

The Wolastoqiy live in seven communities along the Saint John River valley. Their name means 'people of the beautiful river.' With colleagues at the University of New Brunswick, I received funding to record speakers of their endangered language. Many Elder speakers welcomed our initiative. On the basis of their support we began the Research Ethics Review process necessary to release the funds. Thus began a frustrating journey of negotiation. At its heart lie the complex issues of intellectual property rights: who has them, who benefits, and ultimately who gets to practise anthropology in First Nations communities. Intellectual property rights are of vital significance for anthropologists practising ethnography in the 21st century. We have recently emerged from deep self reflexion of the relations of power that gave Native traditional knowledge into the hands of non-Native researchers with little control over how that knowledge was used. My concern matches that of my Aboriginal colleagues since the ability to conduct ethnographic research is the lifeblood of my discipline. Our experience was, however, that processes of protection as often stagnate attempts at knowledge revitalisation as protect them. During our research, we attended funerals as often as interviews: Elders were dying and taking with them a lifetime of experience that they had asked us to help them pass on. And we were unable to do so. My paper is an attempt to further the discussion of intellectual property protection in the context of ethnographic practise. We need to find better ways of practising our craft.