Indigenous Traditional Knowledge Database

Partnering with Tribes to improve the digital continuity of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge

Project partners:

Tolowa Dee-Ni’ Nation, Smith River Rancheria
Resighini Rancheria
Kashia Band of Pomo Indians
Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

Goals

Climate resilience, Intergenerational wealth-building, Stewardship of lands & waters

California, Oregon

2021 – present

Climate resilience, Indigenous leadership, Racial equity, Tools & mapping

Image courtesy of Monteregina and used under the CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Licence. No changes were made.

Page Sections

Overview

Partners

Ecotrust Staff & Services

Impact

Resources

Ecotrust is working with several Tribes to install an Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) Database, intended to be adopted and used by numerous tribes looking for a way to digitally steward, preserve, and pass on traditional knowledge. The database is derived from an older database that was co-developed by Ecotrust and the Tolowa Dee-Ni’ Nation.

We are working with Tolowa Dee-Ni’ Nation, Resighini Rancheria, Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, and Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians to update and improve their databases of ITK. The existing databases that each Tribe used had a number of problems, including vulnerabilities, aging servers, and lack of updated features.

Not only does this installation aim to reduce vulnerabilities and provide new and improved features, we are also tailoring each database installation to meet the needs of each of our partner Tribes. The intended outcomes of this work include helping preserve and restore traditional stewardship practices, set measurable benchmarks within the Tribes to better illustrate climate impacts; reinforce Tribal ownership and agency over these data; and support contemporary tribal efforts to transmit and steward traditional knowledge.