Intellectual property: Indigenous intellectual property (Part Two)

Tambunan Statement, February 1995.

Indigenous people of Asia met at Tambunan, Sabah, East Malaysia, to assert rights of self-determination, and to express concern about, and fear of, the threat unfamiliar 'western' intellectual property rights systems may pose to them. It was agreed, in the Tambunan Statement on the Protection and Conservation of Indigenous Knowledge:

For the Indigenous peoples of Asia, the intellectual property rights system is not only a very new concept but it is also very western...with intellectual property rights, alien laws will be devised to exploit the Indigenous knowledge and resources of the Indigenous peoples.

Suva Statement, April 1995.

Participants from the independent countries and "nonautonomous colonized territories" of the Pacific region met in Suva, Fiji, to discuss internationally dominant intellectual property rights regimes, and at that meeting they resolved to support the Kari Oca, Mataatua, Julayinbul, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and Tambunan initiatives(above). In their statement, the Suva Statement on Indigenous Peoples Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights, participants:

Declare Indigenous peoples are willing to share our knowledge with humanity provided we determine when, where and how it is used: at present the international system does not recognise or respect our past, present and potential contribution...

Seek repatriation of Indigenous peoples resources already held in external collections, and seek compensation and royalties from commercial developments resulting from these resources…

Strengthen the capacities of Indigenous peoples to maintain their oral traditions, and encourage initiatives by Indigenous peoples to record their knowledge... according to their customary access procedures.

Kimberley Declaration, August 2002.

Indigenous people from around the world attended an international Indigenous peoples' summit on sustainable development in Khoi-San Territory, Kimberley, South Africa, in August 2002, where they reaffirmed previous declarations and statements, and, among other matters, declared:

Our traditional knowledge systems must be respected, promoted and protected; our collective intellectual property rights must be guaranteed and ensured. Our traditional knowledge is not in the public domain; it is collective, cultural and intellectual property protected under our customary law. Unauthorized use and misappropriation of traditional knowledge is theft.

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