Indigenous Food Systems Network

The purpose of this article is to provide, to tribes faced with an era of genetic research, some guidance about how to establish strong protections over their genetic material and Indigenous knowledge. The first section will discuss why genetic material should be protected as cultural property and will briefly examine why tribes need to be concerned about research involving genetic material and Indigenous knowledge, with a particular focus on human genetic research. The second section will examine a variety of examples of human genetic research on Indigenous peoples.