The U.S. Census Bureau is hosting a 2025 Indigenous Data Sovereignty Symposium on February 12, 2025, that will showcase world-renowned Indigenous scholars and researchers to speak on the topics of Indigenous Tribal Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance. The Census Bureau will also inform participants on our tribal consultation practices—ensuring tribal sovereignty is recognized upfront in our work in improving the collection of tribal data, creating new data sources, and producing new data-driven research projects with tribes.
Dr. Randall Akee (Native Hawaiian) is a Full Professor in the Department of Public Policy and American Indian Studies at UCLA. Dr. Akee completed his doctorate at Harvard University in June 2006. Dr. Akee is an applied microeconomist and has worked in the areas of Labor Economics, Economic Development and Migration. Dr. Akee has conducted work for the US Census Bureau focusing on the Statistical Product First initiative.
Brandon Alkire, Dakota name “Lame Deer” is a Dakota citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation. Raised by his grandmother on the Standing Rock Sioux Oyate and taught to walk the traditional path of Dakota Medicine men. Upon graduation from the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) school, Brandon Joined the United States Navy where he served eight years stationed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in Norfolk, VA. Upon discharge, Brandon returned home to Minnesota where he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology – Law, Crime, and Deviance - and Political Science.
Dr. Jane Anderson is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Museum Studies and a Global Fellow in the Engelberg Center for Innovation Law and Policy in the Law School at New York University. Jane has a Ph.D. in Law from the Law School at University of New South Wales in Australia. Their work is focused on the philosophical and practical problems for intellectual property law and the protection of Indigenous/traditional knowledge resources and cultural heritage in support of Indigenous knowledge and data sovereignty.
Dr. Stephanie Carroll is a citizen of the Native Village of Kluti-Kaah in Alaska and of Sicilian-descent. At the University of Arizona, she is Associate Professor of Public Health and Associate Research Professor at the Udall Center and its Native Nations Institute. She directs the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance, a research network that develops research, policy, and practice innovations for Indigenous Data Sovereignty.
Dr. Lydia Jennings (she/her) is an environmental soil scientist. Lydia, citizen of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe (Yoeme) and Huichol (Wixáritari), earned her Bachelors of Science from California State University, Monterey Bay in Environmental Science, Technology and Policy. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in the Department of Environmental Sciences, with a minor in American Indian Policy. Lydia’s research intersects soil health, environmental data stewardship and science communication.
Dr. Desi Small-Rodriguez is a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation and Chicana. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Data Warriors Lab, a mobile Indigenous data science laboratory that partners with tribal nations and Indigenous communities to rebuild data for strong self-determined Indigenous futures. She is the Co-Founder of the U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network and a founding member of the Global Indigenous Data Alliance. Dr. Desi is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and American Indian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Randy Akee - Moderator
Brandon Alkire – Speaking on the impacts and benefits of Nation-to-Nation relations on the state of Minnesota
Dr. Jane Anderson – Speaking on the importance of data provenance, meta-data and the importance of national and international standards
Dr. Stephanie Russo Carroll – Speaking on the governance of data and the CARE Principles
Dr. Lydia Jennings – Speaking on the importance of non socio-economic data (physical sciences data sources)
Dr. Desi Small-Rodriguez – Speaking on the use of data in governance
1. Socioeconomic Data
This breakout session will focus on Census Bureau socioeconomic data relevant to the American Indian and Alaskan Native population, Tribal Areas, and Indigenous Data Sovereignty. It will highlight relevant data products, including the My Tribal Area tool. It will also cover how the Census Bureau protects the confidentiality of the data it collects and disseminates.
2. Geographic Data
This breakout session will focus on the role of geographic data in understanding the American Indian and Alaskan Native population and Tribal Areas. It will discuss the role that geographic measurement plays in enabling data linkage across data sources and geographic regions, existing obstacles, and opportunities for improvement and collaboration.
3. Tribal, Federal, and State Relationships
This breakout session will focus on the data sharing between sovereign Tribal Nations and federal and state government agencies. It will focus on pathways to enable data sharing, obstacles for data sharing, and safeguarding of Indigenous Peoples’ data. It will highlight recent use cases of data sharing through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Osage Nation and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe.
4. Physical/Health Sciences Data
This breakout session will focus on physical and health sciences data relevant to the American Indian and Alaskan Native population and Tribal Areas. It will highlight examples related to the essential role of data when responding to crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the opportunity to leverage new and emerging data sources to address these topics. The session will also include a discussion of the role that Indigenous Peoples play in this research.