The British Columbia First Nations’ Data Governance Initiative (BCFNDGI) was the precursor to and laid the foundation for the work of the BC First Nations Regional Information Governance Centre (RIGC). It produced important resources that remain of relevance to First Nations and as such this information is kept available on the site.

About the BCFNDGI

The BCFNDGI was a comprehensive and integrated approach to addressing complicated and long-standing socio-economic and cultural issues by harnessing the power of data. The Initiative served to unite and guide BC First Nations Governments, First Nations organizations and partners towards their shared outcome of well-being. The BCFNDGI helped equip First Nations Governments with the knowledge of what technological and human resource capacity is required to govern and own their data.

The BCFNDGI was established under leadership of the Ktunaxa Nation as they came to share common issues with other First Nations, specifically related to informing decision-making and guiding planning and investment strategies. Scarcity and appropriateness of data were recognized as significant barriers to successful self-government.

The Initiative was one of a number of agreements and planning documents that describe a comprehensive and ambitious provincial mandate and agenda in First Nations’ health, social determinants, health information governance, and health data information sharing and system transformation.

The signing of the 2005 Transformative Change Accord by the First Nations Leadership Council, Province of British Columbia, and the Government of Canada signaled the beginning of a new relationship between the tripartite partners. The 2010 British Columbia Tripartite Data Quality and Sharing Agreement promoted a commitment to ensure that federally and provincially held information on First Nations is shared. The BCFNDGI followed as a practical approach, led by and for BC First Nations, to implement some of the political commitments outlined in these documents.

Indigenous People belong to Indigenous Nations. Indigenous people live in settlements, cities and towns, rural and remote areas and some live on Federal Indian Reserve lands. Indigenous People have rights; as individuals, they have human rights and as citizens of distinct societies, they have Indigenous rights. Indigenous peoples have the right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and performing arts and literature.Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.

Indigenous Data Sovereignty is the assertion of identity ownership by a distinct group of Indigenous Peoples; it includes the ownership of historic and current identity including intellectual property (language, stories, songs, worldview, cultural signs, symbols and properties …), data, records and information.

First Nations Governments in British Columbia are moving toward a model of development and wellness that is self governing, community driven, and nation based. The autonomy to define community wellness and the right of First Nations Governments to own, control, access, and possess information about their peoples are fundamental to self-determination and to the preservation and development of their intellectual property.

First Nation communities have been the focus of research completed by non-First Nations people for decades. Outside interests have been asking for and leaving with often-irrelevant data, and making decisions with little consideration of First Nations' perspectives. Under the British Columbia First Nations' Data Governance Initiative, First Nations will own their data; they will control data access and possession and they will collect, manage and report on their community’s data. First Nation Governments will have the technological and human resource capacity necessary to govern, own, and share (as appropriate) their data.

Devolution of program authorities brings with it the devolution of reporting responsibilities. First Nation Governments will lead their citizens through processes to define and measure what matters to them; this is self-determination – this is self-governance.

Improved First Nations’ autonomy through recognition of data sovereignty, improved coordination of investments, improved information for decision making and reporting will all lead to improved First Nations’ well-being.