Protecting Repositories of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledges: A Health-Focused Scoping Review

Danya Carroll, Mélina Maureen Houndolo, Alia Big George and Nicole Redvers ()
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Danya Carroll: Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON N6G 2M1, Canada
Mélina Maureen Houndolo: Faculty of Agricultural Services, Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey Calavi 01 BP 4521, Benin
Alia Big George: Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
Nicole Redvers: Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON N6G 2M1, Canada

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: Indigenous Peoples have stewarded Indigenous traditional ecological knowledges (TEK) for millennia. Health-related TEK represents vital knowledge that promotes Indigenous health and wellbeing. Yet, the intergenerational protection of TEK continues to be threatened by various factors, including climate change, which underscores the importance of strengthening and supporting Indigenous-managed TEK repositories. Using a scoping review methodology, we aimed to identify documents for setting up health-related TEK repositories within Indigenous communities. A systematic search was completed in multiple databases—Medline, PubMed, CABI abstracts, Canadian Public Policy Collection, and JSTOR—with manual searches carried out on relevant Indigenous repositories and Google. Content analysis was then carried out with the nine documents meeting our inclusion criteria. We characterized six overarching categories and twelve sub-categories from the included documents. These categories covered impacts on Indigenous TEK repositories resulting from colonial processes, with TEK being seen as diverse, living knowledge protected by longstanding cultural protocols. Concerns surrounding TEK repository management included the need for platforming Indigenous data sovereignty and Indigenous Peoples’ access and ownership. Wise practices of Indigenous-led repository development demonstrated clear examples of data governance processes in action. Indigenous communities were seen to be vital in contributing to key policies and protocols that protect health-related TEK.

Keywords: Indigenous peoples; Indigenous knowledge; traditional ecological knowledge; repository; data sovereignty; scoping review; traditional knowledge; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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