IIRC 2022 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

We are excited to welcome the following keynote speakers and panellists from across the world to the IIRC 2022 programme.

Keynote sessions are open to anyone anywhere who wants to hear and learn from our internationally renowned, Indigenous Keynote speakers.  To obtain the link to the keynotes you must register for conference and click on the FREE Keynote Only  type. That will give you access to the keynote sessions only. For all other sessions you must choose one of the paid Registration options.

Climate change, equity and health

Keynote Address

Associate Professor Rhys Jones

(Ngāti Kahungunu) Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand

Associate Professor Rhys Jones is a Public Health Physician and Associate Professor in Te Kupenga Hauora Māori (TKHM) at the University of Auckland (NZ) where he contributes to oversight of Māori Health teaching, learning and assessment in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. In 2005-06, he was a Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy based at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, examining interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care using organisational case studies. His researcher areas are: Māori health, Health equity, Health professional education, Environmental health, and Climate change and health. >>> Learn more

Human rights, social justice, scholar activism

Keynote Address

Professor Jolan Hsieh / Bavaragh Dagalomai

(Siraya) National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan

Dr Jolan Hsieh is a Professor of Ethnic Relations and Cultures, and the Director of the Center of International Indigenous Affairs at the College of Indigenous Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan. Jolan has served with many national/regional/international organizations as an Indigenous scholar and activist.  Her professional services include: Advisor to the Presidential Office’s Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee and Convenor of the Reconciliation Subcommittee; and co-Chair of World Indigenous Nationals Higher Education Consortium. Jolan is active in Indigenous language and cultural revitalization movements and critiques Indigenous policies.  Throughout her academic and professional experiences, she has focused on research examining the topic of social (in)justice linked to human rights and activism. Her research areas are Law and Society, Human Rights, Identity Politics, Global Indigenous Studies, Gender/Ethnicity/Class, Environmental Justice, Indigenous Research and Ethics.

In Asia, only Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines explicitly recognized the existence of Indigenous peoples on their territories. Yet, Taiwan is a very special and interesting case. Excluded from the UN as a state (the PRC representing China at the international level), Taiwan has nonetheless been represented by Indigenous groups at UN events for the rights of indigenous peoples. In this keynote, Professor Hsieh will speak from an advocacy perspective that responds to Indigenous (in)justice and the demands of Indigenous rights for transitional justice and reconciliation.

Indigenous data science, digital tools and language regeneration

Keynote Address

Peter-Lucas Jones 

(Te Aupōuri, Ngāi Takoto, Ngāti Kahu) Te Hiku Media, Aotearoa New Zealand

Peter-Lucas (Te Aupōuri, Ngāi Takoto, Ngāti Kahu) is the Chief Executive Officer of Te Hiku Media and an experienced governor in the Māori media eco-system. He is the Chair of Te Whakaruruhau o ngā Reo Irirangi Māori, Chairman of Te Rūnanga Nui o Te Aupōuri, Deputy Chair of Māori Television, and an advisory board member of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a Centre of Research Excellence for Complex Systems. As a trusted kaitiaki of Māori data, Peter-Lucas negotiates the responsibility of protecting iwi and Māori data while meeting the needs of funders and the expectations of iwi and hapū. Peter-Lucas has terrestrial and digital broadcasting experience, working with kaumātua and marae to record and provide access to te reo ā-iwi, tikanga ā-iwi, kōrero tuku iho and iwi history. This experience has seen the development of a Kaitiakitanga License for Te Hiku Media that provides a framework to guide the use of Māori data from a haukāinga perspective. 

Peter-Lucas will discuss some of the work Te Hiku Media has been involved in, including the Papa Reo project, a multilingual language platform grounded in Indigenous knowledge and ways of thinking powered by cutting-edge data science. It will highlight the importance of sovereignty over data, platforms, and technologies and provide examples of how Te Hiku Media is challenging some of the issues Indigenous communities have been facing.

Indigenous data sovereignty

Panel Discussion

The well-worn trope ‘data is the new oil’ replays a familiar colonial experience – one in which resources are seen as ripe for extraction and exploitation by those with the power and know how to do so. Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDSov) challenges data colonialism and data capitalism and is fast becoming an important issue in tribal, community and settler government contexts. At the heart of IDSov is a simple goal: to put Indigenous data in Indigenous hands for Indigenous benefit. Finding ways to make this happen is the focus of this IDSov panel. In this lively and provocative panel, we bring together experts from Norway, Canada, the United States and Aotearoa to identify key opportunities and challenges for IDSov, and share ideas based on their own experiences as Indigenous  researchers, practitioners and activists. 

Assistant Professor Stephanie Russo Carroll

(Ahtna-Native Village of Kluti Kaah) University of Arizona, USA

Dr Stephanie Carroll is Assistant Professor of Public Health, Associate Director for the Native Nations Institute, and Acting Director/Assistant Research Professor at the Udall Center at the University of Arizona. Stephanie’s research explores the links between Indigenous governance, data, the environment and community wellness. Her research group, the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance, develops research, policy, and practice innovations for Indigenous data sovereignty. Stephanie chairs the Global Indigenous Data Alliance, the International Indigenous Data Sovereignty Interest Group at the Research Data Alliance, and the Indigenous Data Working Group for the IEEE P2890 Recommended Practice for Provenance of Indigenous Peoples’ Data. She co-founded the US Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network. >>> more

Dr Susanna Ragnhild Andersdatter Siri

(Fimben-áillo-ántte ja Gáren-niillas-máhte-ristena Susánna, Norther Sámi) The Arctic University of Norway, Norway

Dr Siri works at the Department of Community Medicine, The Arctic University of Norway (UiT). She is a researcher at the Centre for Sámi Health Research, responsible for the biobank part of the SAMINOR Survey, a study on health and living conditions in regions with Sámi and Norwegian Populations. Dr Siri’s Ph.D. in epidemiology investigated the risk factors and the risk of cardiovascular disease in Sámi and non-Sámi people in Norway. Her research areas are Public Health Sciences and Cardiovascular disease in Northern Norway. She is the co-leader of the recently founded GIDA-Sápmi network that works towards establishing Sámi data governance principles and advancing good policy and trust concerning the use of Sámi data and knowledge.

Dr Jonathan Dewar

(Huron-Wendat, French-Canadian, Scottish-Canadian) Canadian Museum of History, Canada

Dr Jonathan Dewar has spent most of his career directing research and knowledge translation initiatives on behalf of Indigenous-governed national NGOs and has been recognised as a leader in healing and reconciliation and Indigenous health and well-being education, policy and research.  He specialises in the role of the arts in healing and reconciliation and has lectured nationally and internationally. He is the new Director General & Vice President of Collections, Research, Exhibitions, and Repatriation at the Canadian Museum of History. From 2017-2022, he served as the Chief Executive Officer at the First Nations Information Governance Centre and prior to that as the first Director of the Shinwauk Residential Schools Centre and Special Advisor at Algoma University, Canada, where he led research, education, curatorial, and community service programming. Jonathan also previously served as Director of Research at the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. He is also an Adjunct Professor in Dept of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University. 

Associate Professor Donna Cormack

(Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu) Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand

Dr Cormack is an Associate Professor at Te Kupenga Hauora Māori, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland. She has a joint position at Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare, University of Otago (Wellington). She is a teacher and researcher, with a focus on the health impacts of racism and other systems of oppression, Māori data sovereignty, and Kaupapa Māori, critical and anti-colonial approaches to health and health research. She lives in Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington, NZ) with her husband and child.