Michael Kotutwa Johnson

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"The Seed is the Law": Creating New Governance Frameworks for Indigenous Heirloom Seeds and Traditional Knowledge

"The Seed is the Law": Creating New Governance Frameworks for Indigenous Heirloom Seeds and Traditional Knowledge

The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held a diplomatic conference in May 2024 where participants adopted a historic new treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge. The treaty is intended to improve the patent system by…

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Growing Indigenous Resilience

Michael Kotutwa Johnson represents the 250th generation of his Hopi ancestors who have farmed their homelands for at least 3,000 years. "You're not only planting seeds, but you're planting yourself. You're also planting the next generation, too," Johnson says. "I think that's the thing that people…

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Life and times of data access: Regarding Native Lands

Life and times of data access: Regarding Native Lands

It is challenging to understand the full and detailed story of Native People’s lands in the United States. In this article, we contend that reliable and accessible data regarding Native People’s lands complicate and perpetuate those challenges. Stemming from the implications of colonial ideologies…

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Building an Indigenous Foods Knowledges Network Through Relational Accountability

Building an Indigenous Foods Knowledges Network Through Relational Accountability

In recent decades, there has been a movement toward rectifying injustices and developing collab­orations between Indigenous communities and mainstream researchers to address environmental challenges that are of concern to Indigenous Peo­ples. This movement, primarily driven by Indige­nous community…