Indigenous Data Sovereignty: What Can Yarning Teach Us?

Yarning is a trusted, culturally integral way of creating new knowledge that is different from focus groups. This article is a reflection piece from an Aboriginal Researcher engaging with Indigenous Standpoint and auto-ethnographic approaches to explore how yarning interfaces with Indigenous data sovereignty. It is argued through the themes of deep listening, tension, relationality, and power—from memories and lived experiences—that yarning upholds the rights of Indigenous data sovereignty because it enables intimacy, connection, and recognition of cultural knowledge holders. 

IMPLICATIONS 

Indigenous Data Sovereignty recognises the rights of Indigenous people to determine the means of collection, ownership, and dissemination of data pertaining to Indigenous Peoples. 

The level of intimacy and connection between First Nations Peoples obtained through yarning is at risk of being compromised if non-Indigenous researchers conflate yarning with focus groups.