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The First Nations Information Governance Centre

The First Nations Information Governance Centre

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The First Nations Principles of OCAP®

The First Nations principles of ownership, control, access, and possession – more commonly known as OCAP® – assert that First Nations have control over data collection processes, and that they own and control how this information can be used.

Understanding OCAP®

The First Nations principles of OCAP® establish how First Nations’ data and information will be collected, protected, used, or shared. Standing for ownership, control, access and possession, OCAP® is a tool to support strong information governance on the path to First Nations data sovereignty. Given the diversity within and across Nations, the principles will be expressed and asserted in line with a Nation’s respective world view, traditional knowledge, and protocols.

If you work with First Nations, consider how you interact with First Nations data.

OCAP® asserts that First Nations alone have control over data collection processes in their communities, and that they own and control how this information can be stored, interpreted, used, or shared.

Ownership refers to the relationship of First Nations to their cultural knowledge, data, and information. This principle states that a community or group owns information collectively in the same way that an individual owns his or her personal information.

Control affirms that First Nations, their communities, and representative bodies are within their rights to seek control over all aspects of research and information management processes that impact them. First Nations control of research can include all stages of a particular research project-from start to finish. The principle extends to the control of resources and review processes, the planning process, management of the information and so on.

Access refers to the fact that First Nations must have access to information and data about themselves and their communities regardless of where it is held. The principle of access also refers to the right of First Nations’ communities and organizations to manage and make decisions regarding access to their collective information. This may be achieved, in practice, through standardized, formal protocols.

Possession While ownership identifies the relationship between a people and their information in principle, possession or stewardship is more concrete: it refers to the physical control of data. Possession is the mechanism by which ownership can be asserted and protected.

Tools and resources to support the application of OCAP® can be found below, and at our Online Library.

Learning about OCAP®

When considering the knowledge and skills needed to support strong First Nations’ information governance, we start with the question, “What is your relationship to this information?” First Nations and their community members can apply the OCAP® principles to promote good information governance and assert their sovereignty. It is the role of all those who work with or seek to work with First Nations to understand and respect OCAP® and First Nations’ rights to control their own information.

FNIGC offers a variety of education and training options to meet these needs. To learn more about OCAP®, The Fundamentals of OCAP® online course provides a foundation in OCAP® and introduces knowledge that can be translated into practical skills in a variety of settings.

It is important to remember that completing the course is not a license or an endorsement of anyone’s work. But it is a great place to begin a journey to good information governance and data sovereignty, and to understand your role on that path.

Interested in learning more about the First Nations principles of OCAP®?

Take the Course

 

OCAP® FAQs

OCAP® was established in 1998 during a meeting of the National Steering Committee (NSC) of the First Nations and Inuit Regional Longitudinal Health Survey, a precursor to the First Nations Regional Health Survey (FNRHS, or RHS). Originally, OCAP® began as “OCA” with the members of the NSC affixing a “P” soon after to acknowledge the importance of First Nations’ people possessing their own data.

The original “OCA” acronym has been attributed to NSC member Cathryn George, who was representing the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians at the time. The Committee members later collectively added a “P” to symbolize the importance of First Nations’ people possessing their own data.

Over time, the NSC evolved into the First Nations Information Governance Committee, which, following a mandate from the Assembly of First Nations Chiefs-in-Assembly in 2009, became the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC), an incorporated non-profit, on April 22, 2010.

There is no law or concept in Western society that recognizes community rights and interests in their information, which is in large part why OCAP® was created. OCAP® ensures that First Nations own their information and respects the fact that they are stewards of their information, much in the same way that they are stewards over their own lands. It also reflects First Nation commitments to use and share information in a way that maximizes the benefit to a community, while minimizing harm.

As the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996) pointed out, First Nations people have historically had a problematic relationship with researchers, academics, and other data collectors:

“In the past, Aboriginal people have not been consulted about what information should be collected, who should gather that information, who should maintain it, and who should have access to it. The information gathered may or may not have been relevant to the questions, priorities and concerns of Aboriginal peoples. Because data gathering has frequently been imposed by outside authorities, it has met with resistance in many quarters.”

First Nations have often complained that they have been the focus of too much research (i.e. “Researched to Death”), that research projects are too often conducted by non-First Nations people, that research results are not returned to communities, and that the research does not benefit First Nations people or communities.

Prominent examples of this can be found in the Barrow Alcohol Study of alcoholism in Alaska in the 1970s, the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation “Bad Blood” research of the 1980s, and the diabetes study of the Havasupai Tribe in Arizona during the 1990s. This is another motivation for the creation of the First Nations principles of OCAP®.

The ideas inherent in OCAP® are not new, in fact they represent themes and concepts that have been advocated for and promoted by First Nations people for years.

That’s why over the past two decades the principles of OCAP® have been successfully applied in dozens of First Nations communities across Canada, as communities and individuals have increasingly asserted jurisdiction over their own data. First Nations communities have passed their own privacy laws, established research review committees, entered data-sharing agreements, and setting standards to ensure OCAP® compliance.

It’s important to note that although there is a good degree of consensus surrounding OCAP®, each First Nations community or region may have a unique interpretation of the OCAP® principles. This is because OCAP® is not a doctrine or a prescription: it respects the right of First Nations communities in making its decisions regarding why, how, and by whom information is collected, used, or shared.

In 2011, FNIGC’s Board of Directors approved a multi-year plan designed to protect and ensure the integrity of OCAP® after it was discovered that researchers, academics, and others were misrepresenting and distorting its original intent. The first step in this four-year plan began when FNIGC filed trademark applications for the OCAP® and PCAP® (the French equivalent of OCAP®) logos with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). Once CIPO granted the logos registered trademark status in August 2014, FNIGC filed trademark applications for the “OCAP” and “PCAP” acronyms themselves. These were approved in August 2015.

OCAP® is an expression of First Nations jurisdiction over information about their communities and its community members. As such OCAP® operates as a set of specifically First Nations—not Indigenous—principles.

OCAP® respects that rights of First Nations communities to own, control, access, and possess information about their peoples is fundamentally tied to self-determination and to the preservation and development of their culture.

This is why anyone interested in conducting research with a First Nation should acquaint themselves with OCAP® before they begin. A good place to start would be The Fundamentals of OCAP® course, an online course developed by FNIGC in conjunction with Algonquin College Corporate Training that provides a comprehensive overview of the history of OCAP® and its applications in research and information governance today.

If you wish to use the OCAP®/PCAP® name or logo in your publication you must include a citation that states “OCAP® is a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC)” and include a reference to our website (https://fnigc.ca/ocap-training/) so that the definition of OCAP® can be fully understood by the reader.

You can start by browsing FNIGC’s website, which in addition to this dedicated OCAP® section includes links to videos which help explain the history and importance of the First Nations principles of OCAP® (“Understanding the First Nations Principles of OCAP®: Our Road Map to Information Governance”).

We also suggest you read two papers FNIGC commissioned on OCAP® which track the development and implementation of OCAP® in detail: Ownership, Control, Access and Possession: The Path to First Nations Information Governance and Barriers and Levers for the Implementation of OCAP®. You may also find FNIGC’s recent paper on First Nations Data Sovereignty in Canada useful. All are available in our Online Library.

For those looking for a more in-depth understanding of OCAP® suggests The Fundamentals of OCAP® course, an online course developed in conjunction with Algonquin College Corporate Training that provides a comprehensive overview of the history of OCAP® and its applications in research and information governance today.

Take the Course

Key Contacts

Kristine Neglia

Senior Manager, Education & Training

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