Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Applying It By, With, For, and Through Indigenous Evaluators and Evaluations

Indigenous data sovereignty (IDS) is a relatively recent term and global movement that originated from the Global Indigenous Data Alliance (GIDA) in 2015 when the formal international network was created. The global North and South have representation in the GIDA through the nation-states including the Maiam nayri Wingara Collective (Australia), Te Mana Raraunga Maori Data Sovereignty Network (Aotearoa New Zealand), and the United States Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network. IDS is founded on time-immemorial knowledge, wisdom, and lifeways of Indigenous peoples and First Nations globally including Tribal treaties, Tribal constitutions, the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other human and natural rights laws. The authors share an overview of IDS; the experiences they had presenting and learning at the 2024 IDS Conference in Tucson, Arizona, USA; and examples and applications of IDS to their direct evaluation, editorial, and publication policy work. They conclude the article with their reflections on how the field of evaluation should be aware and inclusive as it moves forward into the future applying IDS to evaluative thinking, theory, policies, funding, and practice.