Biocolonialism: Historical Roots and Contemporary Threats to Indigenous Knowledge, Lands, and Self-Determination

Indigenous knowledge and biodiversity is regarded as a vast untapped market waiting to be exploited by both private and government researchers. The presenter will discuss the fundamental conflicts between Indigenous worldviews and rights, and the globalizing forces that seek to force nature and Indigenous knowledge systems into the global market.

Dr. Debra Harry is Numu/Kooyooe tukadu from Pyramid Lake, Nevada. Dr. Harry serves as a Lecturer III for the Gender, Race, and Identity Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Debra Harry’s research analyzes the linkages between biotechnology, intellectual property and globalization in relation to Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Dr. Harry has authored numerous articles related to the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ biodiversity and traditional knowledge including “Biocolonialism and Indigenous Knowledge in United Nations Discourse,” (2011) 20 Griffith Law Review, “Indigenous Peoples and Gene Disputes” 84 Chicago-Kent Law Review (2009). She also contributed a chapter titled, “Acts of Self-Determination and Self-Defense: Indigenous Peoples Responses to Biocolonialism,” as a contribution to a book entitled “Rights and Liberties in the Biotech Age,” (edited by Sheldon Krimsky and Peter Shorett) 2005. In 1994, Dr. Harry received a three-year national Kellogg Foundation National Leadership Fellowship and studied the field of human genetic research and its implications for Indigenous peoples. Dr. Harry earned her Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Education at the University of Auckland under the supervision of renowned Maori scholar, Dr. Linda Tuhiwai Smith.

Co-sponsored by the Office for Public Engagement.