ACHP listening sessions on Indigenous Knowledge and Historic Preservation

Description

ACHP listening sessions on Indigenous Knowledge and Historic Preservation

ACHP Policy Statement on Indigenous Knowledge and Historic Preservation

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s Office of Native American Affairs is developing a policy statement to further inform how Indigenous Knowledge (IK) should be integrated into the Section 106 process. This policy statement will build on the recently released government-wide Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge in an effort to tailor many of those messages to the needs of the historic preservation community. The policy will also be informed by concepts discussed the ACHP’s existing information paper Traditional Knowledge and the Section 106 Process: Information for Federal Agencies and Other Participants. 

Early Coordination Listening Sessions for Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiians.
Please join the ACHP to share your thoughts and experience regarding the intersection of Indigenous Knowledge and historic preservation during staff-led listening sessions. These open-forum events are intended to facilitate honest discussion regarding the challenges and successes related to the integration of Indigenous Knowledge into federal decision-making. By sharing your understanding and experiences you will help inform ACHP's development of this policy statement. Background information, framing questions, and log-in information for the listening sessions are located below.  

1-2 pm EDT, Tuesday, March 28, 2023

3-4 pm EDT, Saturday, April 1, 2023

2-3 pm EDT, Monday April 3, 2023

3-4 pm EDT, Thursday, April 13, 2023

--Zoom: https://achp.zoomgov.com/j/1612286081?pwd=eDc5MnJDaVNEYW8rKzg3ejJFcWwvQT09 

--Meeting ID: 161 228 6081 

--Passcode: 745259 

--Phone: 669 254 5252  

Next Steps: The ACHP will develop a summary of comments shared during the listening sessions and will incorporate that information into a draft policy statement. Later in 2023, the draft policy statement and the summary of comments will be sent to Tribal and Native Hawaiian leaders along with a formal request to conduct government-to-government consultation. Following the formal consultation event and associated comment period, the ACHP will develop a final draft for review and adoption by ACHP members. Please see this website for additional details as they become available. 

Framing questions: 

• What role does Indigenous Knowledge have throughout the Section 106 process? 
• What challenges have you experienced incorporating Indigenous Knowledge into historic preservation? 
• Have you successfully integrated Indigenous Knowledge into the Section 106 process? Into agreement documents?  
• What advice do you have for the ACHP to advance the respectful integration of Indigenous Knowledge into the field of historic preservation? 
• What do agencies need to know about working with Indigenous Knowledge? 

Additional Background Information: In 2018, the Office of Native American Affairs (ONAA) launched an initiative to promote an understanding of and respect for IK in the Section 106 process. The initiative coincided with the United Nation’s efforts to advance IK through their Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Since that time the ACHP has actively collaborated with Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations (NHOs) to elevate IK by assisting the State Department in drafting the U.S. statement on IK and through participation in their Cultural Heritage Expert Working Group, conducting numerous webinars, and releasing the information paper Traditional Knowledge and the Section 106 Process: Information for Federal Agencies and Other Participants. Throughout this process, Tribal and NHO leaders have made it clear that further action from the ACHP would be needed. In May 2022, ACHP's Native American Affairs (NAA) committee identified the development of a policy statement as the most effective mechanism to advance the integration of IK into the Section 106 process.  

Development of this policy statement aligns with several ongoing efforts to advance IK by the administration and other federal agencies and departments. On November 31, 2022, the Council on Environmental Quality and the White House Office on Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a guidance document regarding integration of IK into federal agency and department decision making. The ACHP participated in the development of that guidance document and coordinated meetings between the NAA committee and OSTP to inform its development. The ACHP is also closely coordinating with other federal agencies to align consideration of IK into their guidance documents including the National Register of Historic Places Traditional Cultural Places guidance updates, Department of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards, and the Interagency Sacred Sites Memorandum of Understanding, among others.  

An ACHP policy statement on IK will seek to address ongoing requests made by Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiians, meet the needs of federal agencies to incorporate IK more fully, and align with administration directives to advance IK in federal decision making. For Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiians, IK is cross-cutting and has a role in all ways of knowing, including the identification and evaluation of historic properties, the assessment of an undertaking's effects on such properties, and the resolution of adverse effects.  

Please submit any questions or comments to native@achp.gov.