Reconciling Heritage: Working at the Intersection of Intellectual Property, Indigenous Heritage, and Human Rights

The CIPP and the CHLRP welcome George Nicholas, Professor of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, whose presentation will include a discussion of Traditional Knowledge as Indigenous intellectual property, community-based research, and activism.

About the speaker

George Nicholas is Professor of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada. His research focuses on intellectual property rights and archaeology, Indigenous archaeology, the archaeology and human ecology of wetlands, hunter-gatherers past and present, and archaeological theory.

From 1991 to 2005, he developed and directed SFU’s internationally known Indigenous Archaeology Program in Kamloops, BC. He has worked closely with the Secwepemc and other First Nations in Canada, the United States, Australia, and elsewhere.

Nicholas was the director of Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCHP project (2008–2016), an international collaboration of archaeologists, Indigenous organizations, lawyers, anthropologists, ethicists, policy makers, and others, working to explore and facilitate fair and equitable exchanges of knowledge relating to heritage. 

He is past editor of the Canadian Journal of Archaeology (2000–2007) and past co-editor (with Julie Hollowell) of the World Archaeological Congress’ Research Handbooks in Archaeology series (Left Coast Press). Nicholas is also an adjunct faculty member at Flinders University in South Australia. 

In 2013, Nicholas and the IPinCH team were the first recipients of SSHRC’s Partnership Impact Award.