A collection of resources around how to most culturally appropriately write about First Nations content on our platforms.

12 June 2024.

Wikimedia Australia has developed and curated these resources to support respectful, accurate and culturally appropriate engagement with First Nations peoples, knowledges and cultures across Wikimedia projects.

The resources include guidance developed for Wikimedia Australia through First Nations led approaches, research into First Nations experiences of Wikimedia platforms, and selected external resources relating to Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, Indigenous data sovereignty, terminology, metadata, cultural authority and collection description.

These resources are not a substitute for engagement with the relevant First Nations people, communities or Knowledge Holders. Australia is home to hundreds of distinct First Nations, with diverse cultures, languages, knowledge systems and protocols. Wikimedia Australia is working towards developing a First Nations Protocol to support culturally safe processes and engagement with First Nations communities.

Wikimedia Australia First Nations Resources

Wikimedia Australia ICIP and IDSov Guide The WMAU ICIP Guide and White Paper provide practical guidance for Wikimedia contributors, while asking important questions and opening an international conversation about respecting Indigenous knowledge, cultural authority and self-determination.

My Experience as First Nations Wikipedian in Residence Read about Bianca Valentino's experience exploring First Nations music at the State Library of Queensland

Wikimedia Australia and First Nations Metadata: ATSILIRN Protocols for Description and Access A discussion paper by Kirsten Thorpe, Nathan Sentance, and Lauren Booker, supported by Wikimedia Australia.

Indigenous Knowledge Sharing Policy Wikimedia Australia supports projects, events, or collaborations which can demonstrate that they are guided and supported by the traditional knowledge holders relevant to the proposed project.

First Nations Focus Group Report First Nations Peoples' Experiences Using and Editing Wikipedia: Focus Groups Report

Representation and erasure Opportunities and risks that Wikipedia presents for First Nations knowledges, presentation by Kirsten Thorpe and Nathan “Mudyi” Sentance.

First Nations Resources on Wikipedia

There are several pages on Wikipedia designed to give guidance in relation to adding First Nations’ content. While these are not entirely consistent, they can provide you with guidance.

First Nations Australians / Guideline for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Terminology This Wikipedia template was created to provide guidance around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Terminology, but is mostly being developed by a non-First Nations person. The template suggests correct terminology and links to further resources

WikiProject Australia Indigenous Style Guide (DRAFT) This draft is an attempt to put together a style guide on naming conventions for First Nations people in Australia.

Non Wikipedia First Nations Resources

Australian Government Style Manual Part of the Australian Government's Style Guide on culturally appropriate and respectful language when writing with, for, or about First Nations people. It lists several further resources in the references section.

UNSW Indigenous Terminology This guide gives clear examples of what terminology is and isn't appropriate. Please note this was last reviewed in 2019.

A guide to writing and speaking about Indigenous People in Australia A guide from Macquarie University on writing and speaking about Indigenous People in Australia.

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

AIATSIS have several resources available through their website; these include:

AIATSIS Guide to Evaluating and Selecting Education Resources AIATSIS published this guide to evaluating and selecting education resources in 2022, and is intended for educators.

AustLang A dataset that provides information about First Nations languages and people from numerous referenced sources and can be searched by location.

Map of Indigenous Australia This map attempts to represent the language, social or nation groups of Aboriginal Australia. It shows only the general locations of larger groupings of people, which may include clans, dialects or individual languages in a group.

Note: Per the Jumbunna report, "some community members contest AustLang due to citations of record and research predominantly being created by non-Indigenous anthropologists and linguists, and as such, they may contain inaccurate information and misrepresentations."

Referencing Guidance for Indigenous Knowledges

Indigenous Knowledges Attribution Toolkit (IKAT) The second edition of the resource that was previously known as the Indigenous Referencing Guidance for Indigenous Knowledges.

Protocols

Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts This guide was created by the Australia Council for the Arts for creative practitioners working with First Nations artists or Indigenous cultural heritage projects.

ATSILIRN Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services Published in 1995 by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). The Protocols were endorsed by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network (ATSILIRN). The most recent update of the Protocols commenced at the 2010 ATSILIRN Conference.

Guidelines for First Nations Collection Description These guidelines, written by Tui Raven, were launched in October 2023. They have been developed to assist in creating a community of practice for reparative description for the Australian library sector. The guidelines have been produced as a collaboration between five organisations: the Australian Library & Information Association (ALIA), National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA), the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) and CAVAL.

We hope these resources help and please let us know if we can assist further.