Who owns native culture?

The purpose of this book is to initiate a discussion of the ethical and economic dilemmas raised when indigenous property (physical or intellectual) is claimed and circulated by non-indigenous groups. Brown, Lambert Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at Williams College, uses court cases, historical documentation, and personal interviews and experiences to demonstrate the conflicts that arise over ownership of indigenous culture. His book focuses on rights to abstract ideas, such as art, religion, ethnobotany, and other forms of tribal knowledge. It also examines the struggle over sacred sites that are on public lands. In his analysis, Brown attempts to maintain the principles of open communication necessary in a pluralist democracy; he stresses the need for civility and respect for one another.