SIKU for Projects

Empowering Indigenous-led research and monitoring

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Free Tools and Services for Indigenous communities to run and manage projects

Data collection & Management Tools built for Indigenous Knowledge and Data Sovereignty

Support Indigenous harvesters and guardians programs at scale by joining a network of over 125 Communities on SIKU

Support community engagement and Self-Determination

Kivalliq Community Bedrock Mapping Project

Kitikmeot Biting Insect Monitoring Program

East Hudson Bay/James Bay Community-Driven Research Network

Anguvigaq (RNUK/LNUK) Monitoring Project

Community Hydrography – Inukjuak Marine Region (IMR)

Uramba Bahia Malaga Locals Traditional Knowledge

Engage & Manage Your Team

Track incentives, honoraria, and payments

Direct messages members for support and engagement

Coming Soon

Track & share progress across your team through project feeds

Manage your team, settings, and permissions

Add your Indigenous Place Names and lands to the SIKU Basemap

Project Customization

Use your Indigenous Environmental Terminology as a classification and measurement system

Indigenous names for species cross referenced to Indigenous dialects

Indigenous classification for Ice & Snow to facilitate safety and knowledge transfer

Profiles & Indigenous terms for geology, landslides, and permafrost

Indigenous Knowledge climate indicators

Document impacts near your community and region

Identify dangerous areas and safety maps based on local knowledge

Indigenous names for species cross referenced to Indigenous dialects

Add Custom Tools and fields for your project and indicators to SIKU

Upholding Indigenous Data Sovereignty

Full ownership, access and control to secure and manage your project’s data and metadata

Flexible Post Privacy Settings

Control post and location visibility: Share dangerous conditions and keep secure and safe

Indigenized Privacy Policy

Ensure no one can see or use your data without permission

See our Terms of Use for more information

Data Export & Backup

Secure backup and real-time export of data, metadata and linked A/V files to CSV GeoJSON

Project Customization

Set custom permission sets and control access to project details and posts

Gain Insights & Visualize Data

Map Filtering

Generate real-time maps of project activities or outcomes

Post Manager

Dynamic dashboards, queries, and filtering

SIKU trip posts from Qikiqtait project, categorized by method of transportation.

SIKU Project Post Manager displaying a pie chart of Wildlife Posts

Analysis & Reporting

Real-time graphs and time series to support reporting and decision making

QA & QC

Tools to support quality assurance/control

Reporting & Accountability

Assess, report, and share outcomes to partners, funders, and communities

The seasonal harvest wheel combining knowledge from Voices from the Bay and SIKU posts.

Assessment

Social return on investment, surveys, and evaluation

Communication

Engage community support outreach with blogs, press, and publications

Impact Measurement

Generate key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress

Visualization

Indigenous frameworks to share and assess outcomes

Outcomes to Empower Indigenous Equity in Decision-making and Policy

Affirm rights and enable project outcomes that support knowledge-to-action for self-determination

Policy

Indigenous Knowledge incorporated into policies

Decision Making

Decision making for sovereignty of Indigenous organizations

Equity

Empowerment across the table from Industry, Academia, and Governments

Funding/Economy

Demonstrate impact and accountability to increase Indigenous investments

What We Offer

Free training and support to ensure success for your project

Project Onboarding

Support for your team to get started moving from priorities to action!

Training & Outreach

Support for training your trainers and members on tools and features

Ongoing Support

Funding & support to expand and keep your project running

Network

Join our network of Indigenous projects and users to exchange knowledge and ideas

FAQs

Who can create a project on SIKU?

Individuals or organizations can create SIKU projects. Project administrators may be:

Community members
Elders, harvesters, community leaders, and other local knowledge holders
Indigenous organizations
Groups like hunters and trappers’ associations or other Indigenous organizations
Researchers and scientists
Researchers can create projects to collaborate with Indigenous communities
Educators and schools
Teachers or students can use SIKU to create educational projects for documenting knowledge, environmental changes, or learning about ecosystems
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) NGOs involved in conservation, cultural preservation, or advocacy can use SIKU to host projects that align with their missions

Each project on SIKU can be customized for specific goals, whether it’s sharing observations, collecting data, or engaging a community.

What projects may not be suitable for SIKU?

Projects that do not benefit Indigenous people, or align with the SIKU guiding principles.

Research Permissions/Setup

Research licenses, ethics licenses, and approval letters of support with local and regional Indigenous authorities are prerequisites for operating projects in SIKU.

Users interested in creating projects must first contact SIKU staff for onboarding and to set up their project and permissions.

Who owns the data on SIKU?

SIKU users – nobody else. Users can choose to assign stewardship for select data to projects and organizations using SIKU’s project stewardship framework. Assigning stewardship does not remove the users’ ownership of the data.

Indigenous data sovereignty is at the core of SIKU’s terms and conditions. The Arctic Eider Society (AES), which develops SIKU, does not own users’ data. The role of AES is solely to develop and deliver SIKU, and to safeguard the data on SIKU.

Who owns the data on SIKU?

Who can use the data on SIKU?

Only the owner of a post (i.e. the person who created it) and the projects and organizations that the owner has stewarded the data to can use it for research and monitoring purposes.

Other SIKU users can see publicly shared posts and use these to stay safe on the land, learn about the projects happening in their communities or interact with other users. They cannot, however, use posts not stewarded to them for research and monitoring purposes and are unable to export, filter or otherwise manipulate the data.

Using SIKU does not exempt researchers or organizations from normal research processes. Projects must comply with all ethics and research permits for the regions where they operate.

How does SIKU keep data safe?

All user data is stored exclusively in Canada and is backed up to prevent data loss. Users and projects have the ability to export their own data for further protection.

SIKU uses the latest cybersecurity infrastructure to protect users’ data.

How does privacy work on SIKU?

SIKU is designed specifically to respect Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous rights holders, with a framework that supports data privacy and stewardship in support of self-determination.

Users can easily set privacy, stewardship, and location options on a post-by-post basis, allowing flexibility while respecting and protecting privacy.

Is it free to create a project on SIKU?

SIKU is absolutely free for all users! SIKU is developed by the Arctic Eider Society, an Indigenous-led non-profit organization that provides tools and services to support Indigenous self-determination. AES is funded through government grants, Indigenous organizations, and private funders, who make it possible to deliver SIKU free of charge.

Your donations help us continue to offer SIKU for free. Donate today!

Have more questions?

The SIKU team is here to help! Contact us.