Indigenous Rights Blog started by two Law School lecturers: TK Totem

Following on from the success of her intellectual property blog, IP Tango, Dr Patricia Covarrubia had the inspiration to start another blog – this one focusing on indigenous rights and intellectual property issues that often arise in issues of indigneous rights. Dr Covarrubia got this idea following on from the  Roundtable Conference on The Emerging Landscape of Indigenous Rights. This conference took place on 4 October 2011 at The University of Buckingham and was an event of the Centre for Multi-Cultural Research on Law and the Family. Dr Sarah Sargent was instrumental in conceiving the idea for the conference and in arranging a panel of international speakers. The speakers addressed a wide range of issues through which indigenous rights might be involved, including international economic and development law, cultural heritage, family law, land rights and international treaty law, as well as intellectual property. The new blog builds on the success of and the interest generated from the October 2011 conference.

Dr Covarrubia and Dr Sargent co-manage the new blog, TK Totem.  The blog focuses on indigenous rights, and issues such as traditional knowledge, intellectual property, land rights and human rights. The blog is important as a means of communicating about contemporary indigenous issues, and reaching a worldwide audience. Many issues do not receive other than local attention, and it can be difficult for instance to learn about issues occuring in Central and South America, Asia, and Africa, where issues do not receive a great deal of media attention. Additionally, the blog is a means of communicating with researchers and scholars around the world.