Since 2021, the federal government has released several rulemakings and guidance memoranda that instruct agencies to use IK where available and where it conforms with Information Quality guidelines. The Office of Management and Budget requires that products characterized as Influential Scientific Information (ISI) or Highly Influential Scientific Assessments (HISA), are consistent with standards of peer review and reproducibility. The OSTP-CEQ guidance memorandum issued from the White House explicitly notes that IK is appropriate for inclusion, even under the highest of information quality regulatory regimes, provided that the information is presented in a manner consistent with the OSTP-CEQ guidance.

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida (Miccosukee Tribe) has developed and published a process for Indigenous Knowledge verification, which tracks the OSTP-CEQ guidance and additional information quality standards to ensure that all IK statements produced by the Miccosukee Tribe are information that must be considered on parity with Western Knowledge, or be subject to review under the Administrative Procedures Act for arbitrary and capricious exclusion of valid and relevant information. However, not all Tribes can be expected to conform to the same intensive process utilized by the Miccosukee, and the administration’s guidance places the burden for compliance with information quality standards on the federal actor, not the Tribe.

• 111521 OSTP CEQ ITEK Memo
  Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Federal Decision Making Background

• Miccosukee ITEK S12A B Operations 230328
  Statement of lndigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge Regarding S-12 A and S-12 B Structure Operations

• Miccosukee ITEK WCA 3-A Water Levels & Species 240125
  Statement of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge Regarding Historic Miccosukee Water Conservation Area 3-A Conditions

• Ornstein 2024 Indigenous Knowledge as Evidence in Federal Rule-Making UM Law Review
  Indigenous Indigenous Knowledge as Evidence in Federal Rule-Making

• OSTP CEQ IK Guidance
  Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge

• White House Commits to Elevating Indigenous Knowledge in Federal Policy Decisions OSTP - The White House
  White House Commits to Elevating Indigenous Knowledge in Federal Policy Decisions