"Returning the Gift": The ethics of repatriating Indigenous blood samples

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-02-13 09:07

New Zealand

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Researchers reflect on ethical issues that have arisen from a long-term study on advanced ageing involving Māori and non-Māori, who had the option of providing a blood sample. Fourteen years and dozens of published papers later, the current team is grappling with what to do with the collected data and biospecimens. Most of the kaumātua members of their cultural advisory group, who advised on tikanga, have passed away, and formal principles around Māori data sovereignty didn't yet exist as research requirements when the study was first designed. The author team makes recommendations so that other researchers aiming to incorporate Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles can benefit from what they have learned.