Statement by the Tulalip Tribes of Washington on Folklore, Indigenous Knowledge, and the Public Domain

The Tulalip Tribes of Washington would like to take this opportunity to note with great appreciation your leadership in steering this great ship in heavy waters. It will be to your credit if this vessel ever reaches a final port, and we thank you for making it an interesting journey. And we thank the Secretariat for their excellent and thorough work in preparation of the high quality documents for this meeting, and express our deep condolences for the many sleepless nights and lost weekends we have probably brought them. We would to emphasize and provide some comments on the discussion of the public domain in document 5/3. We believe that these issues are of highest importance in understanding issues concerning folklore, and that the issue permeates all of the issues that are the subject matter of the IGC’s deliberations. We agree with the Secretariat that a “clearer understanding of the role, contours and boundaries of the public domain is vital in the development of an appropriate policy framework for the IP protection of TCEs. ” We believe that the Secretariat has made a good first start on outlining some of the issues associated with TCEs in the publi