Then (1998), The Cosmic Serpent
The UNDRIP Framework: Indigenous Knowledge Rights in International Law
Narby argued that indigenous pharmacological knowledge was intellectual property that could not be appropriated without consent and benefit-sharing. This was a moral argument in 1998, grounded in examples of biopiracy (the ayahuasca patent case). There was no international legal framework that enforced it.
contested
UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007): Articles 11 and 31 affirm indigenous peoples' rights to their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and cultural expressions. The Nagoya Protocol (2010, entered into force 2014): requires prior informed consent from indigenous and local communities before accessing biological resources and associated traditional knowledge; mandates benefit-sharing agreements. 143 parties as of 2026. Enforcement: uneven. The psychedelic pharmaceutical industry largely does not comply with Nagoya's spirit: no company developing psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine, or ayahuasca derivatives has publicly documented PIC from the indigenous communities whose knowledge pointed toward these compounds. The framework exists; it is not enforced in the domain Narby cared most about.
Sources
- UNDRIP Articles 11, 31 (2007)
- Nagoya Protocol status report (2025)
- Chacruna Institute, Indigenous reciprocity in psychedelic research (2024)