nêhiyawak Networks: Native Perspectives of Digital Connectivity

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Steinhauer-Mozejko, Phil

• This Capstone explores the intersection and interplay between Indigenous Peoples and digital connectivity, as observed by citizens of Saddle Lake Cree Nation. Through a combination of autoethnography, Indigenous research methodology (IRM), and a braided framework that integrates critical theory and a postmodernist orientation with a nêhiyâw epistemology, this study interrogates and highlights the concurrent challenges, opportunities, ambiguities and complexities which digital connectivity uniquely present for Indigenous communities. Social and cultural impacts and implications of digital connectivity vis-à-vis Indigenous Peoples, and vice versa are, are investigated. The research unpacks the concepts of digital equity, digital inclusion, and digital sovereignty via a critique of the neoliberal language and ideology of human rights and recognition-based frameworks undergirding them. Findings suggest that while digital connectivity offers potential benefits for Indigenous cultures, economies, community welfare, and political mobilization, it also presents significant challenges related to maintaining sovereignty and distinct cultural integrities in a rapidly globalizing world. This work contributes to ongoing discourses concerning the holistic impacts and implications of digital connectivity with Indigenous Peoples. It offers a nuanced perspective on the ways Indigenous communities are leveraging digital technologies while grappling with real and potential threats to autonomy, culture, and self-determination.

• Date created

  2024-08-25

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Digital connectivity
  • Sovereignty
  • Equity
  • Indigenous
  • Cultural aspects
  • Social aspects

• Type of Item

  Report

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-gm7d-r846

• License

  Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International