The article I propose as an essential addition to the course is “Supporting Self-Determined Indigenous Innovations: Rethinking the Digital Divide in Canada” by Winter & Boudreau (2018). In this article, Winter & Boudreau critique traditional western notions of the digital divide, arguing that most policies and opinions “focus far too heavily on what technology can do for Indigenous peoples – not what Indigenous peoples have and can do with technology” (2018, p.40). The colonial imaginary, which is still very much alive today, positions indigenous peoples and communities as reliant on the progress of other nations and communities. However, innovation and technology are and have always been part of indigenous systems of knowledge and culture.

To illustrate indigenous innovation, Winter & Boudreau present several case studies: Digital Storytelling, Virtual Landscapes, and Makerspaces. Each of the case studies demonstrates the diverse ways indigenous people and communities are utilizing digital technologies and media to articulate and redefine identity and indigenous representation in media, sustain cultural knowledge and practices, and rewrite indigenous history away from the colonial gaze. Instead of using technologies in typical ways, Winter & Boudreau argue that indigenous people and communities not only recreate technology uses to fit indigenous ways and knowledge but are also helping shape technology (2018).  For example, virtual technologies are being utilized to create real and imagined virtual indigenous spaces representative of indigenous knowledge systems (Winter & Boudreau, 2018). Similarly, digital and virtual spaces are interwoven with indigenous traditions and practices through storytelling and eldership. Video games as a medium, with its use of story, design, and sound, provides a rich platform that compliments oral traditions of storytelling and creates a pathway to cultural preservation and revitalization (Winter & Boudreau, 2018). Through Makerspaces, technology and mentorship with elders meet, as youth learn to make traditional goods and jewellery with new technologies, such as 3D printing (Winter & Boudreau, 2018).

Winter & Boudreau (2018) conclude by rejecting need-based and solution-oriented programs to solve the digital divide, as such solutions reaffirm colonial myths of technology and innovation. Instead, they argue that indigenous innovations often “lie at the intersection of art and innovation, promoting a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math)” (Winter & Boudreau, 2018, p. 45). Indigenous cultural knowledge has always been evolving through “a living embodied practice” (as cited in Winter & Boudreau, 2018, pg. 45). As this article challenges traditional western views of technology, innovation, and indigeneity in Canada, I recommend it as an addition to the course.

References

Winter, J., & Boudreau, J. (2018). Supporting self-determined indigenous innovations: Rethinking the digital divide in Canada. Technology Innovation Management Review, 8(2), 38-48.