Assignment #1: Provide a close, critical reading of Chapter 1 of Marisa Elena Duarte’s book, Network Sovereignty (2017).

Marisa Elena Duarte believes that technology can be harnessed by Indigenous peoples as an incredibly powerful tool in their efforts to decolonize. The potential of this relationship has been demonstrated by the emergence of the Idle No More movement, which reveals what is achievable when Indigenous peoples utilize digital communication networks to organize, community build and tell their own stories. In Chapter 1 of her book Network Sovereignty, Duarte argues that Indigenous peoples can “resist and subvert colonizing systems, rules and practices, and state power through social and political engagement and mobilization…” via “digital devices and systems” (17-18).  She opposes the archaic notion that conscripting technology to do this work is “in conceptual contradiction to Indigenous philosophies, spiritualties, and everyday practices” (18). In fact, she believes that using technology is “becoming a technique of Indigenous praxis” (18). This is her main point – that technology presents an avenue with massive possibilities for Indigenous activism and connection. In this way, the chapter is about how “Native and Indigenous peoples leverage information and technology to subvert the legacies and processes of colonization…” (14-15).

Social media gives people a chance to “observe, participate, and document,” and herein lies one of the lasting impacts of Idle No More (24). Although members of this movement were ignored by main stream media outlets, they took their narrative into their own hands, seizing social media channels to communicate and build networks of like-minded individuals. Duarte explains that the movement was “a first visible manifestation of the sociotechnical networks created by Native and Indigenous peoples” (25). It represents just the beginning of what could be possible for Indigenous activism when it is mobilized online. One needs to look no further than Black Lives Matter as well as the resistance of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which were largely organized through social media, to see how impactful online organizing has become in preceding years.

To provide more background on Idle No More, Duarte details a “prayer rally,” she attended in January of 2013 at Peace Arch State Park in White Rock, British Columbia (23). The event was “heavily recorded,” by supporters of Idle No More and journalists alike (24). She writes that “[t]he moment was a compelling intersection between systems of technical networks and various Indigenous spiritualties and intentionalities” (24). The recounting of this event highlights what continues to be possible when Indigenous peoples harness technical networks. In this instance, “[f]irst-world technologies” allowed “…Native women [to] creat[e] Indigenous cosmovisions that allow[ed] for the spiritual significance of devices” (25). The women who organized and participated in this rally were able to mobilize technology in pursuit of spiritual and sacred ceremonies, which speaks volumes to the potential that technology has in the decolonization process.

Even with all the hopefulness that Duarte holds for digital devices, she does not let us forget that technology is ripe with ideology and tied to progress of the nation state. Whether it is through railroads (9), wire-line telegraph posts (10), letter writing (10), maps (12), drones, or anything in between, the newest technology seems to always be employed in order to subjugate Indigenous peoples (11). Sharing information is how Turtle Island has been colonized, so the Internet and social media have the potential to become another iteration of that fact. This makes the Idle No More movement all the more powerful, as now, Indigenous peoples are using technological advancements for their own means, challenging classical methods of colonial knowing (13).

Duarte suggests that the content produced from this particular Idle No More rally, “is like a mirror,” which highlights “…the strength of Native women, who, in spite of facing radically higher levels of interpersonal and environmental violence than almost any other social group, and especially in borderlands, chose to organize through peaceful means” (24). This demonstrates that there is power in visibility, as the videos and images that emerged from this gathering meant that “Native women [were] commanding a section of the interface layer of global information flows” (25). Through the circulation of this media, Indigenous women demanded to be seen and acknowledged. Duarte points out that Indigenous peoples are already connected to one another “through a shared experience of overlapping waves of colonialism,” but now, they have online networks in which these collective experiences can be more easily shared, which can build resilience, community and support for further activism (17).

With so much promise in how the Internet and social media can be utilized to decolonize, there are still many prices to pay to be visible online. Just through creating a Facebook or Instagram account, you are making yourself more susceptible to hyper surveillance and police tracking, which was prominently demonstrated through the monitoring of activists at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Furthermore, digital mass surveillance disproportionately affects low income people and people of colour, so by having movements primarily take place online, there are serious risks one is enduring to participate in this way. Duarte does not really acknowledge these risks, but does point out that some Indigenous people do not “allow their photograph to be taken by American anthropologists because they recognize how the camera, the photo, the anthropologist, the database, and the gallery will likely be weaponized to work against Native and Indigenous peoples…The anthropologist’s camera becomes a tool within a greater colonial assemblage” (22). With this in mind, how do Indigenous peoples continue to employ social media and not allow it to be used as part of the colonial assemblage, especially considering the extreme surveillance that goes along with it. How do Indigenous peoples post images of themselves and share content without it being used for violent, colonial interests? These are questions that may be worth thinking about as Indigenous activism continues to grow online.

Considering these ideas, I feel extremely uneasy writing about and critiquing Duarte’s work. After reading her chapter, I wonder what my right is to address the question, “How does the concept of technology relate to the concept of Indigeneity?” I am a white settler on unceded Coast Salish territory, I think that it is my duty to listen to Indigenous peoples and hold up their voices, not necessarily produce content about them. This is why I have chosen not to include photographs or videos in this blog, as I am uncomfortable about sharing media that I have no control over once it enters the World Wide Web. I am even weary about using creative commons or open access images, as the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project website, based at Simon Fraser University, explains that Indigenous materials “…need to be managed according to alternative sets of rules to those provided by copyright and creative commons license models.” I am not yet familiar with those rules and do not want to post anything that may be disrespectful or insensitive. Through reading Duarte’s text, the most important question I can ask myself is, “How can I help promote and honour movements like Idle No More, and not let my voice drown them out?” Being a supportive and compassionate ally is my number one priority and I hope this class gives me space to explore how to do this to the best of my ability.