Winds of Change: Seeking, Preserving, and Retelling Indigenous Knowledge Through Self-Organized Online Communities

Abstract

Technology has provided an environment for connecting indigenous community members and provide a means for them to seek and engage with their indigenous knowledge (IK). Emerging research has examined the effects of social media on specific IK, including the possibility of undermining community agency. In this work, we contrast how indigenous community members engage with IK offline, and in their own self-organized communities online. Through interviews with community members and a study of Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups, we seek to better understand these practices and elicit design recommendations. Our findings describe how community roles have shifted in the presence of technology, notably with absence of elders and the inclusion of “born towns”–community members who live in non-traditional settings. We also find that fluency in the indigenous language served both as a gatekeeper: guarding the community knowledge, while also facilitating discussion surrounding different aspects of IK.

Topics & Concepts