Technological Sovereignty: The Reciprocity of Culture and Technology in Culturally Sustaining/Revitalizing Family Workshops

• In Event: Refusal, Resistance, and Agency: Toward More Expansive Visions of Being and Becoming

Abstract

As new technologies continue to dominate our world, we must recognize the cultural, historical, ethical, and political context of these designs, especially how they marginalized Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Building on a growing body of work, we examine how situating Indigenous families as designers impacts their relationship with culture and technology. Specifically, we investigate how families engage with culture and technology during a plant walk led by Tribal Elders that included a tribally-designed virtual reality (re)presentation of the experience to share with the broader Tribal community. Insights from our findings highlight ways in which one Tribal Nation balanced culture and technology in ways that reclaimed their uses of technology by maintaining technological sovereignty and self-determination as designers.

Authors

• Breanne K. Litts, Utah State University

• Rios Pacheco, Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation

• Patty Timbimboo-Madsen, Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation

• Gwen Davis, Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation

• Alicia Martinez, Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation

• Lili Yan, Michigan State University

• Christina Morgan, Utah State University