Digital Indigenous Epistemic Injustice (DIEI): Theorizing the unsettling inter-Indigenous dynamics

• In Event: The Future of Indigenous Sociology

Abstract

Reflecting the enduring impact of internal colonialism, Manipur, northeast of India, became a site of ethnic violence against the Kuki and Zomi tribes, allegedly instigated by the state and Meitei ethnic group in May 2023. In the violence, the Meitei, Kuki, and Zomi all claim Indigeneity to India, and there is a diverse use of colonial archives on social media- X, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The Meitei, who control the Manipur state, use colonial archives on social media to deindigenize the Kuki and the Zomi, to strip them of their Indigenous identity. In response, the Kuki leveraged the colonial archives to assert their Indigeneity while simultaneously attempting to assimilate the Zomi into their own identity, alongside their claim to a Kuki homeland. The Zomi, who are being misrepresented in colonial archives as Kuki, struggle to resist the dynamic use of archives on digital platforms that deny them as knowers of their own identity, culture, and history. Additionally, the Zomi face the challenge of establishing themselves as credible knowers, hindered by algorithmic biases. Drawing on this context, this research examines how the Zomi navigate the dynamic use of archives by the Meitei and Kuki, the challenges introduced by algorithmic biases that hinder their efforts to establish themselves as credible knowers, and how this impacts the ways they make meaning on digital platforms. Grounded on this empirical experience of the Zomi, this paper explores the intersection of digital epistemic injustice and Indigenous digital lifeworld. This project advances current knowledge about digital epistemic injustice, inviting critical thinking on how Indigenous peoples utilize archival sources on social media, further compounded by algorithmic bias.

Author

• Suanmuanlian Tonsing, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor