Building the Digital Circle

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, millions of Canadians found themselves suddenly thrust into online worlds, learning, working and socializing through digital platforms like never before. For Jace Meyer, Executive Director of the Indigenous Innovation Institute at the B.C.-based First Nations Technology Council, it meant bringing Indigenous peoples and communities together in new ways, but still rooted in a deep connection to the land. 

“Digital spaces are still gathering places,” says Meyer, a Métis woman, teacher and educator. “There’s a tendency to forget to cultivate the sense of place when we’re in a digital environment that we would have put emphasis on if we were still in physical environments. And that sense of place is so core to our identity not only as Indigenous people, but also all people.”

That means taking the time to set up welcoming, authentic digital classrooms, for example, just as you would for a real-world classroom. Before the pandemic, the Institute offered all of its learning within communities, so the shift online was a drastic transition for educators and participants alike. But what surprised Meyer was that they found even higher success rates online. She credits that success to the very intentional way the Institute has maintained its connections to real places. 

“All of our education experiences are hosted by an elder or knowledge keeper. We do an opening circle where we centre ourselves and where we’re joining from—we centre ourselves on the land,” Meyer says. “We continue to celebrate and honour the physical environment despite the fact we’re showing up in a digital environment.”

The fact remains, though, that internet connectivity is a barrier, especially for those in rural and remote communities. As Meyer points out, As of 2020, just 1/3 of First Nations, on-reserve households in Canada have access to the Canadian ​​Radio-Television Commission’s internet speed target of unlimited 50 Mbps for downloads and 10 Mbps for uploads — a speed at which multiple users can comfortably stream and download larger files and applications. “It is a grossly disparate reality,” she says, noting that as an urban Métis woman who has walked between two worlds, she enjoys a level of privilege most Indigenous people still don’t. 

Chipping away at that inequity and creating opportunities for more and better internet connectivity among Indigenous communities will take action from governments to regulate policies that allow for more broadband access, Meyer points out. But there’s also a role for industry to advocate and push for that access. There is a massive skills shortage across all industries and Indigenous people are the fastest growing population that is full of potential ready to participate in this increasingly digital society.

“If we imagine a world where everyone has access to the internet, it's not just then that Indigenous people would be able to consume content, it would be that Indigenous people are able to produce content that is the biggest opportunity for disruption,” says Meyer. “When we’re the authors and the producers and it’s our stories and wisdom that are being platformed, that unlocks an influencer economy that has multi generational impacts, as a whole new generation sees themselves as technology leaders who are respected by their communities and society at large. 

When it comes to the values of truth and reconciliation across Canada, that access to Indigenous-led education is crucial. Meaningful action means ensuring Indigenous voices, perspectives, histories and experiences are centred, Meyer notes. And technology can play a key role in beginning to bring those voices to the fore. “I firmly believe education is the greatest equalizer of our time and we need technology to mobilize that opportunity. I think we have a massive education deficit in what is today called Canada,” she says. “It's called truth and reconciliation, in that order, and so how do you mobilize truth? Through Indigenous-led education.”

And with our learning and working spaces becoming increasingly digital, the need to build a digital circle, one where Indigenous people have the same opportunities to lead and grow and share, is imperative. 

“Circles are infinite loops. They don’t start and they don't stop and they are infinitely connected. A circle is a gathering place and it centres everyone equally—every voice and every perspective matters and there's no hierarchy within that,” says Meyer. “To me that's an educational experience we can co-create now, where everyone’s connected, everyone has equitable access, and everyone’s platform and their voice matters.”