Abundant Intelligences: what about the data?
The Niitsitapi pod of the Abundant Intelligences project has encountered many questions about how to store, protect, share, cherish, and maintain Blackfoot data that could be used in training AI systems for the benefit of Blackfoot people. Dr. Leroy Littlebear's analogy for sharing Blackfoot knowledge is that of inviting someone to your home: Which spaces do you share? What do you share within those spaces? Do you share these spaces with everyone? Who decides who can be invited in? Where is your home located and is it accessible to those who you want to invite in, or are there barriers that prevent people from visiting? The answers will differ depending on who you are inviting, what the space looks like, the value, sensitivity, or importance of the items (data) within the space as well as many other factors. This session will share some of the discussions that we continue to have around data ownership, control, access and possession in this context and open the discussion to include audience thoughts and contributions about their experiences. Anyone working with Indigenous data will benefit from participating in this discussion, with the goal being to share the breadth of perspectives and concerns that must be addressed by researchers and institutions supporting Indigenous research.