Indigenous sovereignty in digital territory: a qualitative study on land-based relations with #NativeTwitter

Area of Science:

• New Media Studies
• Indigenous Studies
• Digital Humanities

Background:

• Traditional scholarship frames cyberspace as "landless," overlooking the physical infrastructure of the internet.
• Indigenous scholars critique this view, emphasizing the land-based realities of digital technologies.
• Existing research lacks a deep understanding of Indigenous land-based relations within digital spaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a conceptual framework for Indigenous land-based relations in digital environments.
• To analyze Indigenous language revitalization networks on Twitter.
• To explore how Indigenous peoples navigate online spaces and assert digital sovereignty.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of Indigenous language revitalization networks on Twitter.
• Thematic analysis to identify key patterns and concepts.
• Examination of online interactions related to land, culture, and language.

Main Results:

• Six emergent themes: Land-based cyber-pedagogy, Rematriations of land-based relations, Digital bridges to homelands, Networked cultural navigation, Settler colonialism in cyberspace, and Indigenous digital sovereignty and cyber-justice.
• Evidence of Indigenous peoples actively re-establishing land-based connections and cultural practices online.
• Demonstration of Indigenous strategies for navigating and resisting online settler colonialism.

Conclusions:

• Cyberspace is inherently land-based, challenging previous conceptualizations.
• Indigenous language revitalization networks are crucial sites for asserting digital sovereignty and anti-colonial resistance.
• Findings offer implications for new media studies and language revitalization practices, emphasizing Indigenous perspectives on technology and land.