Indigenous internet: nuances of native american internet use

With broadband penetration rates of less than 10% per capita, Tribal areas in the U.S. represent some of the most underserved communities in terms of Internet access [4]. Although numerous sources have identified this digital divide, there have been no empirical measurements of the performance and usage of services that do exist in these areas. In this paper, we present the characterization of the Tribal Digital Village (TDV) network, a multi-hop wireless network currently connecting 13 reservations in San Diego county. This work represents the first traffic analysis of broadband usage in Tribal lands. After identifying some of the unique purposes of broadband connectivity in indigenous communities, such as language revitalization and cultural development, we focus on the performance of popular applications that enable such activities, including Youtube and Instagram. Though only a fraction of the bandwidth capacity is actually used, 30% of Youtube uploads and 24% of Instagram uploads fail due to packet loss on the relay and access links that connect the reservations to the TDV backbone. Although failure rates are prohibitive to the contribution of locally generated media (particularly videos), our analysis of Instagram media interactions and engagement in the TDV network reveals a high locality of interest. Residents engage with locally created media 8.2× more than media created by outside sources. Furthermore, locally created media circulates through the network two days longer than non-local media. The results of our analysis point to new directions for increasing content availability on reservations.

Journal of Information Policy, 2011

Alaska Natives comprise several cultural and linguistic groups including Inupiat, Yupik, Athabascan, Aleut, Tlingit and Haida, organized into some 226 tribes. Approximately two-thirds of the indigenous population live in more than 200 rural villages, most of which are remote settlements with fewer than 200 people and no road access. Since the late 1970's, all communities with at least 25 permanent residents have had telephone service, but broadband connectivity remains limited. The major mechanism for extending Internet access to rural Alaska has been federal universal service funds, specifically the E-rate program that subsidizes Internet access for schools and libraries, and the Rural Health program that subsidizes connectivity for rural health clinics and hospitals. Under the federal Stimulus program, Alaska has also recently received funding for infrastructure to extend broadband in southwest Alaska, for improved connectivity for rural libraries, and for training and support for rural public computer centers. These initiatives primarily support improvements in Internet and broadband availability for rural Alaska. However, this paper proposes a more rigorous framework including not only availability, but more broadly access, and also adoption, and examines how these concepts apply to Alaska natives. The paper also examines other elements of digital diversity, including innovation in applications and content, ICT entrepreneurship, and participation in telecommunications policy-making.

First Monday

The Covid-19 pandemic raised greater awareness to ways in which societies have become dependent upon access to technology and the Internet. The shift to remote-only education, in particular, forced the recognition of compounded problems faced by poor and economically disadvantaged families with school-age children. Millions of children, particularly students of color, faced diminished and imperiled progress because of limited or no access to the Internet at home. This exploration concentrates particularly on residents of rural and tribal communities, where insufficient efforts have been made to increase technological advances and access levels to reflect current standards. This article focuses on Digital Inclusivity in rural and tribal areas of two Great Plains states (Kansas and Oklahoma) through a wide-ranging survey and analysis of the challenges and successes of technological leadership, information literacy and public policy development and administration.

2018

This report examines how and why American Indians and Alaska Natives from 12 major cities across the country access the internet

Mobile Media & Communication, 2019

The Internet has been a valuable resource for many indigenous groups as a vehicle for self-representation. In this paper, we describe how the installation of a Wi-Fi signal in a Guaraní community in Greater Buenos Aires—as part of the community leader’s decolonizing media projects—generated issues within the community. While much indigenous media research concerns the politics of cultural representation, we consider the politics of everyday, intracommunity mobile communication practices. Firstly, our findings show how the choice of communication medium can become a political issue. An upsurge in mobile-mediated communication within the community contributed to the decline of face-to-face deliberations, which were the mainstay of communal sharing arrangements and which held a central position in understandings of Guaraní culture. Secondly, our findings show how discrepancies between users’ communication preferences and the readily available mobile media services can generate a use ba...

Telecommunications Policy, 2013

Indigenous Australians living in remote areas have little access to the internet and make little use of it. This article investigates the various dimensions of internet take--up in remote Indigenous communities in Australia and considers the implications for broadband policy. It focuses specifically on the circumstances and experiences of three remote Indigenous communities in central Australia. Residents in these communities provided significant insight into the social, economic and cultural aspects of communications access and use. This evidence is used to examine the drivers and barriers to home internet for remote Indigenous communities and to discuss a complex set of issues, including: the dynamics of remote living, economic priorities, cultural engagement with technology, and the characteristics of domestic life in remote Indigenous communities.

Limited access to Broadband internet in remote regions of native nations, adversely affects access to economic opportunity, education, healthcare, and other services. This study will focus on reviewing many of the challenges that limit availability, accessibility, and adoption of broadband internet in remote regions of native nations. It includes an extensive review of the literature on the subject of Broadband internet access in remote regions, as well as research conducted by Dr. Michelle Watts and this author into the dynamics of indigenous governance: technology, conflict, and cooperation. This thesis will focus primarily on the technology aspects of that study as they relate to the challenges associated with expanding broadband internet access into remote regions of native nations. The intent is to provide a resource to those wanting to expand broadband internet access in remote regions of native nations, which will provide valuable insight into the challenges associated with the successful implementation of such projects.

Canadian Journal of Communication

For years, indigenous groups in Canada and the United States have argued for public policies to support the coordinated development of community-driven broadband infrastructure. Despite different national contexts and opportunities for policy implementation, case studies from Canada and the United States reflect similarities in the strategic approaches of two indigenous groups to argue for increased “digital self-determination.” However, the opportunities to express these arguments and the specific forms they take are shaped by the institutional contexts in each state. This article illustrates how efforts to articulate a strategy of “digital self-determination” are contingent on national contexts.RÉSUMÉ Pendant des années, les groupes autochtones au Canada et aux États-Unis ont réclamé des politiques publiques à l’appui d’un développement coordonné d’une infrastructure à large bande qui serait gérée par la communauté. Des études de cas menées sur un groupe autochtone au Canada et un...

2015

Little is known about indigenous people’s interactions with the Internet as well as their attitudes, values, and skills in using the Internet and information and communication technologies to retain their knowledge. We present the preliminary results of the research undertaken with Ngarrindjeri people living from the Lower Murray River Lakes and the Coorong areas in South Australia, and then review the implications of these findings for designing interventions. Twenty-one Ngarrindjeri volunteers participated in the questionnaires, interviews and field observation. The results show that, following family members, the Internet was considered to be the second most important source for obtaining various sorts of information. Though having types of hesitation and cultural cautions, the indigenous participants embraced the Internet and online resources with great enthusiasm. The findings suggest that it is critical to adapt Internet technology to incorporate indigenous cultures including ...