Collective Indigenuity and Liard Aboriginal Women's Society

While many Canadians believe that colonization happened a couple of hundred years ago, that’s not the case in the Yukon. All my Kaska Elders that are over 60 (that’s born in 1963) remember living on the land as children, before they were taken away to either a residential school or a sanitorium. Their first language is Kaska, and in one generation – ONE – we are fully immersed in English and largely unable to speak with the people the same age as my parents and older. One generation to wipe out our worlds in the Yukon. One generation to go from flourishing to decline to a deepening darkness. And still, people don’t think this is a genocide. While it is not a train to Auschwitz, it is a trail of tears to our graveyards.

This project responds to the 2023 Indigenous Communities Fellowship challenge using technology to map both traditional and community-sourced/based knowledges to tell a different story about Indigenous people’s experiences of violence and injustice in the Yukon (as a pilot). Community-sourced data and traditional knowledges will be overlaid with a variety of other data sources, including known cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people (in response to the Yukon’s Implementation plan on MMIWG2S+), community genealogy, GIS, media reporting, court outcomes, community safety planning, nearby resource extraction projects, environmental contamination, economic development (e.g., the Alaska highway), and traditional animal migratory patters (to name a few). I anticipate that mapping these experiences from Indigenous experiences and knowledges, as well as from the land, will tell a significantly different story than government-gathered statistics. The project considers knowledge media design, the use of data in accordance with Dena Au’nezen (the highest law of the Kaska Dena), Indigenous ethics, data sovereignty, the principles of OCAP (ownership, control, access, and possession), as well as free, prior, and informed consent. This project seeks to build the infrastructure to house the knowledge media, and think through access, permissions, and what it means to be “counted” in Indigenous knowledge systems and communities, which is a counter-narrative to the stories that settler government statistics tell about Indigenous peoples.

This project seeks to create the infrastructure to support community-sourced data that will provide insight into the following questions:

• What is the process of becoming a statistic?
• What does it mean to be seen and be counted?
• And how does being counted and being a statistic differ?
• Does how you are counted make a difference?

The central goal is to build a database where individuals can self-report and be counted in ways that matter to them – with or without being identified. This includes reporting on MMIWG (with families being able to have someone “count” without their name or other details being shared) and has blossomed a discussion about other datapoints we may want to include in the platform to allow people to be counted in the ways they want to be counted, and as more than a statistic.

The project will, as a first step, consider the many layers that need to be mapped and the layers of permissions and security features that will need to be present to build a community-sourced dataset. The project will include building the database infrastructure where individuals can self-report and be counted in ways that matter to them – with or without being identified. This includes reporting on MMIWG2S+ (with families being able to have someone “count” without their name or other details being shared) and has blossomed a discussion about other datapoints to be included in the platform to allow people to be counted in the ways they want to be counted, and as more than a statistic.

As a subsequent step, the project will engage Mukurtu (a software developed by and for Indigenous communities) to act as a repository for the data,and work with a team to develop the layers of interaction and data, as well as permissions to begin building this community-sourced database. Ideally, this will be developed in the Yukon as a pilot, with the intention that the resulting product could be scaled for use in other communities, and interconnected with transboundary communities, as well.

By using our own data and layering it on the land, and accounting for
traditional knowledges, we are “Changing the Story” (https://yukon.ca/en/changing-s...) about Indigenous people in the Yukon, and by doing so, I believe we have an opportunity to transform our communities - socially,
economically, technologically, and relationally. Rooting the development
of a database/repository in community values, culture, law, and
relationships changes the way that research gets disseminated, and puts
the control of the data back in the hands of community.

Through mapping a variety of layers, including experiences of MMIWG2S+ and missing and murdered men and boys, instances of sexualized assault, forced psychiatric care, custody violence, police violence, nutrition experiments, media coverage, nearby resource extraction, land and water contamination, changes to the climate and animal migratory patterns, traditional camps and family use areas of the land, as well as the imposed land claims and self-government agreements, and western "development" (e.g. the building of the Alaska highway). Police violence. Poor treatment in holding cells. The lack of representation of Indigenous people at key tables that could change outcomes. The use of Gladue reports in cases of violence against women (this really needs to be looked at). Policies that continue to discriminate and cause harm. Legislation that does not adequately protect the land from encroachment and extraction. All of these things need to be looked at, but not necessarily as separate entities. But in the context of community. And I question how this research might look different than government statistics. And what kinds of stories it might help our communities tell that are different than the stories that get told about us by those who have (and continue to) harm us. 

Presently, the population this project seeks to serve is Yukon's Indigenous community. There are 14 federally "recognized" Yukon First Nations, and several that have been forcibly amalgamated into others or exiled entirely. This project is based in the Yukon, and supported by our existing relationships in community.

There is always work that comes before the work, and in a project such as this, there are community-based designs and interventions that must be considered, and lots of tea to be had around campfires about how best to approach this, and what are the processes that we engage in so that everyone has a voice and feels safe, cared for, and counted in the ways they wish to be counted. What conversations need to be had about what constitutes ethics in this space, and how information is to be used, kept, shared, made private. How do we, as a collective, handle the backlash from the academy and settler society that are adept at attacking our ways of knowing and calling them “unscholarly” or “not scientific”. All of these are points of consideration that we will need to work through as a community.

What does it look like to make a pilot in a jurisdiction like the Yukon, that can be scaled and expanded for other communities to use? Who needs to be around the campfire to even make this happen? Whose resources will support this? How do we work together to leverage more?

The Yukon has a very small population, just under 42,000 people in a territory that spans 474,715.64km2 (183,284.57m). Of the 42,000 people, approximately 25% are First Nation. In addition, Yukon remains  the only jurisdiction with a complete dataset on missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2S+ peoples that has been cross-referenced by the RCMP, which makes layering other datasets on data related to MMIWG very reliable. As Yukon is the only jurisdiction in Canada who has a strategy on addressing MMIWG2S+ that was co-developed by government, First Nations, and the Indigenous women's community, this project has the necessary political support to move forward in this jurisdiction. Being at the ready stage right now, this project can, as a pilot, demonstrate how different methods of sourcing data in a jurisdiction, and also layering data from communities, traditional knowledge systems, and the land. In research, it is much easier to pilot with smaller populations and datasets, and the Yukon, as a jurisdiction fits this criteria. However, in keeping with the spirit of leadership the territory is known for, this project will not only benefit Yukoners and Yukon First Nation people, but will be built in a way that considers scale, transboundary overlap, and national/turtle island interconnectedness. So we start in the Yukon, as a first step, and then we expand on our trade route, using our traditional trade practices. 

There are 14 First Nations in the Yukon, 11 of these are self-governing and have final agreements. These include: Vuntut Gwich'in; Tr'ondek Hwech'in; First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun, Selkirk First Nation, Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, Kwanlin Dun First Nation, Ta'an Kwach'an Council, Teslin Tlingit Council, Champagne and Aishihik First Nation, Kluane First Nation, and the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. The three unceded Nations include: Ross River Dena Council, Liard First Nation (both of which are Kaska Dena), and White River First Nation.

There are also several First Nations that are transboundary to the Yukon, which include: Acho Dene Koe First Nation, Dease River First Nation, Gwich'in Tribal Council, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Kwachada Nation, Tahltan Central Government, Taku River Tlingit First Nation, and Tetlit Gwic'in Council.

This project is in service of all of these communities, and in support of all of the ways our communities are interconnected.

That said, this solution is primarily meant to support the Indigenous women's groups, and the work of the Yukon's Advisory Committee (YAC) on MMIWG2S+. By mapping and counting our experiences of things like violence differently, we are collectively able to tell a different story that connects different people and contexts, and reconsiders the ways that we are interconnected and the supports that our communities need to thrive.

Our team is the community. We are Yukon Indigenous women, supported by Indigenous women from other communities. There is no one better positioned to do this  work than we are. We have existing relationships and protocols that guide our work, and we are deeply acquainted with our needs in the community. We know that the way that violence against Indigenous women in the Yukon gets talked about in a way that does not accurately reflect our lived experiences. From our knowledge and intelligence systems, we know that everything is interconnected, and we know we need to tell a story of interconnection and "counting" and mattering.

As Indigenous women, we are the experts in our lived experiences, and we are working together to give voice to these experiences in ways that comply with our own laws, our interrelations and interconnections, and that uphold the dignity of individuals and community.

A team of Indigenous Aunties has guided the work to this point, and will continue to guide the work in perpetuity. This is our sacred responsibility to our Aunties that came before us, and our nieces that come after us.

As the team lead, Amanda has been working with the Kaska Dena Aunties to develop a variety of models and solutions, has leveraged significant funding to support the Dena community, and has represented the Liard Aboriginal Women's Society as a member of the YAC, and at various other tables. As the team "lead" she understands herself as the transboundary interface between community and those who support our work.

I am applying to the Solve program because I deeply need support for my community to do this work, and access to people who speak the language of technology. And to be honest, I don't know what I don't know, and might be (read: probably am) way over my head. But I have been asked and trusted by the Elders to do this work, so here I am, doing my best to explain to you what my community is working towards and seeking your support.

I need help with the technology pieces, and the legal pieces. I need people who can help point me to resources (monetary and non-monetary) that I didn't know exist, and help me "translate" my community's needs into their languages. I need partners that can help me think through the project from a variety of different lenses, in service of making the final "product" of better service to the community (and ideally, scalable for all Indigenous communities).

I would love to work with other fellows in support of the advancement of all of our solutions, and to find ways of connecting with other fellows' solutions. I am interested in becoming a fellow to be in service to my home community and to build community, the way that coral comes together to make land.

Keyi’en ích’e ye kwínje’en ích’e. Ä́gunda ích’e. Kwanlin yu níinje. Gunałchish Kwanlin dän ye Ta’aán dän ye Souga sin la Kaska Dena ye kwädǟn, ninän käy k’ànída yū. Ájesídla yū shų. Ä́tsųą Paula ùye chʼe. Ä́tsìa John ùye chʼe. Ä́mą Louise ùye chʼe. Ä́tà Neil ùye chʼe. Amanda ùye ích’e. I am without land and without language (I am a displaced Indigenous person). I am Wolf Clan. I rest my head in Kwanlin (Whitehorse). Thank you Kwanlin people, Taʼaán people, and Kaska people for letting me walk on your country, and work too. My maternal grandmother’s name is Paula. My maternal grandfather’s name is John. My mother’s name is Louise. My father’s name is Neil. My name is Amanda.

I have lived and worked in the Yukon most of my life, and my cultural connections are to the Kaska Dena communities. My familial connections are through the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations. I am accountable to the wolf clan.

As the "niece" on the team, I am connected to the Yukon Indigenous
communities through a lifetime of work dedicated to justice for
MMIWG2S+, and ending violence in Indigenous communities. I was the
person who originally researched MMIWG in the Yukon and am a member of
the YAC.

For the last several years, I have been working with Kaska Elders on governance and educational models that mirror Kaska law. As a member of the Advisory Committee, I have been invested in ensuring that each and every implementation action speaks directly to how it will end violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2s+ people.

I am grateful to work alongside my Elders in community who guide my work at every turn, to ensure that I am accurately reflecting community and our ethics of care. As a wolf clan niece, I have a responsibility to honour my role in my clan, and uphold the dignity of the crow (opposite) clan. As a long-time activist in the Indigenous women's community (locally and nationally), I have access to myriad supports, and I am also supported to do this work by the Advisory Committee, Liard Aboriginal Women's Society, and through doctoral collaborative specialization in knowledge media design.

I have been working closely with mentors Kiera Ladner and Jennifer Wemigwans to formulate the base concepts and think through the layers of access and permission, as well. As a second-time doctoral student building on my previous work on mapping and modeling community governance and education, I have done significant work with the Elders and community, and have proven that I have the capacity to co-create models that work for community in locality, while reporting to 2 thesis "committees" - one in the academy, and one deeply rooted in culture, land, language, and community.

So far, I have access to $100K to start this work, and in working together with a collective of Indigenous women, I know we will be able to leverage that into close to $1Mill by scaffolding the project and creating partnerships to advance the work.

Community-sourcing data and mapping data about violence against other, seemingly unconnected datasets has never been done before.

Indigenous women are diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are interested in focusing on upholding our own cultural values in our organizations, to ensure their continuity and futurity. We have been working to remove systemic barriers for more than 25 years, and will continue to do so, from our community and cultural contexts, and understandings of our own laws and governance systems.

We don't want to be financially sustainable. We want to develop this to gift it to the community as part of our Indigenous economic practice.