There are many indigenous groups using the internet as a communication channel to publish historical, tourist, and commercial information for their own people and for members of the general public from a perspective that may not have been voiced in the mainstream media. This has bred a growing number of websites maintained by people from various cultures and clearinghouses who are trying to preserve, protect and ensure that information reflects exactly what indigenous norms and customs are in their originality. For Instance, the Indigenous peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee is a network of 135 indigenous people’s organizations in 21 African countries making it the largest indigenous people’s network in the world aimed at voicing out human rights violations, exclusion from decision-making and the political economy.
In East Africa, Tanzania is home to over half a million Indigenous people including hunter-gatherers like the Akie and Hadzabe, and pastoralists such as the Parakuyo, Barabaig and Maasai. Rwanda hosts the Batwa people, a forest-living group estimated at 33,000. In Kenya, Indigenous peoples form 25 percent of its population. Mainly pastoralists, hunter-gatherers, fisherfolk and small farming communities, they include the Turkana, Rendille, Borana, Maasai among others. Uganda has an estimated 1.2 million Indigenous people including the Benet, Batwa, Ik, the Karamojong and Basongora pastoralists.
Indigenous communities vary vastly around the world, culturally, physically, religiously, linguistically, and economically. From a mainstream and scholarly perspective, “Indigenous peoples” refers to the first humans who established a permanent life in a particular region or area of the world. Indigenous peoples may also be referred to as aboriginal peoples, first peoples, or native peoples.
It is imperative that Indigenous people have equal access to information. Technological advancement has the potential to allow the community to be aware of social events around the world, local and state news, health information, business information and information on community development. The continuing trend of e-business has contributed many benefits to emerging Indigenous entrepreneurs. In Jordan (2000)’s book, he explored how Indigenous art organizations used the Internet as an excellent promotional tool to operate their business in Maningrida, a regional Indigenous community in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Equally, the increasing use of ICT in health care has the potential to minimize health service disparities faced by Indigenous people. Maar, Seymour, Sanderson, and Boesch (2010) promoted e-health services to improve access to health information services in rural and remote Aboriginal communities in Canada. A report from Health Canada demonstrated that tele-health networks provided high quality clinical and community services to under-serviced Aboriginal communities. However, for many Indigenous communities, in particular those living in remote areas, surfing the web still remains a luxury and in some Indigenous territories, phone service and even electricity is unavailable, making Internet use nearly impossible.
The low rate of adoption in ICTs by Indigenous people has been discussed in literature. Owing to factors such as poor computer literacy skills and inadequate ICT infrastructure presence. This digital divide is attributed to limited access, affordability and usage of telecommunication services in some rural and remote areas. Amber Pariona 2018 summarizes that, major obstacles of digital inclusion in indigenous communities include; High cost of access, Affordability, Lack of Technical Support and Maintenance, Low bandwidth, poor infrastructure and inconsistent power supply, Limited Computer Skills/Experience.
Narrowing down the digital divide is a challenging task to embark on, although it is evident that governments of various countries have supported projects that specifically target the technological gap. There are significant challenges in overcoming the digital divide as indigenous communities still have a negative attitude over ICT usage as some feel that Western values contribute to the erosion of Indigenous knowledge and cultural wisdom. However, for the younger generation of Indigenous people, technology is not seen as an intruder to their culture but rather a natural and desirable aspect of their everyday life to keep the connection with others.
Currently, it seems that indigenous peoples are eagerly using the Internet to communicate with each other and to coordinate the international movement that has grown up to defend indigenous rights. For instance, the Assyrian example shows how Internet can help a scattered and persecuted people to maintain a sense of their culture and community. Equally, the Sami of northern Scandinavia and the native Hawaiians have found the Internet a valuable tool for teaching and preserving their languages.
However, many indigenous groups do not have the resources, access, or time to embrace, ignore, or try to accommodate the changes being wrought by digital networks. Because they are torn in between prioritizing their needs and ensuring that they are full on internet. There are arguments to customize ICT and the Internet for Indigenous people and their communities. Therefore, content creators should continue consulting with Indigenous communities and adapt Internet technology to incorporate Indigenous cultures.
As Covid-19 infections and mortality rates rise worldwide, data on the rate of infections in Indigenous peoples are either not yet available or not recorded by ethnicity. Indigenous communities experience a high degree of socio-economic marginalization and are at inordinate peril in public health emergencies. This makes them more vulnerable during this global crisis, due to their lack of access to effective monitoring and early-warning systems, adequate health and social services and translated information into their local languages. One would imagine and ask if this is attributed to internet or technology? Because while other citizens are in lockdowns, they can afford to have access to health information on preventive measures, Covid-19 cases and revised SOPs via Radio and Tv programs, online and mainstream and through phone applications which use the internet.
Although there is lots of information and guidelines on how to reduce the risk of catching or spreading Covid-19, these are not published with indigenous people in mind. Often times language, access to information and strategic planning are exclusive of indigenous communities. From Sean Fleming’s 2020 report, it is impossible for remote areas to have access to basic information whether on Tv, Radio, newspaper and there certainly isn’t internet access.
According to Dr Nelson Vergara, most governments have designed and prepared for the pandemic but clearly for Euro-descendant urban populations. In his explanation, western norms dictate that citizens live in their homes respecting full time quarantine and curfew orders, but rural life for indigenous peoples differs and is completely the opposite. In its simplicity, a policy that works for the urban populations will not be interpreted in the same way by an indigenous person in the countryside. It is with such discrepancies that the Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Anne Nuorgam urged member States and the international community to include the specific needs and priorities of indigenous peoples in addressing the global outbreak of COVID 19.
At the end of the day, Indigenous communities need to access available information on the pandemic so that they can accurately assess their own situation and improvise means of survival as the government plans for them on how to access vaccines and treatment. But as the situation is, there is scarcity of information on covid-19 tested or vaccinated indigenous groups. This is when the exponential need to customize ICT and the Internet for Indigenous people and their communities becomes bountiful.
There is need to push for internet connectivity among indigenous communities amid the prevailing Covid-19 health crisis. This would help pass on information in a safer way to digital communities through digital platforms and also help the state and international community realize the numbers of infections and mortality rates emanating from indigenous communities. In a longer term, there is need to create an inclusive digital plan where all indigenous peoples are given digital opportunities especially within schools and other learning facilities.
Nsekanabo Sheila,
Manager, Policy and Strategy – Centre for Multilateral Affairs
