Openness, inclusion and self-affirmation: Indigenous knowledge in open knowledge projects

• Main Authors: Casemajor, Nathalie, Coocoo, Christian, Gentelet, Karine
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Wikimedia; Indigènes; connaissance; ouverture; Canada; Levin; atikamekw
• Online Access: https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/8772/; https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/8772/1/Casemajor_2019.pdf; http://peerproduction.net/editsuite/issues/issue-13-open/peer-reviewed-papers/openness-inclusion-and-self-affirmation/

This paper is based on an action research project (Greenwood and Levin, 1998) conducted in 2016-2017 in partnership with the Atikamekw Nehirowisiw Nation and Wikimedia Canada. Built into the educational curriculum of a secondary school on the Manawan reserve, the project led to the launch of a Wikipedia encyclopaedia in the Atikamekw Nehirowisiw language. We discuss the results of the project by examining the challenges and opportunities raised in the collaborative process of creating Wikimedia content in the Atikamekw Nehirowisiw language. What are the conditions of inclusion of Indigenous and traditional knowledge in open projects? What are the cultural and political dimensions of empowerment in this relationship between openness and inclusion? How do the processes of inclusion and negotiation of openness affect Indigenous skills and worlding processes? Drawing from media studies, indigenous studies and science and technology studies, we adopt an ecological perspective (Star, 2010) to analyse the complex relationships and interactions between knowledge practices, ecosystems and infrastructures. The material presented in this paper is the result of the group of participants’ collective reflection digested by one Atikamekw Nehirowisiw and two settlers. Each cowriter then brings his/her own expertise and speaks from what he or she knows and has been trained for.