From Digital Divides to the First Mile: Indigenous Peoples and the Network Society in Canada

• Main Author: McMahon, Rob
• Other Authors: Travel to research sites financially supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Kativik Regional Government, and Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tribal Council
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism 2014
• Subjects: Indigenous peoples; First Nations; Inuit; digital self-determination; network society; community development,al Self-Determination; Community Development; Infrastructure; Broadband; Policy; Sociotechnical; Media; Communication; First Mile; Canada; inuit
• Online Access: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2456

Indigenous peoples interact with the emergent network society in diverse ways that reflect the colonialism/self-determination dialectic. One area where this process unfolds is in the bridging of digital divides. I use the concept of the First Mile to show how First Nations and Inuit peoples in Canada’s geographic periphery are asserting their self-determination in the sphere of digital ICTs. While most digital divide literature presumes that a connection to the network society is inherently beneficial, when framed in the context of historic and ongoing processes of colonialism, integration alone is not adequate. An example of a not-for-profit satellite network cooperative demonstrates how three Indigenous organizations shaped the problem of the digital divide into an opportunity to establish a platform for digital self-determination.