First Nations and the Digital Divide

By Skye MacLeod, CAP YI 2010 Intern

There is a bountiful amount of success stories to tell within the topic of First Nations and their adoption of digital technology. While many communities are finding innovative and beneficial ways to incorporate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into their culture, there are still many barriers that must be broken down to narrow the divide between remote First Nations communities and their access to new communication technologies.

In 2008, only 80 out of 203 First Nations communities in British Columbia had broadband access. While efforts to increase broadband Infrastructure to reach these areas is constantly being made by Aboriginal affairs and Internet providers alike, the divide still exists, and still has an impact. At the 2002 First Nations Summit, an organization called the First Nations Technology Council was established to ensure that there was a continuing effort to give remote native communities better ICT access. These communities know that it is important to push for this change, and it was stated in the council’s 2005-2006 strategic plan that remote communities need better high-speed connections than urban areas to make up for the lack or absence of emergency, health, and education services. The plan asserts that broadband should be considered a “basic community infrastructure”, like roads and electricity-distribution networks.

Without the adequate experience or a prior knowledge of newer technologies the adjustment to an urban society, where the use of ICTs has become a near necessity, is increasingly difficult to make. Those who migrate to urban centers from reserves that had little access to ICTs will likely need some guidance in how to efficiently use tools like the Internet. The Tsawwassen First Nations Elders site, Tsawwassen First Nations Youth site, and the Kiwassa Neighborhood House are among the several CAP sites that have catered to the unique needs of aboriginal individuals who have sought out help learning ways to benefit from using new technologies in their life.

Several examples can be found online of the tremendous ways in which aboriginal youth have adapted ICTs into their life. Many youths have used digital media to craft stories told by elders into films, and others have incorporated digital technology into traditional art. Children as young as ten years old have been learning how to use graphic design programs and build websites. A secondary benefit to teaching First Nations youth how to be tech-savvy is that their skills are relayed to the older members of the community. Younger members of communities are helping elders to record community history and access valuable information over the Internet. By continuing to support the learning of those who are new to the tools of the Digital Age, more barriers can be overcome, and those First Nations communities who did not have previous access can learn to benefit from the Internet, and express the values of their culture digitally.

References
1.    http://www.straight.com/article-240587/first-nations-seeking-cross-digital-divide
2.    http://fnbc.info/FNTC/
3.    http://cap.vcn.bc.ca/