Indigenous space leaders
Boozhoo News River readers,
What a great week in Indigenous tech news!
First, we check in with The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke who have filed a lawsuit against the Quebec and Canadian governments for allegedly failing to conduct adequate consultations for the Northvolt electric vehicle battery project.
Why this matters:
As renewable energy and other “green” technologies are developed, it is essential to ask who bears the costs. In the case of mining for technologies like electric vehicle batteries, these are often on Indigenous lands, affecting the people who have lived there for generations.
Next up, The Tyee checks in on an international team that produced the first high-quality sequence of the full Coast Salish woolly dog genome.
What is the Coast Salish woolly dog you ask?
It was a species of North American domesticated dog that was eventually replaced by those brought by European colonizers.
With permission from the leadership of the Stó:lō Nation, researchers hope to learn more about their history of at least 1,800 years on the continent, including the use of woolly dog hair in traditional weaving practices.
💫 Looking Up: Indigenous Space News A pair of recent articles highlight astronomer Samantha Doxtator (Haudenosaunee) and robotics engineer Janell Henry (Métis). Want to get inspired about how Indigenous peoples influence our understanding of the cosmos? Here are some other space-related news items: More on the topic:
- The Animikii blog covers how technologies like Starlink impact Indigenous relationships to the night sky (by obscuring constellations).
- Did you know that NASA’s Apollo mission was made possible by Navajo women who manufactured integrated circuits? The workers were uniquely qualified for the job because of their painstaking attention to detail gained from traditional handiwork. Read more about these unsung heroes.
- The Canadian Space Agency is looking for Indigenous interns. Find out more about how to apply.
We’re grateful to have our headquarters on traditional territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lkwungen, Songhees and Esquimalt) Peoples of the Coast Salish Nation.
Animikii Inc: theDock Centre for Social Impact 100-722 Cormorant St Victoria, BC V8W 1P8
You're receiving this because you signed up for the Animikii News River. You can unsubscribe at any time.
