Registration is now open the upcoming webinar scheduled for Wednesday, February 11, 2026 from 4-5pm ET. Registration required. Registrants will be approved manually for attendance. Please register by February 10th at 5pm PST.
AI and Indigenous interests will never be a non-issue – Indigenous communities face ongoing threats to self-determination as data is extracted globally without consent, and participation in the AI landscape isn’t optional. This webinar examines both the serious risks and strategic opportunities within this reality.
Drawing on experience in tribal planning and ongoing independent monitoring of AI developments, we’ll explore practical approaches Indigenous communities and institutions can take now: implementing safer data storage practices, developing offline models that maintain data sovereignty, and deploying specialized smaller language models built on clean, community-controlled datasets. Participants will learn methods for monitoring AI developments and receive actionable recommendations for making strategic choices that center Indigenous rights while navigating an AI landscape that won’t wait for permission.
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Jane Anderson is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Museum Studies and a Global Fellow in the Engelberg Center for Innovation Law and Policy in the Law School at New York University. Jane has a Ph.D. in Law from the Law School at University of New South Wales in Australia. Their work is focused on the philosophical and practical problems for intellectual property law and the protection of Indigenous/traditional knowledge resources and cultural heritage in support of Indigenous knowledge and data sovereignty. See more…
Zam DeShield is a member of the Chickasaw Nation and previously served as Planning Director for both Samish Indian Nation and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, where they developed expertise in tribal governance and policy frameworks. As a contractor, they established Microsoft’s Indigenous Program Office, working with Indigenous communities globally to develop AI machine translation tools and replicable processes for low-resource languages, while coordinating cross-company efforts on Indigenous language integration in products and technology. Zam holds a Master’s in Urban & Regional Planning from Eastern Washington University and is currently pursuing graduate studies in Rehabilitation Counseling at Western Washington University.
This webinar is a collaborative effort involving the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance, the Indigenous Data Exchange (IDX), the Equity for Indigenous Research and Innovation Coordinating Hub (ENRICH), and the IndigeLab Network.