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In recognition of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, held annually on August 9, this month’s blog is a Q&A with CODI member Sharayah Lane, Senior Advisor for Community Connectivity at the Internet Society and a member of the Lummi Nation. She shares her journey advocating for tribal broadband and digital access. From mapping sacred sites in remote regions to supporting youth-led cultural preservation through technology, Lane offers insight into how Internet access can empower Indigenous communities to reclaim and revitalize language and culture on their own terms.
You’ve been a strong advocate for tribal broadband and digital sovereignty. How did you get started in this work, and as you have been immersed in it, how do you see language representation and digital access intersecting in Indigenous communities’ efforts to reclaim and revitalize culture online?
I am a senior advisor for Community Connectivity, but also for Indigenous Community Connectivity at the Internet Society. I have a background working with Indigenous communities across the United States on broadband, which we call “U.S. Tribal Broadband.” I myself am also a member of the Lummi Nation, a tribe in northwest Washington State, and I live just outside the reservation where I grew up. So, my understanding of the connectivity challenges has always been very experiential, and I see firsthand what the digital divide looks like in my own community. I have seen not only that language is a key part of meaningful access, but also that language preservation is a common end goal for Indigenous communities when it comes to digital access. While those values and those visions are different for each Indigenous community, the language preservation piece tends to be a common goal.
Universal Acceptance is about ensuring the internet works for all people, regardless of the language or script they use. What barriers have you seen Indigenous communities face in accessing and using digital tools in their own languages?
When the pandemic hit, we all learned how vital connectivity is. At the time, I was working directly with Indigenous communities and asking, “What is the most important issue for you right now?” Across the board, the answer was the same: connectivity, Internet access, and broadband. At the Internet Society, our global focus with Indigenous communities has been to first understand the unique challenges and landscapes of individual indigenous communities ― including historical factors, geography, digital exclusion, political factors, and cultural implications and competency. While every Indigenous community is unique, many share common challenges when it comes to getting Internet access.
Can you share a story or example from your work where Internet access helped advance community-led language or cultural initiatives?
One example I’ll always remember comes from the Havasupai Tribe in Arizona. The Tribe is the most remote in the lower 48 states and is only accessible by foot, mule, or helicopter. During my time in philanthropy, I learned from this community about what their shared goal of connectivity was. In addition to the common values we often hear about, such as economic growth, healthcare access, and education, the Havasupai also emphasized that they hoped to focus on GIS mapping. Their goal was to map each of their sacred sites, using connectivity as the means for doing so.
The Internet Society has long been engaged in this space. The program that actually took place in 2018, which was before I came on, comes to mind and bears mentioning. They assisted the Piikani Nation, an Indigenous community in Southern Alberta, Canada, in creating the Piikani Cultural and Digital Literacy Camp Program. This initiative was designed to address concerns about the danger of losing their Blackfoot culture and traditions. The summer program combined Blackfoot cultural teachings with digital skill-building for grade 9 students. Elders shared stories, traditions, and ceremonies at an outdoor camp, while students recorded, edited, and archived this knowledge using video tools they learned to use in pre-camp sessions. This kind of work is essential here because technology not only helps preserve ancestral knowledge but also prepares the next generation.
What role should organizations like the Internet Society and the Coalition on Digital Impact play in supporting Indigenous-led digital and linguistic inclusion efforts?
There is an enormous opportunity for organizations in the digital inclusion space ― whether they’re working on broadband deployment or overcoming cultural barriers to technological access, like language ― to make a real impact. That’s why I’m delighted to see the Coalition on Digital Impact emerging. At the Internet Society, I can share that we have identified Indigenous communities as one of our three target audiences in our 2030 strategy, where we recognize that language preservation is a shared goal across many Indigenous communities and will continue working towards that.
We are also hearing about Indigenous leaders in the media, like Michael Running Wolf and others, who are exploring how AI can promote language preservation across Indian Country. There are still so many areas to explore in this space, but what we do know is that language preservation is a value to most Tribal communities. For many years, Indigenous peoples were systemically stripped of their rights to speak their own languages through the boarding school system in this country. In spite of this, many Indigenous tribes have retained languages through oral tradition and learning opportunities within the community. In my own community, I’ve heard from our young people who have devoted themselves to learning and teaching Xwlemi Chosen (Lummi language) that they experience healing through the practice and want to share that with others.
If we can support the Internet being a tool in language preservation, that simply provides support in what is, for some communities, a challenging but rewarding effort.
For those working on expanding digital access but unfamiliar with Indigenous contexts, what’s one piece of advice you’d give them to be better allies in this space?
Listen, learn, then act.
Indigenous communities have so much to teach us about values-based practice in connectivity. Every community I’ve worked with, for example, is building out networks with the entire group in mind. Terms like digital equity are not new concepts for Indigenous communities. The considerations of access, accessibility, and affordability are always at the forefront of Indigenous network operators’ minds in how they are building a network that can work for everyone.
For anyone who is planning to work with Indigenous communities, enter the space knowing that you have a lot to learn in addition to any work you hope to do in partnership with them. Take that learning opportunity; we all benefit from them, but only when we recognize them as such.
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