Codesigning community networking literacies with rural/ remote Northern Indigenous communities in Northwest Territories, Canada

Abstract

Digital literacy research and practice typically presume certain conditions, such as an urban orientation and adequate, affordable access to connectivity and devices. But these conditions are not universal; for example, people in small, rural/remote Indigenous communities may seek to balance connectivity challenges and digital innovations with land-based living specific to place and community. Drawing on efforts to broaden critical digital literacies to support Indigenous sovereignty, we consider how overlapping contexts of places, communities, and infrastructures intersect in the cocreation of appropriate digital literacy. Specifically, we discuss a series of virtually facilitated, participatory workshops that utilize “hacker literacies” and “infrastructure literacy” to reimagine connectivity infrastructure and demonstrate the potential of community networking in, with, and by rural/remote Indigenous communities. We also reflect on limitations of this work and identify lessons for future projects. Lay Summary Persistent digital divides exist between Northern and Southern Canada, and between rural/remote and central communities in Northern Canada. Along with large-scale commercial telecommunications projects, locally designed and deployed networks offer potential solutions to improve connectivity. Community Networks involve residents in the deployment, ownership, and control of digital infrastructures. However, past research has determined challenges in community efforts to deploy and sustain local networks. In this study, we document the process we used to codesign locally relevant community networking resources—an orientation made more salient given the context of COVID-19 and the desires of rural/remote Indigenous and Northern communities for ownership and control over digital infrastructures. We reflect on the limitations of this approach and suggest lessons learned for future projects.