Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous Innovations Symposium
Dartmouth College September 21-22, 2026
Overview of the 2-day Symposium:
The two-day symposium at Dartmouth College, will bring together leading scholars to examine the intersections of artificial intelligence (AI), Indigenous data creation, and environmental futures. Together, these engagements will underscore how Indigenous traditions of innovation can shape future technological pathways, positioning Dartmouth as a vital site for dialogue at the nexus of environment, technology, and Indigenous studies.
Panel 1: Indigenous Approaches to AI and Environmental Care
Monday September 21st at 12:00 pm in Occom Commons (Lunch provided)
Artificial intelligence is rapidly expanding across sectors, but its development and deployment come with significant environmental costs, from energy-intensive data centers to extractive mining practices for critical minerals. These impacts disproportionately affect Indigenous lands, waters and relations. In this session, we will explore how Indigenous communities are at the forefront of confronting these challenges, while also leading conversations about ethical, sustainable, and relational approaches to emerging technologies.
Moderator: Lydia Jennings - Dartmouth College
Panelists: Cora Tso - Arizona State Univ., Tana Fitzpatrick - Oklahoma Univ., Ryan Williams - Dartmouth College
Hood Museum Workshop with Danielle Boyer:
Monday September 21st at 2pm in the Hood Atrium
RSVP required: m.brinker.ferguson@dartmouth.edu
As part of Artificial Intelligence and Ancestral Innovations, the Hood Museum of Art will host an interactive workshop with Danielle Boyer (Ojibwe), a nationally recognized robotics inventor and advocate for Indigenous youth. Boyer will introduce Dartmouth students to her groundbreaking projects, including Every Kid Gets a Robot and SkoBot, which merge low-cost robotics, artificial intelligence, and Indigenous language revitalization. Framed through her commitment to educational equity and cultural continuity, the workshop will engage students in building and experimenting with wearable, interactive robots that bring language learning and cultural knowledge into everyday life.
Panel 2: Imagining Alternative Indigenous Futures
Tuesday September 22nd at 12:00 pm in Occom Commons (Lunch provided)
Often in science fiction, artificial intelligence is imagined either pessimistically or optimistically. However, these depictions in popular culture, despite how varied, fail to engage with AI and technology from an Indigenous perspective. In this session, we will explore how Indigenous authors, artists, and activists are imagining different presents and futures, using traditional knowledges and lifeways as inspiration. Ultimately, this panel will intervene into dominant narratives of AI and weave together the innovations of Indigenous science and science fiction.
Moderator: E Ornelas - Dartmouth College
Panelists: Chris Pexa - Harvard College, Angelo Baca - RISD, Sean Dorr - Univ. of Minnesota
Public Keynote Lecture by Marisa Duarte
Tuesday September 22nd at 5:30pm in Kemeny Hall 008
The conference will conclude with a Tuesday evening public keynote lecture by Marisa Duarte, a leading scholar of Indigenous information systems and technologies. Drawing on her expertise in Indigenous philosophies of science, technology, and justice, as well as her research on social media, digital infrastructures, and knowledge circulation, Dr. Duarte will synthesize the insights shared across the symposium into a final keynote. Her lecture will offer a visionary reflection on the intersections of AI and Indigenous sovereignty, providing both a critical analysis and an inspiring call for future collaborations.
About: Marisa Duarte researches problems of information, knowledge, and technology in Native American and Indigenous contexts, specifically Native and Indigenous peoples uses of social media, construction of large-scale digital infrastructures, and interfaces that allow for the circulation of Indigenous ways of knowing. Her work requires understanding of Western and Indigenous philosophies of science and technology, as well as Indigenous concepts of justice.
Sponsors:
NAIS Department, ENVS Department, Climate Collaborative, North Park House, the Hood Museum of Art, and the Leslie Center.
