Urgent Steps for the Global Observance of the World Indigenous Peoples Day 2025
On this International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples (August 9), it is crucial to recognise the significant challenges that Indigenous communities face, particularly in the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data sovereignty.
This year's theme, "Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures," underscores the urgent need for action. Daily, Indigenous leaders risk their lives to protect their territories from mining, and in many parts of the world, Indigenous Peoples still face grave human rights abuses and challenges.
Indigenous Peoples currently face significant challenges regarding AI, including exclusion from decision-making, misuse and misappropriation of their cultural knowledge, environmental harm from AI infrastructure, and the reinforcement of harmful biases and colonial legacies in AI systems.
One of the key challenges is bias and misrepresentation. AI systems often train on data that excludes or misrepresents Indigenous communities, reinforcing harmful biases and perpetuating colonial patterns of cultural appropriation without Indigenous consent.
Data sovereignty is another significant issue. Indigenous Peoples struggle to control how their histories, languages, and knowledge are collected, used, and shared, risking erasure or distortion.
Environmental impact is another concern. AI data centers and mining for critical minerals often cause environmental degradation on Indigenous lands, affecting ecosystems integral to their livelihoods.
A digital divide and access further limit their ability to benefit from AI and related tools.
To address these challenges, stakeholders should engage Indigenous Peoples in AI governance, respect data sovereignty rights, develop ethical safeguards, support Indigenous-led innovation, and mitigate environmental impacts on Indigenous lands.
Engaging Indigenous Peoples in AI governance means ensuring Indigenous voices are involved in setting AI policies and standards, respecting their rights and knowledge governance systems.
Respecting data sovereignty rights involves upholding principles of Indigenous data control, including prior informed consent and community oversight over data collection and AI applications involving their cultural heritage.
Developing ethical safeguards creates frameworks that prevent cultural appropriation, bias, and exclusion in AI development and use, in line with human rights protections.
Supporting Indigenous-led innovation promotes and funds Indigenous initiatives that use AI for language revitalization, cultural preservation, climate solutions, and biodiversity protection.
Mitigating environmental impacts means regulating and monitoring AI infrastructure development to prevent harm to Indigenous lands and resources, incorporating Indigenous environmental stewardship practices.
These approaches align with recent UN recommendations and global Indigenous advocacy, emphasizing a rights-based, inclusive digital transformation where Indigenous Peoples lead in shaping AI futures.
The promise of human rights for Indigenous Peoples worldwide remains unfulfilled. Indigenous systems of traditional knowledge have developed over many generations, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of years. The first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations was held on August 9, 1982, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Since then, numerous spaces have opened for Indigenous voices to be heard. However, 48 cases of abuse of the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent have been reported since 2010 in relation to the extraction of these minerals. In 2023, 49% of environment or land defenders assassinated were Indigenous or Afro-descendant, a disproportionately high figure considering they make up approximately 6% of the world's population.
The SIRGE Coalition, consisting of Cultural Survival, Tallgrass Institute, Batani Foundation, Earthworks, and Voices, was launched three years ago to ensure the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Green Economy. The Coalition calls on governments, businesses, and financial actors to safeguard the rights and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples in the energy transition and avoid the mistakes and harms of past resource exploitation.
In the past year, 18 new cases of impacts have been reported among Indigenous Peoples due to the uncontrolled acceleration of transition mineral mining. Indigenous territories contain significant untapped reserves of heavy metals worldwide, putting Indigenous lands and communities at risk. Since 2010, 835 human rights abuse allegations have been linked to the extraction of these minerals, including 77 related to the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The SIRGE Coalition urges action to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the energy transition and to avoid the mistakes and harms of past resource exploitation. As we move forward, it is essential to prioritise the inclusion and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples in AI and digital transformation. Let us work together to ensure that Indigenous Peoples shape their own futures, defending their rights and shaping the AI landscape to benefit all.
References:
[1] UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2020). Report of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on its twenty-third session. United Nations.
[2] United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2019). Report of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on its study on the rights of indigenous peoples to free, prior, and informed consent. United Nations.
[3] Indigenous Peoples' Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative (2018). Indigenous Peoples' Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative: State of the Science Report. International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity.
[4] Indigenous Peoples' Technology and Education Centre (2018). Indigenous Data Sovereignty: A Call to Action. Indigenous Peoples' Technology and Education Centre.
[5] United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007). United Nations General Assembly.
Technology is a growing concern for Indigenous Peoples in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data sovereignty as they face challenges regarding exclusion from decision-making, misuse of cultural knowledge, environmental harm, reinforced biases, and the digital divide. To address these issues, it's crucial to prioritize the engagement of Indigenous Peoples in AI governance, respect their data sovereignty rights, develop ethical safeguards, support Indigenous-led innovation, and mitigate environmental impacts on Indigenous lands.
