Boozhoo News River Readers,

Much like the spring river freshet, it feels like there’s a lot flowing around here! Multiple team members are attending events, speaking on panels, and connecting with community in diverse spaces. You can read more about that in this week's feature, and the first link below. If you see an Animikii Thunderbird in the room - be sure to say hello - we’re a friendly bunch!

Thanks for being here,  

This week’s stories include: 

• Rethinking Privacy Through Indigenous Data Sovereignty

• Indigenous knowledge can improve AI models to manage fires, study finds

• Indigenous Journalists Association is seeking judges for the 2026 Indigenous Media Awards

Indigenous data sovereignty for environmental stewardship

The big picture: The 2026 Genomics Forum features expert conversations on the solutions and emerging opportunities at the intersection of genomics and biodiversity science. Researchers, Indigenous leaders and partners gather May 6th to explore how genomics can deepen our understanding of changes in biodiversity and accelerate evidence based actions to preserve, conserve and manage our ecosystems.

Why it matters: Indigenous Peoples have long held knowledge systems and practices informed by respectful coexistence with environments that are crucial to Indigenous livelihoods and wellbeing. Understanding data sovereignty principles, Indigenous rights, ownership and self governance are fundamental to ethical, equitable practice in genomics, data, science, policy and conservation. The assembled panel will explore how genuine partnership can create opportunities for weaving knowledge systems, sharing information and enabling sustained collaborations towards the future of environmental stewardship.

Panelists: 

• Jeff Ward - Animikii Indigenous Technology

• Warren Cardinal-McTeague - University of British Columbia

• Michael Runningwolf  - Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute

What they’re saying: “Right now, grants fund sample collection, sequencing, and analysis. They rarely fund the long-term hosting, governance structures, and community capacity needed after the project ends. That’s short-sighted.” - Jeff Ward  

Learn more: Genome BC’s 2026 Annual Genomics Forum: Resilience by Design – Genomics for Biodiversity in a Shifting World

Curated Articles:

Indigenous Journalists Association is seeking judges for the 2026 Indigenous Media Awards. 

AI The numbers: 700+ entries. 100+ categories. One association with very full hands. We're looking for media professionals who can evaluate work across journalism, broadcast, photography, and digital storytelling — and who appreciate that good judgment is one of the most underrated skills in the industry. 6–8 hours, remote, June. Choose your thank-you: conference registration ($400+), two-year membership ($110+), institutional membership ($300), or six awards entries ($300) Apply by May 22, 2026

Indigenous knowledge can improve AI models to manage fires, study finds

Wildfires could be more effectively managed if artificial intelligence (AI) models incorporated Indigenous knowledge more fully for landscape use around the world, according to a recent study. The AI-based quantitative frameworks that are used to help predict and map the occurrence of fires should be designed to complement – rather than replace – the traditional and Indigenous knowledge (TIK) acquired through generations of observation, practice and cultural transmission. These are among the findings of the paper published by the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Indigenous people honor and raise awareness for relatives who are missing or have been killed

Across the country, Indigenous people are gathering this week to honor loved ones who are missing or have been killed and to call for better data collection, law enforcement response and reforms to make their communities safer. From U.S. state capitols and tribal community spaces to the streets of major cities, hundreds of marches, rallies, talking circles, self-defense classes and candlelight vigils are planned for the week of May 5, which is observed as a national day of awareness for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples movement. The day reflects both the collective grief and the resilience of Indigenous communities, where the federal government has a legal responsibility to ensure public safety. All too often, resources to prevent and respond to violence are in short supply. Many events call for participants to wear red, a color that has become synonymous with honoring Indigenous victims of violence in the U.S. and Canada

Rethinking Privacy Through Indigenous Data Sovereignty

This week Animikii’s Impact Strategist Jeff Doctor, alongside Chelsea Nakogee and Savion Nakogee of Wabusk Data Solutions will be presenting an informative conversation at the IAPP Symposium in Toronto. The session examines how Indigenous data sovereignty challenges conventional privacy and technology practices within Canadian legal and business contexts, including emerging technologies like AI, and how Indigenous-led approaches can shift privacy systems toward accountability, equity and long-term trust.

These First Nations students are teaching themselves — and their peers — to speak Cree

Inside Vern Lewis’ classroom, Frog Lake First Nation students are often directed to pull out their cellphones, an instruction not frequently heard at Tustukeeskaws High School, nor in classrooms across Alberta. “I’m probably the only teacher in school that will allow them to bring out their cellphones,” the teacher told CBC News. Lewis, a first-year teacher, said he used his computer science background to create a database with common English phrases students wanted to learn in Cree. Students can upload recordings of themselves reciting the phrase in Cree, so they can replay it as needed. The app also allows other users to play the recordings back to help with their own learning.

Wind Boom with Indigenous Partners Must Not Repeat Energy’s Exploitative Past, Report Warns

Wind farms can provide important benefits for Indigenous partners, but require meaningful consultation to ensure community benefits and avoid the energy sector’s past exploitative conduct, says a new report. Amid a surge in Indigenous-led wind development in New Brunswick, spurred in part by a 2024 federal commitment of up to $1 billion for new capacity, it is “crucial that these projects are planned with utmost consideration for the history of energy project exploitation and pollution of Indigenous lands and offer substantive and crucial benefits to the communities that own or are partnered on these projects,” say the authors of Indigenous-Partnered Wind Energy in Wabanaki Homeland. The report was co-published by the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group Inc. and the Contesting Energy Discourses through Action Research (CEDAR) research project at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. In his foreword, Chief Hugh Akagi of the Peskotomuhkati Nation at Skutik, describes the report as “not a simple endorsement of wind energy but rather a critical look at how these projects can be truly beneficial.”