Boozhoo News River Readers,
Happy Wednesday! Some team members at Animikii are working today, others are not. We’ve got more information about how we treat statutory holidays in today’s feature. 

It’s also the start of summer vacation season, as most students are now out of classes. Parents may have adjusted work schedules for new pick up and drop off routines, and many are taking their time off while the weather is good. 

However you are showing up this week or this month - take a moment to recognize how hard you’ve been working so far in 2026. You’re doing great, and we want you to hear that ♥️

Thanks for reading our News River!   

This week’s stories include: 

• A collection of sacred Indigenous artifacts could soon be sold after museum closure

• Feds invest $3M in U of A initiative to help businesses with data sovereignty, compliance

• AI in Health: scholar brings clarity and caution to Pacific symposium

Statutory Holidays at Animikii  

The big picture: While some holidays may hold special significance to certain groups of people, other groups may not identify with the significance of that holiday. 

Why it matters: Statutory holidays provide an opportunity for an act of decolonization – replacing western interpretations and celebrations of history with an Indigenous perspective. We can create space to support Indigenous worldviews and celebrate diversity by how we treat statutory holidays.

How it works: At Animikii we want to give the choice of how our employees use these paid holidays.  

• Some team members may choose to take the holiday as scheduled because the day is meaningful to them. 

• Others may choose to observe the day but reinterpret - and honour it - in their own way. 

• Others may choose to select a different day that is more meaningful to them based on cultural, faith or personal significance or simply a personal preference. 

Learn more: Animikii's stat holiday policy is open-source (Creative Commons) and ready to use, including a form that staff can use to substitute stat holidays. Visit open.animikii.com for the full policy.

Curated Articles:

Marilou Schultz combines digital technology with Navajo weaving

Opening June 27, 2026, Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College’s (CCS Bard) Hessel Museum of Art marks the first survey of acclaimed Navajo/Diné weaver and mathematics educator Marilou Schultz. On view through November 29, 2026, the exhibition positions Schultz as an innovator whose work across culture and industry has influenced the practices of art, Navajo weaving, and computer architecture over a 65-year career. Replica of a Chip traces the full arc of Schultz’s artistic practice, demonstrating how she has consistently pushed the boundaries of experimentation within Navajo weaving, first through teaching herself new weaving styles, dyes, and techniques and later, using it as a means to reflect on the digital technologies shaping contemporary culture and society—from early computer microprocessors to stock market tickers and other digital data. The exhibition is curated by Candice Hopkins (citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation, CCS Bard ‘03), Executive Director and Chief Curator of Forge Project and Fellow in Indigenous Art History and Curatorial Studies at CCS Bard. 

A collection of sacred Indigenous artifacts could soon be sold after museum closure

Indigenous advocates are calling for immediate help to repatriate a significant collection of artifacts from a private collection in Switzerland. The items, which include ceremonial items, beaded regalia and historical weapons, are just some of the thousands of Indigenous artifacts that have been housed at a privately owned museum near Zurich. The museum has since closed its doors, and advocates are trying to get their hands on these sacred items before they are sold off. “Right now, time is of the essence,” said Indigenous advocate Coleen Rajotte. “They are all sitting in boxes in Switzerland right now, so there’s a real urgency about this, that we are able to raise this money and return these items back to our people.” Rajotte and other members of the Bringing Them Home project, which is the advocacy group behind this repatriation effort, are seeking $20 million to help buy the artifacts and bring them back to Canada. Rajotte says the owner of the museum is retiring and wants to sell the collection for around $17 million, but she says they plan to hire an appraiser to visit the collection in Switzerland to evaluate the items.

Open letter: Australia's creators are not a tech subsidy

We are Australia’s songwriters, recording artists, authors, journalists, photographers, producers, visual artists, composers, screenwriters, playwrights and creative industry businesses… Australia holds something no other country possesses: more than sixty thousand years of First Nations culture. Those songs, stories, images and languages are living cultural heritage. Any framework that weakens the protection of creative work puts that heritage at risk of being absorbed into AI systems in ways that are extractive, disrespectful and irreversible.

AI in Health: scholar brings clarity and caution to Pacific symposium

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming health systems worldwide, but for Māori and Pacific communities, ensuring it is safe, equitable and effective remains a critical challenge. That message was at the heart of an insightful plenary address by Professor Robyn Whittaker, Co-Director of the University of Auckland’s TRANSFORM Research Centre, at the Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa Research Symposium 2026, held last week at the Fale Pasifika on 24 June. Speaking to an audience of researchers, clinicians, health professionals, students and Pacific community members, Professor Whittaker demystified AI by outlining its current uses in healthcare, its growing capabilities, and its significant limitations - particularly for Indigenous populations. “AI tools in health broadly fall into three areas - predictive analytics, computer vision, and generative AI,” Professor Whittaker explained. “Each offers enormous promise, but none are infallible, and all require careful consideration in how they are designed, implemented and used.”

Feds invest $3M in U of A initiative to help businesses with data sovereignty, compliance

Canadian AI Compute Vault will provide the computing might and storage needed to help businesses build highly secure, homegrown AI models for a fraction of the price. The federal government is investing $3 million in the University of Alberta to help secure Canada’s tech sovereignty by building a highly secure, homegrown artificial intelligence development hub for small and medium-sized businesses. Delivered through PrairiesCan via the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative, the Canadian AI Compute Vault (CAICV) will be housed at the University of Alberta. Dr. Solange Gagnebin, industry cloud manager and project lead in the U of A’s Faculty of Engineering, says the initiative addresses data sovereignty and compliance, an increasingly critical issue for domestic startups. Currently, many Canadian tech companies rely on foreign “hyperscalers” like Google Cloud and AWS to run their heavy data processing. While those giants operate data centres on Canadian soil, they remain legally bound by the U.S. Cloud Act.