Boozhoo News River Readers,

Y’all, the first ever Indigenous Technology conference hosted by the Indigenous Tech Circle is happening this week and we have a small team there along with 250 other folks from all over Turtle Island! We’re pretty excited to be meeting so many people in the technology space. 

Thanks for reading News River, and as always - here’s the news,

This week’s stories include: 

• Thaioronióhte Dan David, ‘Father of APTN News’ passes into the spirit world

• Indigenous women's mental health across the life course: a global policy brief for rights-based, culturally safe care

• New Vancouver conference created to support Indigenous tech community from CBC 

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  “I've dreamed about this moment my entire career in tech” - Jeff Ward, CEO, Animikii

The big picture: The first ever Indigenous Technology conference hosted by the Indigenous Tech Circle is happening this week. Over 250 attendees convened over two days in Vancouver.

Why it matters: This is the inaugural tech conference created by and for Indigenous communities is bringing industry leaders together to propel others forward. 

Key points: 

• Winner of the venture challenge - Sean Rayland, pictured with his mother Linda. https://www.instagram.com/red.rebel.armour/

• Aaniin founder launching the first borderless Indigenous business directory 

What they’re saying at the Conference: “This room includes us. This room centres us. This is the room where it happens for the Indigenous Tech movement.” Jeff Ward

“The ancestors are here with us” Candice Loring 

“If you’re farther ahead reach back, if your back reach forward” Bobbi Racete

“Tech comes and goes, and some is BS. Focus on the things that don’t change - focus on building community to last 7 generations” Jeff Ward

“When you have time to give back to community - that means you are wealthy. You have resources and capacity to live that good life mino-bimaadiziwin” Noah Wilson, Futurepreneur

See more coverage from CBC here: 

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7054069 

Curated Articles

Thaioronióhte Dan David, ‘Father of APTN News’ passes into the spirit world

Dan David launched dozens of careers for Indigenous journalists and changed the way media tells Indigenous stories. No one reshaped Indigenous journalism in Canada more than the Kanienke:haka (Mohawk) journalist, Thaioronióhte Dan David, who is remembered inside Aboriginal Peoples Television Network as the father— or these days, the grandfather—of APTN News. He launched dozens of careers and mentored many more, helping Indigenous journalists find a voice in an industry that had rarely welcomed them. Over a 45-year career, David reported for CBC Radio and TV, produced for TVOntario and VISION TV, served as chair of Diversity at Toronto Metropolitan University, taught at the University of Toronto and trained journalists through Journalists for Human Rights (JHR). When he launched APTN National News in 2000—then called InVision News—David brought a clear vision for how journalism could be done differently, one shaped by his upbringing, by witnessing his own community of Kanehsatà:ke come under siege while the media distorted the story and by a decade spent helping to rebuild newsrooms in post-apartheid South Africa.

Indigenous women's mental health across the life course: a global policy brief for rights-based, culturally safe care

Globally, Indigenous women face disproportionate mental health burdens across the life course, yet international, national, and local systems rarely provide culturally safe, community-led, and gender-responsive care. Therefore, action that centers around decolonization, reconciliation, and strength-based Indigenous models is urgently required. The brief recommends an integrated, rights-based strategy that funds Indigenous governance of culturally safe mental health services across the life course, builds an Indigenous Women's Mental Health Data Strategy grounded in data sovereignty, embeds traditional knowledge and place-anchored healing in coverage policies, and extends targeted support for caregiving and menopausal transitions. Implementing these measures would operationalize reconciliation commitments, reduce documented inequities, and generate long-term social and economic benefits for communities and health systems alike.

This TikTok star sharing Australian animal stories doesn’t exist – it’s AI Blackface

The self-described “Bush Legend” on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram is growing in popularity. These short and sharp videos feature an Aboriginal man – sometimes painted up in ochre, other times in an all khaki outfit – as he introduces different native animals and facts about them. These videos are paired with miscellaneous yidaki (didgeridoo) tunes, including techno mixes. Comments on the videos often mention his bubbly persona, with some comments saying he needs his own TV show. But the Bush Legend isn’t real. He is generated by artificial intelligence (AI). This is a part of a growing influx of AI being utilised to represent Indigenous peoples, knowledges and cultures with no community accountability or relationships with Indigenous peoples. 

Salmon Arm business partners pumped for release of jerky powered line of protein bars

The past six months have been a protein-packed whirlwind for Salmon Arm business partners Dave Allard and Will Miller.  The two will be in Vancouver Jan. 20 and 21 for the Indigenous Tech Conference where their venture, CarneBar, has earned them a spot among the top five finalists, out of 77 entrants, in the Indigenous Venture Challenge.  “It’s a competition slightly along the lines of Dragon’s Den, and there’s potential to get funding of up to $50,000,” said Allard, a long-time member of the Salmon Arm Métis Association. “Over a number of months, as we were doing our research, there was this Indigenous Venture Challenge (IVC) that came across my desk and we decided to apply.”  The IVC has also been an opportunity to network and meet with potential investors.