ID: 1736
Presenting Author: Khalid Lemzouji
Session: 749 - Engaging Indigenous Nations for Inclusive Impact Assessments and Misinformation Response
Status: pending
Indigenous-led platform combines Indigenous knowledge with Western science, enabling Fort McKay Métis Nation's data sovereignty and community participation to rebuild trust and counter misinformation
In an era where misinformation and disinformation erode Indigenous communities' trust, how can environmental monitoring be both scientifically credible and culturally meaningful for Indigenous communities?
This presentation introduces an Indigenous-led, open-source platform co-designed and owned by the Fort McKay Métis Nation for their community-based monitoring; demonstrating how local leadership, Indigenous data sovereignty, and community participation can rebuild trust in impact assessment.
The platform bridges Indigenous knowledge—on-the-land, water, animals, and plants, including audio, video, and shared stories in Cree and English—with Western science through monitoring of surface and groundwater, wildlife, birds, bats, lichens, berries, air quality, and odors. Automated workflows and statistical analysis provide real-time, traceable, and verifiable insights that community members validate through their own observations and Elders' knowledge.
Interactive visualizations, maps, trends analysis, advanced analytics, and an integrated conversational AI chatbot allow community members to explore data and ask questions directly about findings and areas of concern, making complex trends easily accessible and culturally relevant through web and mobile interfaces, to support community decision-making and youth education. By centering Indigenous ownership, data sovereignty, and knowledge, the platform transforms environmental monitoring of resource development impacts into a collaborative, culturally grounded practice to displace misinformation and disinformation.
Khalid is a Professional Environmental Statistician (P.Stat) and AI Specialist with 16 years developing customized data solutions for environmental monitoring and Indigenous communities.
Coauthor 1: Denise Golden