Indigenous Data Alliance

You cannot have AI governance without Indigenous Data Governance. A powerful statement from Stephanie Carroll during the U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance Summit 2026. The future of AI governance must include Indigenous leadership, data rights, and systems grounded in accountability. #IndigenousDataSovereignty #IndigenousDataGovernance #AI #DataAreOurRelatives

We are filled with gratitude as we reflect on the close of this year’s U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance Summit. ✨ To our sponsors, presenters, panelists, Tribal leaders, Elders, participants, fellows, and the many relatives who traveled from near and far, thank you. 🙏 Your presence, knowledge, leadership, and willingness to gather made this summit what it was. We are especially grateful to the team, staff, and supporters whose work behind the scenes helped make this the largest gathering in the United States centered on Indigenous data sovereignty and governance once again this year. 👏 It was a tremendous collective effort. This summit was a place of celebration, honest dialogue, courageous questions, and meaningful reflection. Elders offered powerful prayers on behalf of each of us. 🪶 Leaders shared real challenges. Communities brought forward visions for their futures. This is what the summit was meant to be: a space where truths are spoken, ideas exchanged, and pathways forward shaped together. ❤️ Many are returning home carrying new ideas, new relationships, and important work ahead. 🌿 One of our most important responsibilities is carrying knowledge back to our peoples so informed decisions can be made with timely insight and vision. The coming together of our experiences, perspectives, questions, and visions created new data for us to carry home. New data to steward with care. As Data Warriors within this movement ✊, it remains our collective responsibility to analyze, interpret, and make accessible the knowledge created through this gathering in ways meaningful and useful to our communities. It is our commitment at the Indigenous Data Alliance to continue supporting this journey, sharing resources, creating spaces for learning, and working alongside you as we strengthen data futures rooted in our own values, governance systems, and self-determination. 🤲📚 This year’s theme, Coming Home: Indigenous Data Governance, By Us, For Us, was deeply felt throughout the summit. 🙏 Thank you for trusting us, gathering with us, and helping shape this movement together. #IDSovSummit26 #IndigenousDataSovereignty #DataAreOurRelatives

Indigenous data are all around us. In land. In ceremony. Shaping our thoughts. Living in our communities. Not all data has to be digital. But all Indigenous data belong in Indigenous hands. Swipe to learn more. #IndigenousDataSovereignty #IndigenousDataGovernance #DataAreOurRelatives #IndigenousDataAlliance

A powerful week of connection and collaboration✨ The 2026 U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance Summit (IDSov Summit) recently wrapped up in Tucson at Casino Del Sol on the lands of the Pascua Yaqui Nation and the traditional homelands of the Tohono O’odham Nation. The event brought together Tribal leaders, community members, program reps, scholars, policy experts and other data actors and practitioners for four powerful days of dialogue, collaboration, and action to advance necessary conversations around Indigenous data sovereignty and governance. Centered around the theme “Coming Home: Indigenous Data Governance By Us, For Us,” the summit created space to uplift Indigenous-led approaches to data, governance and future-building. Participants engaged in conversations on how data can strengthen governance systems and reflect community values. The gathering highlighted the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ rights to access, utilize, and control their own data – on their own terms. With a mix of open sessions and dedicated time for Indigenous participants, the summit fostered both learning and community-centered dialogue, moving the work of Indigenous data sovereignty forward in impactful ways. The host organization, the Indigenous Data Alliance, thanks everyone, including the Udall Center, who helped make this summit such a meaningful space for learning, partnership, and progress. 🌵 🤝 🔗 If you want to read more about this awesome summit, make sure to check out the IDSov Summit Wrap story at the link in our bio! . . . @uazpublichealth

In this clip from the @relational_science podcast, Raphael Wahwassuck, Tribal Council member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, reflects on the evolving approaches, strategies, and responsibilities surrounding Indigenous data while attending the Tribal Leaders Forum at the U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty Summit, 2026. Listen to the full conversation on the Relational Science podcast on Spotify > 🔗 in BIO #IndigenousDataSovereignty #IndigenousDataGovernance #DataAreOurRelatives #RelationalSciencePodcast #IndigenousLeadership #IndigenousFutures #TribalLeaders #IndigenousDataAlliance #idsovsummit26

✨ What resonated most from the Summit experience? During the Rez Cafe session, participants reflected on the relationships, responsibilities, teachings, and values that continue to shape Indigenous Data Sovereignty and governance work across communities. From water as relative and teacher, to intergenerational knowledge transfer, relational accountability, community care, and actionable pathways forward, these reflections highlighted the living and relational nature of this work. Thank you to everyone who contributed their thoughts, stories, and visions for our Indigenous future. 🤝 #IndigenousDataSovereignty #IndigenousDataGovernance #DataAreOurRelatives #RezCafe #IndigenousFutures #idsovsummit26

💬 Indigenous knowledge systems are not relics of the past. They are sophisticated, relational, empirical systems built through generations of observation, responsibility, and connection to Land. For Indigenous Peoples, science, governance, and knowledge have always existed in relationship and have carried on through lived practice. As conversations around data, technology, and innovation continue to grow, it is important to recognize and honor the long-standing Indigenous systems of knowledge that continue to guide our communities today. Quote by @drdrdez , Co-Founder of the Indigenous Data Alliance. ✨ #IndigenousDataSovereignty #IndigenousKnowledge #IndigenousScience #DataAreOurRelatives #IndigenousDataAlliance #IndigenousInnovation #IndigenousFutures

✨ We are excited to share a new zine created in partnership with @te_kahui_raraunga and Te Pā Tūwatawata called, "Relational Infrastructures for Sovereign Data Storage." 🔗 in BIO Originally released during the Tribal Leaders Forum at the 2026 U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance Summit, this zine explores how Indigenous communities are carrying data sovereignty forward through infrastructures grounded in Indigenous governance systems, relationships, responsibilities, and ways of knowing. Centered around a Māori-led case study, the zine highlights how data storage technologies and infrastructures can be shaped through Indigenous values and processes rather than settler colonial frameworks. It reflects ongoing conversations about what it means to build systems that uphold sovereignty, protect relationships, and support future generations. Thank you to everyone helping move this work forward across communities, nations, and relational networks. We are honored to now make this resource publicly available. 🤝 #IndigenousDataSovereignty #IndigenousDataGovernance #DataAreOurRelatives #RelationalInfrastructures #SovereignDataStorage #IndigenousDataAlliance #TeKahuiRaraunga

Indigenous Data Sovereignty means having the authority to decide. ✊ This was a key message shared throughout conversations at the Tribal Leaders Forum during the 2026 Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance Summit. Sovereignty means having the authority to decide who to partner with, how data are used, what systems are designed, and which data are accessed and shared. The goal is not isolation. It is self-determination. ✨ When governance is defined by communities, partnerships can exist in ways that are respectful, accountable, and aligned with Indigenous values. 🤝 IDSov is our authority and our autonomy. Our sovereignty, and our right. ✊ #DataAreOurRelatives #IndigenousDataSovereignty #IndigenousDataGovernance #IndigenousDataAlliance #IndigenousEducation #IndigenousData

We’re grateful to @nativenewsonline for covering the 2026 U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance Summit! "Tribal nations are entering a new phase of sovereignty — one defined not just by land and resources, but by control over data...That shift was front and center at the U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance Summit 2026, where tribal leaders and researchers focused on a simple question: who controls the information that shapes policy, funding and perception?" Read the full article ⬇️ 🔗 in BIO /opinion/data-control-will-shape-the-next-phase-of-tribal-sovereignty/

Did you stop by the IDA backdrop at the Summit? 📸✨ From friends and families to leaders, changemakers, and future generations, these moments captured the joy, connection, and community that made this gathering so special. We loved seeing everyone stop by, smile big, and celebrate being together. Thank you for bringing your energy, laughter, and presence to the 2026 U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Governance Summit! Tag yourself, tag your people, and share your favorite memory from the week below in the comments ⬇️ #IDSovSummit26 #IndigenousDataAlliance #DataAreOurRelatives #IndigenousDataSovereignty

What emerged at the 2026 IDSov Summit? ✨ Across sessions and community discussions, clear priorities surfaced: governance, infrastructure, innovation, and Indigenous-led futures. Swipe through key themes that participants emphasized in Tucson. 🌵 By us. For us. 🤝 #IDSov #IndigenousDataGovernance #DataAreOurRelatives #IndigenousDataSovereignty #idsovsummit26