I was actually having a discussion earlier this week that related to a point Wendy Red Star made in the first video. Museums display information in a way that turns our perspective of this still living culture into that of an ancient artifact. History has always felt weirdly clunky to me, almost like it was separated into different genres; Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Egypt, etc. It blew my mind when I found out about the Pyramid/Cleopatra/iPhone timeline. When I’m looking at museum displays or watching a documentary, it’s easy to forget that these traditions are still active and have real meaning in society today. 

I really did enjoy this reading. I can admit that I’m fairly ignorant on Indigenous topics- I’m sympathetic to the problems, and happy to listen to a discussion, but I’m fairly passive in my education. This is mentioned a little later in the chapter, though. The introduction gives a more relative timeline of how technology and people spread West, and how that impacted the people already living there. 

“At this moment in the tapestry of world histories, digital technology is fascinating precisely because… there remains a memory as well as some judgment of what everyday life was like before the precision, efficacy, immediacy, and interoperability.”(11) I think I mentioned this in a discussion reply once, but this quote was reminiscent of my fascination with the tech boom in the 90’s. Going from a home office with a shared computer and a wired phone, with one GameCube console in the house- to having a laptop, cell phone, and gaming console for every individual. In less than 20 years my expectations for the efficiency and expectations of technology have changed incredibly. I don’t always think it’s a good change, and often have to remind myself to be patient. “The technology is only as good as the user”, as my dad says.

“French Christian anarchist Jacques Ellul critiqued the human capacity to reduce, particularize, and technologize all aspects of the life-world—to rely on manufactured information—until the technician could no longer separate himself from the machinery routinizing the day’s labor.”(12) I really like this quote, I think I’ll look into him further. This paragraph reminded me of the transhumanism video we watched. I know a few people had mentioned it in discussions, myself included, that I often feel like my tech is a part of my personality now. It’s hard to feel like I’m myself without my tools, but that technology was invented to help me assimilate into society. Do they make me less of myself, then?

Duarte seems to think along the same line, stating the root of technology is in human need and desire. As beneficial as these tools are to most society, those desires can also be harmful- Duarte gives an example of a tribal person trying to handle a medical emergency(15). All of the technology she needed existed but was inaccessible because of the human barrier. The chapter goes on to emphasize the way Indigenous people accept or reject technology in an effort to preserve and connect with their culture, while fighting back against a still present “colonial excess”(23). Even inside of the technical network that connects everyone, Indigenous people are creating their own networks to push back against the active erasure, and to spread information to those that are simply passively ignorant.