Whakauae researcher Dr Logan Hamley had the privilege of travelling to Mexico, in February 2026, to take part in a global Indigenous gathering focused on supporting Indigenous data sovereignty in the changing landscape of artificial intelligence (AI). This gathering included Indigenous peoples from Aotearoa, Australia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Nigeria, Thailand, Sweden and Norway, providing an exciting space to connect and deepen understandings through wānanga.
The gathering held from the 25th to the 27th of February in COLPOS in Texcoco, Mexico began with a traditional ceremony in Nahuatl, acknowledging the four sacred directions, the atua associated with them, and offerings and requests for a safe and enriching time. Following this process, we were able to engage in whakawhanaungatanga with the approximately 60 attendees and understand their varied local contexts, aspirations, and areas of expertise. From this point, attendees split off into specific sessions to cover an array of topics across the days.
Logan prioritised the Governance, Equity and Preventing Extractive Social Practices sessions and the Capacity and Capability sessions. These sessions provided the opportunity to discuss responsibly engaging with AI through embedding Indigenous governance, tikanga, and kawa. How to effectively engage with community to better understand the potential risks, opportunities, and benefits of engaging with AI, especially as it is increasingly normalised within everyday systems and practices, was also debated
Among the cultural highlights was a guided tour of Chapingo University, an agricultural institution in Texcoco famous for its murals, including a renowned work by Diego Rivera in the former chapel. The Rivera mural covers 41 separate panels decorating the walls and ceiling of the room depicting the revolutionary struggles of the peasants and working class of Mexico during the Mexican revolution. Fertility and the cycles of nature, as a symbolic interpretation of the revolution, also feature in the mural. This focus on muralism and other art as forms of communication and knowledge transfer resonated with us on a deep level and was a consistent feature of our travels within Texcoco and Mexico City.
The group also had the opportunity to travel to Teotihuacan to see the remains of this ancient Mesoamerican City. The city would have had a population of roughly 100,000 people at its peak. The archaeological site includes the 4km long Avenue of the Dead, along which the Pyramid of the Sun (the third largest pyramid in the world), Pyramid of the Moon, and the Pyramid of the Feathered Snake are located.
The final day of the gathering focused on developing a new Global Indigenous Data Alliance communique, outlining the specific guidelines and recommendations for how to enact Indigenous data sovereignty and governance within AI development and use. The communique will be released in the coming months. As a result of this gathering, many of the attendees will come to Aotearoa to extend the work in February 2027, focusing on a special issue addressing the workshop themes.
Overall, Logan was deeply grateful for the opportunity to connect with researchers and practitioners from around the world and looks forward to meeting with everyone again in 2027. His attendance at this conference, made possible by Whakauae, has allowed him to establish new connections and learn more about an important kaupapa.
Whakauae researcher Dr Logan Hamley had the privilege of travelling to Mexico, in February 2026, to take part in a global Indigenous gathering focused on supporting Indigenous data sovereignty in the changing landscape of artificial intelligence (AI). This gathering included Indigenous peoples from Aotearoa, Australia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Nigeria, Thailand, Sweden and Norway, providing an exciting space to connect and deepen understandings through wānanga.
The gathering held from the 25th to the 27th of February in COLPOS in Texcoco, Mexico began with a traditional ceremony in Nahuatl, acknowledging the four sacred directions, the atua associated with them, and offerings and requests for a safe and enriching time. Following this process, we were able to engage in whakawhanaungatanga with the approximately 60 attendees and understand their varied local contexts, aspirations, and areas of expertise. From this point, attendees split off into specific sessions to cover an array of topics across the days.
Logan prioritised the Governance, Equity and Preventing Extractive Social Practices sessions and the Capacity and Capability sessions. These sessions provided the opportunity to discuss responsibly engaging with AI through embedding Indigenous governance, tikanga, and kawa. How to effectively engage with community to better understand the potential risks, opportunities, and benefits of engaging with AI, especially as it is increasingly normalised within everyday systems and practices, was also debated
Among the cultural highlights was a guided tour of Chapingo University, an agricultural institution in Texcoco famous for its murals, including a renowned work by Diego Rivera in the former chapel. The Rivera mural covers 41 separate panels decorating the walls and ceiling of the room depicting the revolutionary struggles of the peasants and working class of Mexico during the Mexican revolution. Fertility and the cycles of nature, as a symbolic interpretation of the revolution, also feature in the mural. This focus on muralism and other art as forms of communication and knowledge transfer resonated with us on a deep level and was a consistent feature of our travels within Texcoco and Mexico City.
The group also had the opportunity to travel to Teotihuacan to see the remains of this ancient Mesoamerican City. The city would have had a population of roughly 100,000 people at its peak. The archaeological site includes the 4km long Avenue of the Dead, along which the Pyramid of the Sun (the third largest pyramid in the world), Pyramid of the Moon, and the Pyramid of the Feathered Snake are located.
The final day of the gathering focused on developing a new Global Indigenous Data Alliance communique, outlining the specific guidelines and recommendations for how to enact Indigenous data sovereignty and governance within AI development and use. The communique will be released in the coming months. As a result of this gathering, many of the attendees will come to Aotearoa to extend the work in February 2027, focusing on a special issue addressing the workshop themes.
Overall, Logan was deeply grateful for the opportunity to connect with researchers and practitioners from around the world and looks forward to meeting with everyone again in 2027. His attendance at this conference, made possible by Whakauae, has allowed him to establish new connections and learn more about an important kaupapa.
