The purpose of my work is to present a theoretical addition to the topic of indigenous knowledge systems. This is to consider the potential role of indigenous knowledge systems as a framework for the use and development of digital and electronic technology by indigenous peoples. The living examples of my art and experiential media systems function to complicate, extend, and add to the discourse regarding the development of technology through adaptive reuse, adaptations, and innovation of new digital technologies by indigenous peoples. I collaborate with communities to develop and use "tecno-cultural" implements through indigenous media frameworks for the administration of cultural work. Through the development of culturally sensible technologies, I am also able to provide feedback in order to extend and contribute to indigenous media theory/frameworks and knowledge systems.
My perspectives derive from my Chicano cultural background, scholarship in indigenous knowledge systems, and my indigenous media arts practice. My “tecno” way of being is defined through an indigenous epistemology and ontology that is rooted in my Northern New Mexican Mestizo and indo-hispanic heritage, along with the relationships I have with members of communities, and the responsibilities I have toward my cultural community. As part of this I collaborate as a member of groups to achieve meaningful designs and applications of indigenous media. We do this through the exercise of cultural and rhetorical sovereignty, cross-cultural partnership, reciprocity, and self-determination. This is to cultivate the emergence of new indigenous frameworks and theories that enable the control of meaning and practice of culture by indigenous peoples through electronic and digital technology. My community practice of indigenous media helps provide living community examples that contribute towards the emergence of indigenous peoples and culture in a digital age. Through my work, I recognize the sovereignty of indigenous peoples that is defined by indigenous peoples.
Selected living examples of this work include: