Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory establishes local data center

The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, an Indigenous community in rural Ontario, Canada, has installed a small, garage-sized data center to modernize its recordkeeping and assert digital sovereignty.

The facility is used to preserve cultural heritage, including video recordings of the Anishinaabe language, to ensure the legacy of knowledge keepers is protected. Beyond cultural preservation, the center stores corporate documents, resident health data, and security footage.

Chief Tim Ominika stated the initiative aims to provide the community with ownership, access, control, and possession of its own information. This move allows the First Nation to move data away from external providers, such as a Microsoft data center in Toronto, to prevent outside entities from setting guidelines on how their data is used.