Indigenous Data Warriors
The Role of Technology:By leveraging Web 3.0 and blockchain technology, the project creates a verifiable ledger for Indigenous knowledge—covering land management, botanicals, architecture, and governance. This establishes "original stewardship," providing a technical and legal baseline to prevent biopiracy and ensure community resilience.
Location: Borneo Island, South East Asian
OUR LAND, OUR KNOWLEDGE
Current project takes place on Borneo, the world’s third-largest island, shared by Indonesia (Kalimantan), Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), and Brunei Darussalam. It is home to one of the oldest rainforests on Earth (140 million years). We work specifically with the Dayak people, comprising over 400 subtribes with a population of 4.2 million. As "guardians of the forest," the Dayak hold vital ancestral wisdom on biodiversity and sustainable land stewardship.
THE CHALLENGE
For centuries, colonial and corporate powers have extracted Indigenous knowledge—specifically in the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors—without consent or compensation. This "bio-piracy" is fueled by a lack of Data Sovereignty. Without a secure way to prove ownership of traditional knowledge, Indigenous communities (who protect 80% of global biodiversity) are excluded from the economic and technological benefits of their own heritage.OUR RESPONSE
Indigenous Youth must lead data governance and enforce Indigenous Data Sovereignty in collection management. Through this initiative DATA WARRIORS, quality Indigenous Data will be transformed into ethical AI tools that benefit. Therefore, we need you.
Get In Touch
If you're interested in supporting this project, please consider to give. Your support today empower Indigenous youth to become Data Warriors for our planet.
