Tech That Remembers: Why Indigenous Futures Must Lead the Next Wave of Innovation
- Amber Taylor
- Jul 4
- 7 min read
By Amber Taylor, CEO of ARA Journeys
He pūtake nō te riri, he tauira mō te rangimārie.
(Out of conflict comes an opportunity to model peace.)
Every week, a new piece of tech promises to change the world: a smarter chatbot, a faster algorithm, a more immersive digital experience. But too often, this innovation comes at a cost.
Technology built without us almost always ends up being built on us.
From AI models trained on stolen words to global maps that erase our native names, and filters that turn culture into content, the world is being re-coded without us.
As Māori, and as Indigenous peoples globally, we know this pattern well. And we also know the remedy.
Not protest for protest’s sake. Not resistance alone.
It’s time to model something better.
That’s what we’re building.
Tech that remembers.
This is technology that honours whakapapa. Tools that reconnect people to whenua, to te reo, and to the stories that shaped us. It’s not about slowing down innovation. It’s about grounding it so we don’t lose what matters most as we move forward.
Why I Started ARA Journeys
When I started ARA Journeys, there was only one other Māori game developer (that I knew of) in the New Zealand games industry.
There were other Māori companies telling our stories, but none using augmented reality to bring them into the world in a way that felt immersive, interactive, and grounded in place.
For me, augmented reality (AR) wasn’t just about tech. It was about health, connection, and visibility. I saw it as a way to help our people reconnect with the whenua, get outside, walk, and move through the places our stories reside. AR gave us a way to put our taonga back into view.
No, a digital representation is nothing like the real thing. But it gave us a way to see what once was. To imagine what’s possible. To reflect on where we are now.
That’s what I mean by tech that remembers.
The Cost of Forgetting
Most tech today is built for speed, scale, and sameness. It’s made to work everywhere and serve everyone, but somehow, it rarely works for us.
Take AI. So much of it is trained on biased data, built without cultural context, and rolled out without space for correction or accountability. As Joy Buolamwini writes in Unmasking AI:
AI will not solve discrimination… the cultural patterns that say one group of people is better than another… are not technical.
And when Indigenous knowledge does show up in these systems, it’s often stripped of its context or used as decoration. It might look like progress. But really, it’s just another form of extraction. Colonialism in code.
Remembering Before Innovating
What if we flipped the approach to innovation entirely?
What if we asked: Who does this serve? And who does it silence?
At ARA Journeys, that question guides every decision. Our approach is grounded in Indigenous systems thinking, where people, land, spirit, and knowledge are all connected. It’s not linear. It’s relational. It carries responsibility across generations.
We’ve developed our own Whakapapa Tech Stack, a values-based design framework that layers ancestral wisdom, place-based storytelling, and cultural continuity into everything we build. Whether it's a climate game for tamariki or a cross-Pacific AI framework with Native Analytics, our guiding questions stay the same:
What does this honour? What does it restore? What does it protect?
It’s more than a method. It’s our strategy. And it works. The result is tech that’s more human, more ethical, and more powerful.
Real-World Examples: Tech That Remembers
Let’s bring this to life.
At ARA Journeys, we don’t just talk about culturally grounded technology. We build it. Here are some of the ways we’re turning Indigenous values into real-world digital experiences:
Tuwhiri: Storytelling by Place, Not Platform: A geo-locked AR storytelling app that only activates when you physically visit the whenua where the pūrākau belongs. Tuwhiri is used by tourists, in schools, community events, and local government activations to amplify local narratives and promote physical engagement with the land.
Ahi Kaa Rangers: Gamifying Climate Action Through Indigenous Knowledge: An AR mobile game where players collect resources, complete challenges based on mātauranga Māori, and restore balance to a virtual ecosystem. Ahi Kaa Rangers is co-designed with environmental scientists and educators. It is designed to spark kōrero on climate, sustainability, and real-world eco-behaviours.
*In development
Tuwhiri in Schools: Upskilling the Next Generation of Indigenous Designers and Digital Creators: This programme is ARA Journeys commitment to help young people find their way into creative tech careers and bring their unique, sometimes under-heard, voices into this space. Tuwhiri in Schools gives tamariki the chance to explore local stories using modern creative technology practices.
Indigenous AI Framework with Native Analytics: A cross-Pacific collaboration creating Indigenous-aligned principles for ethical AI and data governance. This kaupapa protects against cultural erasure in algorithmic systems while asserting Indigenous tech leadership.
AR Wearables: Merchandise, such as game art, clothing, and journals, that unlock stories when scanned. Our AR wearables bring stories into everyday objects so culture is interactive, wearable, and always present.
A Global Indigenous Tech Movement
We’re not alone! Across the world, Indigenous innovators are shaping the future in ways that centre culture, land, and language:
In Hawai‘i, AI tools are being trained in ʻōlelo Hawai‘i
In South America, chatbots are being developed in Quechua and Guaraní
In Turtle Island, Indigenous-led AI ethics and data frameworks are emerging
In Japan, Ainu communities are using digital technologies to revitalise identity and language.
Dozens of Indigenous-led language tech projects exist, yet fewer than one in ten are actually led by Indigenous organisations. The capability is there. What’s missing is the investment, the respect, and the space to lead.
And the urgency is real.
One Indigenous language disappears every two weeks.
That’s not just loss. That’s erasure.
If tech isn’t helping protect our stories, it’s helping erase them.
This movement rests on a simple truth: we are not new to technology. Our ancestors were engineers, navigators, astronomers. Knowledge holders of deeply sophisticated systems grounded in balance and relationship.
As Caroline Criado Perez writes in Invisible Women:
The gender data gap isn’t just about silence. These silences… have consequences.
Swap “gender” for “Indigenous” and the consequences are just as urgent.
Final Thoughts
Tech that remembers isn’t nostalgic. It’s necessary.
As innovation moves faster and further, Indigenous peoples are often expected to adapt to systems that weren’t built for us, or worse, systems that take from us. But we’re not here to be included. We’re here to lead.
The future of technology must look like this:
Grounded. Remembering. Unapologetically Indigenous.
Because when Indigenous peoples lead, we don’t just bring diversity. We bring frameworks, wisdom, and futures that are built in relationship, not on extraction.
So here’s the invitation:
To the developers, designers, policymakers, educators, and funders:
If you’re serious about building ethical, meaningful technology, then it’s time to walk with us.
Not behind us. Not above us. With us.
We’re not waiting to be discovered. We’ve already started. With purpose. With people. With the memory of those who walked before us.
If you're ready to co-create something truly transformative, let’s kōrero.
Because the future we need won’t come from forgetting.
It will come from remembering.
Glossary
ARA Journeys - An award-winning Māori-led tech studio creating immersive digital experiences that connect people to place, language, and legacy using augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), and gamification.
Augmented Reality (AR) - A technology that overlays digital information, such as images, stories, or 3D models, onto the physical world through devices like smartphones or AR glasses.
AI (Artificial Intelligence) - Computer systems designed to simulate human intelligence. In this context, AI includes language models, image recognition tools, and automated decision-making systems.
Whakapapa - A Māori term referring to genealogy, lineage, and the interconnectedness of all things, people, land, knowledge, and spirit. Central to Māori identity and worldview.
Whenua - Land. In Māori thought, whenua is not just a physical space but a living ancestor and source of identity, nourishment, and responsibility.
Tamariki - Children. Often used in ARA’s work to describe their focus on creating inclusive, engaging educational experiences.
Pūrākau - Traditional narratives or stories passed down through generations. These often carry cultural, historical, and spiritual significance.
Indigenous Systems Thinking - A holistic worldview that understands knowledge, relationships, and responsibilities as interconnected and cyclical. It contrasts with Western linear logic and is often grounded in collective well-being and intergenerational accountability.
Digital Sovereignty - The right of Indigenous peoples to control and govern their own data, technologies, and digital presence in alignment with cultural protocols and values.
Whakapapa Tech Stack - ARA Journeys’ own values-led design framework. It integrates Indigenous knowledge, place-based storytelling, ethical systems, and cultural continuity into digital innovation.
Tech That Remembers - A phrase coined by ARA Journeys to describe technologies that honour ancestral knowledge, reconnect people to land and language and support Indigenous futures.
Indigenous Futures - A movement and mindset focused on imagining and building futures led by Indigenous peoples, where technology, innovation, and storytelling are guided by cultural values, sovereignty, and care for the land and people.
Geo-locked (Geolocation-based) Technology - Digital tools or experiences that only activate when a user is physically present in a specific location, used in ARA’s Tuwhiri app to ground stories in place.
Colonialism in Code - A phrase describing how bias and cultural erasure are embedded into digital systems when Indigenous peoples are excluded from tech design and governance.
References
Books & Articles
Buolamwini, J. (2023). Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines. Allen Lane.
Quote: “AI will not solve discrimination… the cultural patterns that say one group of people is better than another… are not technical.”
Criado Perez, C. (2019). Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. Chatto & Windus.
Quote: “The gender data gap isn’t just about silence. These silences… have consequences.”
Varoufakis, Y. (2023). Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism. The Bodley Head.
While not directly quoted, this book provides critical insight into digital extraction and power consolidation, informing the critique of colonial systems embedded in tech platforms.
Reports & Statistics
UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
Statistic: “One Indigenous language disappears every two weeks.”Source: UNESCO. (2021). Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.https://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas
Global Indigenous-led Language Technology Survey
Statistic: “Fewer than 10% of Indigenous language tech projects are led by Indigenous organisations.”Source: Adapted from insights gathered through the 2022 Indigenous Language Technology Report (First Peoples’ Cultural Council, Mozilla Foundation).https://fpcc.ca | https://foundation.mozilla.org
Other Resources
Native Analytics & ARA Journeys (2025). Sovereignty in the Cloud: A Pacific Architecture [Co-authored whitepaper, in press]
ARA Journeys Internal Documentation & Case Studies Projects cited: Tuwhiri, Ahi Kaa Rangers, AR Wearables, Tuwhiri in Schools, Whakapapa Tech Stack.
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