We had a very exciting collaboration with Grace Dillon, who is a Professor on Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University. Professor Dillon coined the term ‘Indigenous Futurism’ in 2003, which later they changed it to plural: ‘Indigenous Futurisms’. She also worked with amazing authors like Ursula K. Le Guin. (which is incredibly exciting!) We were pleased to talk about ‘Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Science Fiction’ where Professor Dillon brought together great contributions by Native American, First Nations, Aboriginal Australian, and New Zealand Maori authors. With this webinar “Indigenous Sci-Fi Novels/Art Works and What Law can learn from them?” we explored the narratives of Indigenous Sci-Fi literature and its implications for legal thought. Professor Dillon helped us to discover the term ‘Futurism’ and what that entails in terms of sci-fi. Professor Dillon kindly suggested us many interesting short stories and novels from Indigenous sci-fi literature that explores themes from space, time to society and robotics.
Indigenous Sci-Fi transcends conventional storytelling by weaving traditional knowledge, cultural heritage, and futuristic visions, offering perspectives on society, governance, technology, and the environment. We were very happy to have Professor Dillon to share their perspectives and scholarly work, contributing to a dialogue that we believe is crucial in today’s ever-evolving socio-technical landscape. The exploration of Indigenous Sci-Fi and epistemologies brings questions about how these narratives intersect with the articulation of technology. We believe that legal systems can gain insights from Indigenous principles, particularly in fostering sustainability and recognizing ethical obligations to the more-than-human world. These narratives challenge conventional legal frameworks by reimagining personhood, agency, and rights for non-human entities, such as animals, plants, and Artificial Intelligence, offering alternative perspectives on justice and society. Also, the integration of Indigenous epistemologies into IP law and cultural heritage protection highlights the tensions and opportunities in protecting traditional knowledge. Professor Dillon offered us great stories to explore how IP-related issues were faced by Indigenous people were discovered in Indigenous sci-fi literature as well. By engaging with these narratives, we believe that legal academia can draw inspiration from dispute resolution mechanisms to envisioning new pathways to adapt legal systems to uphold the rights of all entities—human and non-human—for an ethical co-existence in future societies.
To quote Professor Dillon, if corporations can have legal personhood, so can rivers and mountains. But as we extend this lens, can we imagine a world where AI is granted similar personhood, guided by the wisdom of Indigenous perspectives? So, we invite you to take this journey with us through Indigenous literature where it intersects with law and technology. We wish you enjoy our conversation with Professor Dillon as much as we did. Stay tuned for further interesting explorations of sci-fi with us!
Habibe Deniz Seval
Habibe Deniz Seval is a PhD candidate in Law at the University of Ottawa Centre for Law, Technology, and Society. She is also a Geek and SciFi editor of DigiCon.
Grace Dillon
Grace L. Dillon, PhD is an Anishinaabe academic and author. She is a professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies Program at Portland State University. She has coined the term Indigenous Futurisms, a cultural movement expressing Indigenous perspectives of the past, present and future in the context of science fiction and related sub-genres
