• An aboriginal design mosaic in front of Parliament House Canberra, Australia, designed by a renowned indigenous artist Michael Nelson Jagamarra in 1988.

structure of the Aboriginal community itself. Once one person from one family has control over the database and access to the data, the most common issue that occurs is that thosein the community, who do not associate with that family, are excluded. These disputes are quite normal in Aboriginal communities. With information technology solutions, there must be a single keeper of the “god” password, which can exclude all other families from being able to access the data stored. This in effect denies many from accessing their own cultural material.

As I have stated previously, the reason for elders councils is to distribute the governance power across a community rather than in one leader. The example above is a demonstration of what happens when there is an interruption to the traditional Aboriginal governance. This abuse of power is not uncommon in Aboriginal communities, as well-respected Aboriginal Elder Uncle Chicka Dixon articulated in a public lecture about Aboriginal community leadership and the struggle for social justice in the 1960s: “I didn’t want

power; power corrupts.” [ 3]

We are now in the position where technology is imposed upon a culture “where little is held in common” with the imposing culture, combined with a notion of projects proceeding in a way

that “connect[s] well enough” to both cultures. We have a society that is governed by a council of elders and a well-respected Aboriginal elder articulating that “power corrupts.” And we have a keeper of the “god” password.

Ideally, information technology design should change to reflect the Aboriginal communities upon which it is being imposed, to ensure that the culture they so want to preserve is not being altered by the technology being used to preserve it.

The future signs, however, are encouraging, with more and more work taking place in the field of HCI for development, as this column attests. It is our belief that as new technology is created for different indigenous communities, ICT as a whole will benefit from new design solutions and ideas.

[ 3] Uncle Chicka Dixon. A History of the Political Struggle: A Personal Point of View by Dr. Chicka Dixon, Directed by Jason De Santolo. 36 min. Jumbunna Annual Lecture 2005, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, 2006. DVD.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Peter Radoll is the direc-
tor of Jabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre at
the Australian National University. He holds two
degrees in information technology and worked as a
systems administrator and systems developer for
more than seven years before returning to universi-
ty to undertake a Ph.D. in information systems examining the
uptake of information technology in Australian Aboriginal homes.

May + June 2009

DOI: 10.1145/1516016.1516027
© 2009 ACM 1072-5220/09/0500 $5.00