• Circles: My kin. Relationships shaped by ‘namima² and shared culture. These connections are fixed. They cannot be severed.
• Squares: Digital sets (Dron & Anderson, 2014). These platforms serve a dual purpose for social, professional, and community reach.
• Diamond: A single point of connection – where academic research and the MALAT cohort meet my lived experience across multiple platforms.
• Hexagons: Active practice. These represent the activities I am aligned with and shaped by.

What is missing

The map shows connectivity, but it cannot show protocol, nor accountability. Even with more time, the reciprocal relations between ‘namima and Nations are impossible to represent fully here. I am content to let the relationships breathe off-screen.

¹ Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw: “Those who speak Kwak’wala”; a collection of related tribes on the Pacific Northwest Coast. ² ‘namima: “of one kind”; lineage-based descent groups.

References

Dron, J., & Anderson, T. (2014). Teaching crowds: Learning and social media. Athabasca University Press. https://www.aupress.ca/app/uploads/120235_99Z_Dron_Anderson-Teaching_Crowds.pdf

Veletsianos, G. (2016). Digital learning environments. In N. Rushby & D. Surry (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of learning technology (pp. 242-260). John Wiley & Sons. https://www.veletsianos.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/digital_learninig_environments.pdf

Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing. https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/files/researchceremony.pdf

“Who am I? How do I show up?” These are the questions that surface as I develop this Digital Identity and Digital Presence (DIDP) plan for my MALAT journey. What might seem like a straightforward exercise in professional branding becomes far more layered when approached through an Indigenous lens. A meaningful digital presence is not simply about visibility; it is about relationality, responsibility, and how identity is carried, shared, and sometimes misrepresented (Tessaro & Restoule, 2022). Navigating this tension has made the process both thought-provoking and difficult to fully articulate, yet working through it has clarified what kind of presence I actually want to build.

Rather than treating this as a course requirement in isolation, this plan is about bringing together my previous advocacy, cultural work, and professional roles into something intentional and sustainable. The challenge is maintaining genuine authenticity online without risking overexposure or compromising the integrity of the people, teachings, and cultural materials I am accountable to. Ultimately, digital practice done with intention is an act of sovereignty and creative agency – a way to build better relations, not just archive the past.

Rather than viewing the MALAT blog as a static institutional requirement, I approach it as a living space that can grow throughout the program. White & Le Cornu (2011) distinguish between Visitors, who use digital spaces instrumentally without leaving a social trace, and Residents, who maintain an ongoing presence that reflects genuine identity and values. My goal is to move this space from the former toward the latter, in a way that remains grounded in my own values and responsibilities. Where Kwak̓wala shapes how I think and frame ideas, I want that present in the work – not as tokenistic addition, but as grounding.

Much of my reluctance to publicly document my work stems from cultural commitments to communal humility and privacy, which often conflict with the individualistic self-promotion that digital spaces reward. As Archibald (2008) describes, meaningful Indigenous participation is built on respect, reciprocity, and responsibility – values that do not translate easily into spaces shaped by power, cultural assumptions, and colonial histories (Meighan, 2021). Alongside this are practical gaps: further development in web design, digital accessibility, and confidence in re-engaging social media spaces that I have intentionally left dormant. Recognizing these gaps is not a strategic failure, but a reflection of competing priorities where real-world urgency and daily survival rightly took precedence over an online footprint.

To address these sustainably, I will build my digital presence into work I am already doing rather than treating it as additional load. This includes using the MALAT blog consistently, gradually revitalizing my broader online presence, and developing a separate personal domain over time as capacity allows. Rather than chasing constant visibility, I am choosing my own pace – establishing clear boundaries around what I share and how, while leaving space for creative work to emerge when it aligns with my life and responsibilities. What stays offline is as intentional as what goes up.

A meaningful digital presence cannot be measured by algorithms or audience size. Success means a presence that feels honest, that I can sustain alongside my work and community responsibilities, and that accurately reflects my values – including the ones that say some things simply do not belong online.

References:

Archibald, J.-A. (2008). Indigenous storywork: Educating the heart, mind, body, and spirit. UBC Press. https://www.ubcpress.ca/asset/9270/1/9780774814010.pdf

Meighan, P. (2021). Decolonizing the digital landscape: The role of educational technology in higher education. Postdigital Science and Education, 3(1), 147–163. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal20412

Tessaro, D., & Restoule, J.-P. (2022). Indigenous pedagogies and online learning environments: A massive open online course case study. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 18(1), 182–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801221089685

White, D. S., & Le Cornu, A. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9). https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171/3049

Learning Through Connection

Rhizomes, Salmonberry, and Place

During the Virtual Symposium hosted by Royal Roads University’s MALAT/DipLAT programs, I participated in a range of presentations on digital learning. What stayed with me most were ideas connected to open education, particularly Cormier’s rhizome metaphor of learning (Cormier, 2008). What struck me was not how new it felt, but how familiar it was. My mind immediately went to salmonberry—especially at this time of year, when they begin to emerge and signal broader seasonal shifts.

Cormier’s concept of rhizomatic learning understands knowledge as non-linear, networked, and emergent. He describes openness in learning as something that spreads and develops like a rhizome, rather than following a fixed or centralized structure. This shifts learning away from hierarchy toward connections and context. Interaction develops knowledge in this sense, and ecology shapes it.

This way of understanding learning becomes visible in land-based systems. Salmonberry, for example, grows in relation to seasonal conditions. In my experience, salmonberry is not just a berry-producing plant, but something that signals broader environmental patterns, with its abundance often understood in relation to the strength of upcoming salmon runs. This aligns with relationships described in Thriving Together: Salmon, Berries and People (The Tyee, 2021), where salmon nutrients support interconnected forest ecosystems. These relationships reflect rhizomatic learning, where the environment shapes knowledge as it develops through connection.

What stands out to me is how rhizomatic learning and salmonberry knowledge both frame learning as relational and ecological. I understand this perspective as rooted in relationships, place, and direct observation rather than something fixed or isolated. This aligns with relational approaches to knowledge reflected in Indigenous educational frameworks such as the 6 R’s of Indigenous OER (BCcampus, n.d.). It also brings me back to ecological shifts that occur without relational grounding. I began to question whether openness is always positive when it is disconnected from context and other forms of knowledge. This led me to reflect on how mainstream approaches to learning can reproduce non-relational and decontextualized patterns when not accountable to communities. In the future, these ideas will make me more attentive to how place and relationships shape knowledge.

BCcampus. (n.d.). The 6 R’s of Indigenous OER. BCcampus Open Education. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/openubcpub/chapter/the-6-rs-of-indigenous-oer/

Cormier, D. (2008). Rhizomatic education: Community as curriculum. Dave’s Educational Blog. http://davecormier.com/edblog/2008/06/03/rhizomatic-education-community-as-curriculum/

The Tyee. (2021, May 11). Thriving together: Salmon, berries and people. https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2021/05/11/Thriving-Together-Salmon-Berries-People/