AI is coming to Indian Country.

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Tribes that act now will write the rules for how AI operates on their lands, protects their data, and serves their communities. Tribes that wait will inherit rules written by others. 

For centuries, outside forces have entered tribal lands and extracted value — land, resources, cultural knowledge — without consent and without benefit to tribal communities.

AI is the next frontier. Without action, tribal data, cultural records, and community knowledge risk becoming training material for systems tribes never agreed to and don't control.

The Brookings Institution's February 2026 report on AI in Indian Country is clear: tribes that establish governance now will shape the rules. Those that wait will live by someone else's.

1. Foundation -  AI Literacy - Before any policy can be written, tribal leaders and staff need a clear, honest understanding of what AI is, how it works, and what it actually does with data. No jargon. No hype. Plain language your whole council can act on.
2. Governance - Internal AI Policy - What tools can tribal employees use? What data can enter an AI prompt? What outputs require human verification? A clear internal use policy protects the tribe before the first outside vendor arrives at your door.
3. Legal Sovereignty - Tribal Code & Data Protection - Updating tribal codes to define what data is off-limits, require consent for AI use of tribal information, and establish legal remedies for breaches. Sovereignty on paper becomes sovereignty in practice.
4. Infrastructure - Sovereign Infrastructure - Where does tribal data physically live? On-premises servers on tribal land offer maximum control. We help tribes evaluate the tradeoffs and design infrastructure that reflects sovereignty principles — connecting AI governance to your broadband strategy.

 The threats are real. And they're happening now.

1. Cultural Data Exposure - Public AI tools can incorporate any data entered into prompts into their training corpus — including sacred cultural information entered by tribal employees.
2. Biased & Inaccurate Outputs - AI systems trained on limited data about Native communities produce outputs that misrepresent, stereotype, or erase tribal identity and history.
3. Vendor Lock-In Without Protections - Tribes that adopt AI tools without sovereignty provisions in contracts lose control over how their data is used — and how to exit the relationship.
4. Federal Agency AI Use - BIA, IHS, and other agencies are deploying AI on programs serving tribal citizens — often without formal tribal consultation on how data is being used.
5. Governance Gap - Most tribes have not yet established AI policies, updated tribal codes, or assessed their data infrastructure. The window to act proactively is now.