Introduction to AI for Atikamekw youth in Manawan
Technologies, transmission, and living culture
The Montreal Digital Spring team was in Manawan on June 2 to deliver activities focused on understanding and using artificial intelligence for the students of Otapi High School. This new visit marks the launch of a format tailored to Indigenous realities, emphasizing cultural transmission through digital tools.
At the heart of the day: digital culture and traditional knowledge. The event began with a masterclass introducing 153 Atikamekw youth to the basics of artificial intelligence. Through the IA & Toi training, participants explored AI’s possibilities and challenges using examples grounded in their own realities. Topics such as algorithmic cultural biases, data sovereignty, and AI-assisted creation were clearly explained by digital mediator Stéphane Nepton.
In the afternoon, the youth took part in an intergenerational workshop on creating digital twins. To begin, a rich exchange took place around knowledge transmission and the uses of digital technology. Mrs. Cecile Niquay-Ottawa, an elder from the Manawan community, chose a meaningful cultural object – her birch bark moose call – to share its story and details with the youth in the Atikamekw language. The object was then 3D scanned by Cecile herself. The workshop continued with the digitization of several other Atikamekw cultural objects chosen by the youth. The activity enabled the concrete transmission of knowledge while introducing participants to 3D digitization skills – in their own language. A creative and rooted approach aimed at preserving collective memory and fostering a new Atikamekw form of archiving.
A day rich in exchanges, learning, and above all, shared pride. Mamo/Mamu – which means Together in Atikamekw and Innu – takes on its full meaning when technology becomes a bridge between generations, knowledge, and dreams for the future.
These activities are part of the IA & Toi and Mamo/Mamu programs (aimed at Indigenous youth), continuing a collaboration begun in 2019 with the Atikamekw Nation Council (CNA). They are designed to make new technologies more accessible to young people and to promote equal opportunities.
Montreal Digital Spring would like to acknowledge the commitment and support of IVADO, the leading research, training, and knowledge mobilization consortium in artificial intelligence in Quebec and Canada. Their contribution was key to making this activity possible and, more broadly, to fostering an understanding and adoption of AI that takes into account diverse sociocultural realities – particularly those of Indigenous communities in Quebec.
👉 Want to contribute to the project or host a Mamo/Mamu workshop in your community or school? Write to us at [email protected]
The Mamo/Mamu project is an initiative by Montreal Digital Spring, supported by IVADO and the Secrétariat à la jeunesse du Québec, and presented by Hydro-Québec as part of the Jeunesse QC 2030 project.
The IA & Toi project by Montreal Digital Spring, supported by the federal CanCode initiative, aims to promote equal opportunities in the fields of digital technology and artificial intelligence among youth.
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