Science & Tech · Big Tech & Internet · 10 mins ago
Ontario First Nation uses data centre to protect its heritage
The Wiikwemkoong First Nation in Ontario has built its own data centre to modernize records and preserve community heritage.
It holds video recordings of Anishinaabe people speaking their language, along with corporate documents, residents’ health data and security footage.
The project is about keeping control of the community’s own information, after Indigenous communities were historically excluded from decisions about how their information was collected and used.
A flood in 2022 destroyed some digital records, making safer, centralized storage more urgent.
Wiikwemkoong is transferring its information from a Microsoft data centre in Toronto to the facility, which is about the size of a single-car garage.
The centre also supports new public safety systems, including drones and surveillance cameras.
A backup data centre on the mainland and public Wi-Fi transmitters are planned, while other Indigenous communities have visited to learn about the project.
Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory in rural Ontario is using its own data centre to preserve Anishinaabe language recordings and other community information.
The facility supports the First Nation’s goal of having ownership, access, control and possession of its information.
It stores corporate documents, residents’ health data and security camera footage, as well as videos of people speaking Anishinaabe.
A flood in 2022 destroyed some digital records and increased the urgency of improving data storage.
The community is transferring information from a Microsoft data centre in Toronto and has plans for a mainland backup centre and public Wi-Fi transmitters.
- Who
- Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, an Indigenous community in Ontario.
- What
- The community is using its own data centre to preserve heritage and store records, while asserting control over its information.
- When
- The centre was installed last year; the articles were published on October 21, 2026.
- Where
- Wiikwemkoong, at the eastern end of Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, Ontario.
- Why
- To preserve cultural and language records, protect community information and maintain authority over its use.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A flood destroyed some of the community’s digital records, which had been scattered across various offices.
Wiikwemkoong installed its data centre as part of efforts to modernize its recordkeeping systems.
Articles about the community’s data centre and heritage-preservation efforts were published.
- Community
- Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, Ontario
- Population
- About 4,000 people
- Data centre size
- About the size of a single-car garage
- Server racks
- Four
- Previous data storage
- Microsoft data centre in Toronto, about 305 kilometres south
- Planned infrastructure
- A mainland backup data centre and public Wi-Fi transmitters
4 sources
A First Nation community in Ontario is using a data centre to preserve its heritage
A First Nation community is using a data centre to preserve its heritage
First Nation community in Canada uses data centre to preserve its heritage
A data center is helping a First Nation community preserve its heritage
What people are saying
Our language is one of the biggest things that most First Nations across the country are losing
The purpose of all of this is having the ownership, access, control and possession of our information
That information is very important to us. And in order to protect it, keep it safe, we said, 'Why can't we look at developing and creating and implementing our own data sovereignty program?'
a relatively small carbon footprint