Siobhan Senier (English, University of New Hampshire)

Indigenizing Wikipedia: Expanding the Presence of Native Authors on the World’s Largest Encyclopedia

For better or worse, Wikipedia is now the first source to which most students, everyday citizens, and even scholars turn for basic information. What does it mean to “indigenize” Wikipedia?

Siobhan Senier will discuss her work with a cohort of Wikipedia editors and students who have sought to increase the presence of indigenous content and perspectives in the online encyclopedia. They have created new entries, for instance, for Native American authors not previously represented on the site, and have edited existing entries to reflect contemporary scholarship and/or the perspectives of tribal communities.

As her talk will reveal, the issue is more than merely additive, for indigenous topics often challenge Wikipedia’s standards for what constitutes legitimate and worthwhile knowledge. Audience members will be welcome to log on and try their hands at editing.

Background reading:
Siobhan Senier, “Indigenizing Wikipedia: Student Accountability to Native American Authors on the World’s Largest Encyclopedia,” in Web Writing: Why and How for Liberal Arts Teaching and Learning, ed. Jack Dougherty and Tennyson O’Donnell (University of Michigan Press/Trinity College

Siobhan Senier is associate professor of English at the University of New Hampshire, editor of Dawnland Voices: Writing from Indigenous New England (University of Nebraska Press, 2014) and Ramona (Broadview Press, 2008), and author of Voices of American Indian Assimilation and Resistance: Helen Hunt Jackson, Sarah Winnemucca, and Victoria Howard (University of Oklahoma Press, 2001). She can be found on Twitter @ssenier, and through her blog, Indigenous New England Literature.