The name of the project, Kwän Dék’án’ Do, can be translated as “to keep the fire burning,” a fitting name because language revitalization requires continued effort from people who understand why the language holds significance for community life. Through holopresence technology, the initiative captures a person in a multi-dimensional format and allows their image to appear life-sized. Elders such as Walter Peter were surprised to see a holographic version of themselves, describing the experience as something they had never imagined. The technology makes an Elder’s presence available in a new way. It also creates a different kind of intergenerational encounter, one in which a young learner can engage with a recorded speaker that is not physically present. 

The project also incorporates virtual reality into language learning, offering new ways for community members to encounter Northern Tutchone and access knowledge that might otherwise be difficult to reach. A hologram can preserve an Elder’s gestures and expressions alongside their voice. Virtual reality can place a learner within a digital environment designed around the language and its cultural context. In instances such as these, digital tools can extend those opportunities beyond a traditional classroom setting, but their effectiveness depends on whether community members can use them in ways that support real learning.

When an Elder Becomes a Hologram

A child grows up understanding only a few words, an Elder of their community passes away, and the stories that once lived in conversation become much more difficult to recover. Residential boarding schools and other assimilationist institutions discouraged Indigenous language use. These practices weakened the relationships through which knowledge had traditionally travelled, with the consequences remaining visible today, as many Indigenous languages face declining numbers of fluent speakers.

For this reason, Elder Jimmy Johnny had been a strong advocate for Northern Tutchone and had recorded several multi-dimensional videos before his death. When heritage manager Teresa Samson presented his hologram at a land claims coalition gathering in Ottawa, she recalled the strong reaction from people in the room, describing the experience as a way of still having a piece of him. The moment reveals something that technical descriptions of holograms can miss.

Technology is most meaningful when the community decides what should be recorded and how it should be used. This approach considers elders as knowledge holders.

Technology is most meaningful when the community decides what should be recorded and how it should be used.

For this reason, Elder Jimmy Johnny had been a strong advocate for Northern Tutchone and had recorded several multi-dimensional videos before his death. When heritage manager Teresa Samson presented his hologram at a land claims coalition gathering in Ottawa, she recalled the strong reaction from people in the room, describing the experience as a way of still having a piece of him. The moment reveals something that technical descriptions of holograms can miss.

Indigenous Data Sovereignty

Indigenous data sovereignty is central to this discussion because language materials carry cultural responsibilities. Recordings of Elders may include knowledge that should not be freely available to every user or every technology company. For this reason, community members need meaningful authority over whether recordings are shared and what permissions apply to their use. This includes decisions about storage, access, copying, and future applications of the material. 

In this sense, it also means recognizing that consent to make one recording does not automatically grant permission for every future use. Systems of artificial intelligence make this distinction particularly important because digital material can be copied, adapted, or used in ways that were not anticipated when it was first collected. Community control must therefore continue after the initial recording is complete. Without that control, a project designed to protect language could create new risks for the people whose knowledge it holds.

The hologram project demonstrates that indigenous innovation can involve adapting emerging technologies to priorities set by the community itself.

The hologram project demonstrates that indigenous innovation can involve adapting emerging technologies to the priorities of the community itself.

UNESCO’s series of guidance on implementing national preservation plans for digital media and cultural heritage emphasizes that digital language work should be guided by the needs and decisions of the communities involved. This principle challenges the assumption that introducing new technology is automatically progress. A tool may create new barriers if access requires expensive equipment or skills that are not openly and immediately available. In this context, the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun community is making choices about how tools can respond to a specific cultural and linguistic need. 

This hologram project shows that Indigenous innovation can involve adapting emerging technologies to priorities established by the community itself. Still, the presence of advanced equipment should not become the main measure of success. A hologram may draw attention, but attention does not automatically lead to language fluency. The more important question is whether learners gain the confidence and support to use the Northern Tutchone language beyond the digital experience. That outcome requires continued teaching and opportunities for people to speak with one another. The technology matters most when it helps those relationships grow.

Developing Children and Future Generations

Children need opportunities to hear Northern Tutchone in ordinary settings and to learn from people who can explain its meaning. This turns language learning from an occasional activity into a part of everyday life beyond the use of the holograms. Technology can support that process by making resources easier to reach, but it cannot create a living speech community on its own– that work remains with the people who pass the language forward. 

Often, preservation is imagined as something that remains unchanged and safely stored away from time. Yet language can be ever-changing, and it depends on new generations finding reasons to speak it. A digital archive can help protect what has been recorded, but it cannot anticipate every future conversation. Through holograms, the Na-Cho community is finding new ways to share Elders’ knowledge. This is significant in a context where the number of fluent Northern Tutchone speakers is small, and there is a true need for intergenerational transmission. 

Essentially, when an Indigenous community develops a similar project, community leaders must retain authority over data management and maintain a degree of sovereignty. For example, independent technical reviews conducted by academic institutions can identify risks before virtual reality tools are implemented. Audits can also help verify compliance with agreements between these institutions and the community. Such protections must be legally enforceable. Technology can strengthen language revitalization when it remains under community control. In conclusion, international and national laws must protect communities and their knowledge as technology continues to advance.

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