Writing Irataba: On Representing Native Americans on Wikipedia

Abstract

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, is simultaneously an experiment in anarchic knowledge production and a realization of the long dream of modernity: storing all human knowledge. It is also a battleground for the politics of representation and for creating and circulating realities and "Wikialities." I ethnographically describe how Wikipedians, most of whom are white Anglo-Americans, negotiate the representation of Native Americans as objects of encyclopedic knowledge and how the sins of our anthropological forebears come back to haunt us in this process. In 2015, I participated in the collaborative writing of the article on Irataba or Yara tav, who was an important leader of the Mohave people of California and Arizona in the late 19th century. This process brought representational dilemmas to the fore in the negotiation between the inadequacies of historical and anthropological knowledge and Wikipedia's policies establishing how to authorize and re-represent narratives. These dilemmas point out to us, as 21st-century anthropologists, that we have a responsibility for being the stewards of the knowledge created by anthropologists past as well as for correcting their mistakes and guiding the global public of readers and writers when they make forays into our traditional territories. [Wikipedia, representation of Native Americans, public anthropology, history of anthropology] RESUMEN Wikipedia, la enciclopedia en línea que cualquiera puede editar, es simultáneamente un experimento en la producción anárquica de conocimiento y una realización del largo sueño de modernidad: almacenar todo el conocimiento humano. Es también un campo de batalla para la política de representación y para la creación y circulación de realidades y "Wikialidades". Describo etnográficamente cómo Wikipedistas, la mayoría de los cuales son blancos, angloamericanos, negocian la representación de indígenas de los Estados Unidos como objetos de conocimiento enciclopédico y cómo los pecados de nuestros antepasados antropológicos vuelven a atormentarnos en este proceso. En 2015, participé en la escritura colaborativa del artículo sobre Irataba o Yaratav, un líder importante de los Mohave de California y Arizona a finales del siglo XIX. Este proceso puso de relieve dilemas representacionales en la negociación entre las deficiencias del conocimiento histórico y antropológico y las políticas de Wikipedia para autorizar y re-representar narrativas. Estos dilemas nos señalan, como antropólogos del siglo XXI y como salvaguardas del conocimiento creado por antropólogos pasados, que tenemos una responsabilidad para corregir los errores de losúltimos y guiar al público global de lectores y escritores cuando ellos hacen incursiones en nuestros territorios tradicionales. [Wikipedia, representación de los indígenas de los Estados Unidos, antropología pública, historia de la antropología]

Liberdade na enciclopédia livre: entre culturas colaborativas e participação tecnoliberal na Wikipédia

“…Aqueles que acessam a Wikipédia apenas para ler artigos tendem a não se dar conta de como ela é um meio intertextual (Hansen, 2016), com diversas metapáginas para cada artigo enciclopédico. Assim, por exemplo, ao consultarmos o artigo "Antropologia" na Wikipédia lusófona (Antropologia, 2023), encontramos, no canto superior esquerdo da tela, ao lado da aba Artigo, uma aba que nos direciona à página de discussão sobre o artigo.…”

Deletion discussions on Hebrew Wikipedia: Negotiating global and local ideologies

“…It is not edited by historians either. Thus, in theory, it holds the potential to undermine dominant perceptions about what is historically important (Hansen, 2016). Yet, the continued prominence of national ideologies and specific political agendas in deletion decision making suggests that the same hegemonic forces that shape the construction of national histories persist even on user-generated encyclopedias.…”

“…Hargittai and Shaw, 2015; Konieczny and Klein, 2018) and racial inequalities (e.g. Deumert, 2014; Hansen, 2016) that shape the content entries and creators’ identities. Other studies have found significant differences between distinct versions both in terms of content and in terms of the underlying infrastructure of the platform (Androutsopoulos, 2010; Deumert, 2014; Mamadouh, 2020).…”

Latinx Authorship and Representation in Digital Spaces: Wikipedia as a Tool to Decolonize the HSI Classroom

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