4 December 2025
Strengthening Indigenous Digital Storytelling in the Arctic
As an Arctic Six Fellow and Senior Researcher at the University of Lapland, Amna Qureshi works at the intersection of Indigenous knowledge, emerging technologies, and cross-border Arctic collaboration.
Amna Qureshi’s work is grounded in a simple, yet deeply resonant principle expressed in Sámi communities: “stories are not just told, they are carried.” For Qureshi, this carrying is relational, ethical, and technological at the same time, shaped by responsibility rather than novelty and by the long continuity of Northern ways of knowing.
Working as the Project Manager of the Indigenous Digital Storytelling with New Media project, a cross-border Interreg Aurora initiative involving the University of Lapland, Sámi Allaskuvla and Umeå University, Qureshi supports a collaborative effort that advances Indigenous-led cinema education, digital media experimentation and new approaches to ethical storytelling across the Arctic region.
“Digital tools can open possibilities, but sovereignty means deciding how, where and by whom stories are shared”, Qureshi explains.
This perspective is strongly reflected in her academic work. In a recent publication, she examines cultural sovereignty and the future of Indigenous digital storytelling, arguing that sovereignty is inseparable from relational design, land-based knowledge, and technological responsibility.
“Participation does not equal sovereignty. The process must be governed by the community from the beginning, not simply consulted at the end.”
Qureshi’s research practice also extends into emerging territories. She explores speculative design explorations for Sámi digital storytelling futures, imagining how memory, place, and temporality might evolve in media environments shaped by immersive technologies. The research highlights both the risks and potentials of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Extended Reality (XR) and Virtual Reality (VR) platforms, underscoring that future-oriented design must honour Indigenous worldviews, cultural protocols, and data sovereignty.
Storytelling as ethical, cultural, and relational infrastructure
As Project Manager, Qureshi oversees a constellation of activities across the partner institutions. The milestones achieved within this work belong to the collective efforts of the project, yet they also reflect the collaborative ecosystem she helps sustain.
“Carrying a story is a shared responsibility.”
Her Arctic Six Fellowship builds directly on this foundation. Through mobility, community engagement, and the gradual development of a storytelling approach informed by digital and visual methods, she is strengthening networks between Indigenous storytellers, researchers, and Arctic institutions. This emerging approach weaves together creative practices, oral histories, and visual media in a way that centres Indigenous epistemologies and allows communities to shape their own modes of representation.
Rather than treating storytelling as content, Qureshi frames it as infrastructure that is ethical, cultural, and relational. This approach aligns with contemporary debates within the Arctic Six network on sovereignty, governance, and digital transformation, especially as AI increasingly influences Arctic policy and cultural documentation. Her work reframes sovereignty not only as a legal or territorial matter but as a question of narrative control: who defines, protects, and circulates Arctic stories.
Ultimately, Qureshi’s vision is grounded in continuity: “This is not the end but a continuation of shared responsibility.”
For her, the future of Arctic storytelling depends on cross-border solidarity, long-term ethical commitments, and technologies designed with Indigenous communities rather than for them. Through her work as a Fellow and Project Manager, she contributes to shaping that future: relational, sovereign, and carried forward with care.
Contact
Dr. Amna Qureshi, University of Lapland
amna.qureshi@ulapland.fi
Related links
Cultural sovereignty and the future of Indigenous digital storytelling
Speculative Design Explorations for Sámi Digital Storytelling Futures.
Amna Qureshi is an Arctic Six Fellow
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