Your staff is probably already using AI. The question is whether the data they're putting into it -- grant applications, enrollment records, environmental submissions, community health data -- is leaving your jurisdiction and landing somewhere compellable by federal subpoena.
These resources are selected for tribal government staff and leadership: planners, IT directors, tribal administrators, and council members evaluating AI policy. No technical background required.
Note: This page uses a US federal threat model. The sovereignty logic applies across jurisdictions — Canadian First Nations, Māori authorities, and Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governments face analogous risks through different legal mechanisms.
Understand the threat
Start here if you're new to AI and data risk.
Hierarchy of Data Risk
The six-tier framework for evaluating AI tools against the specific threat model facing Indigenous Nations: federal government access to community data.
Read more →Indigenous Data and Government Threat in the US
Why treaty data, enrollment records, environmental submissions, and benefit records become surveillance infrastructure -- and what the structural pattern means.
Read more →Evaluate what your staff is using now
Five questions to ask about any AI tool before it touches community data.
Five Questions Worth Asking About Any Technology (PDF)
A one-page reference guide for evaluating AI tools against your nation's data governance values.
Open PDF →AI Hallucinations: What They Are and When They Matter
What hallucinations are, why they happen, and a practical rule of thumb for knowing when AI output is safe to rely on for your team's work.
Read more →Build policy
What other Indigenous nations have done -- language you can adapt for your context.
Example Policies and Governance Documents
Declarations, data sharing agreement templates, governance frameworks, and implementation toolkits from tribal nations, First Nations, Māori, and Aboriginal communities worldwide.
Browse documents →Cherokee Nation AI and Data Sovereignty Task Force Report
One of the most comprehensive publicly available tribal AI governance documents. Grounds technology policy in Cherokee Community Values and recommends a full governance architecture including AI and Data Governance Committees and NIST AI Risk Management Framework adoption.
Open document →Need help applying this to your nation's context?
Zam DeShields (Chickasaw Nation) works directly with tribal governments on AI policy, data governance, and staff training.
Know of a policy or resource your nation developed that others could adapt? Submit it here →