“The Land on Which We Meet” – Modes of Indigenous Self-Determination in the Metaverse

Abstract Amid growing academic and policy debates on the metaverse, Indigenous perspectives remain underrepresented yet offer crucial insights into the socio-political dimensions of virtual worlds. This paper investigates Indigenous self-determination in the metaverse. It starts its analysis with a focus on the Australian First Nations’ proposal for a “cultural embassy” It argues that this initiative demonstrates the metaverse’s inherently political nature while underscoring the importance of Indigenous control over virtual land, particularly through the role that data plays in an Indigenous perspective. By grounding the cultural embassy in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the paper highlights how this approach advances Indigenous self-determination in digital environments.