Ashely Cordes is an academic expert in Indigenous data sovereignty, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. Her research explores how Indigenous communities can leverage technological utilities—such as cryptocurrency and AI—for Tribal economic independence, representational and data sovereignty, and preservation of knowledge systems.
Her book “Indigenous Currencies: Leaving Some for the Rest in the Digital Age” (MIT Press) challenges settler economics and currencies and argues that Indigenous currencies—from wampum and beads to the cryptocurrency MazaCoin—transcend economic value and possess a cultural, social and political context. The book has a publish date of April 2025.
Cordes is a recent American Council of Learned Societies Fellow and an enrolled citizen of the Coquille Nation. She serves on the Tribal Resilience Taskforce and previously severed as Chair of the Culture and Education Committee of the Kōkwel/Coquille Nation.
Recent Media:
UO researchers and Coquille Tribe team up against climate change (KLCC, Aug. 13, 2023)
How Wikipedia erases indigenous history (Slate, Feb. 2, 2023)
Fines for Colorado schools with Native American mascots starts in June. But no one has the power to enforce them (The Colorado Sun, May 18, 2022)