Tag Archives: story

Module 2 – Digital Storytelling – Who tells the story?

In progressing through this course, I have learned so much. Back in module one, I thought that I could be a very active participant in the process of preserving Indigenous culture through digital storytelling (in all forms). In this module, I have come to understand that my previous understanding was short-sighted. This research weblog entry looks at various examples of stories (and information) being recorded (or NOT recorded) by Indigenous people themselves. While motives may be pure, the slide into cultural appropriation is subtle, but prominent in so many cases. As I begin to shift my research, I will stay in the realm of digital storytelling, but look at it more from a different angle than originally planned.

Cry Rock – a short film by Banchi Hanuse (Nuxalk Nation)

With less than 15 Nuxalk language speakers and storytellers remaining, does it not make sense to capture these stories in video or audio form? The answer is not as simple as you might think. This film explores the conundrum of oral tradition in an increasingly digital world.

Why can students eagerly recall what happened on last week’s epi

sode of Hannah Montana, but think they can’t memorize a story passed along orally? “It’s just a state of mind … there are so many influences affecting our people.”

“Oral storytelling is more than the words being spoken. Our stories and language cease to be a part of us if they only exist within a recording.”

Note: the site states that the film is only available for free viewing until October 27th, it is however, available at the UBC Xwi7xwa Library.

N’we Jinan – a different way to express identity and culture

Amy Parent comments that “Indigenous knowledge can be expressed in multiple ways, and I think that ties into what we are talking about today – the digital realm.” N’we Jinan is a non-profit production company that seeks to capture the voices of indigenous youth, empowering them to share what they feel is an important message.

Starting with a question, such as “What does it mean to be an Indigenous youth in Surrey?”, students are assisted in writing and recording a song and music video to share their message. With examples from across Canada,

Native Appropriations

This site, (perhaps more of an updated version of the chat-boards that Zimmerman refers to), claims to be a “forum for discussing representations of Native peoples, including stereotypes, cultural appropriation, news, activism, and more.” I came across it while looking for Native Appropriations in the world of professional sports (Chicago Blackhawks, Cleveland Indians, Washington Redskins). This site has a page dedicated to “Natives Against Redsk*ns”, but also offers a range of information and opinions about appropriated Indigenous culture and ties from other current events to Indigenous issues.

First Voices

Zimmerman comments that CD-ROMS are an excellent media for preserving Indigenous languages. Of course, since the time of his writing, the internet has vastly improved, and is able to stream information exponentially faster, and store vast amounts of information efficiently – enter First Voices.

First voices is a BC-based suite of web-based tools designed to support Aboriginal people engaged in language archiving and teaching. It contains thousands of text and audio entries from Indigenous Nations around Canada. Much of the audio (both words and phrases) are recorded by local elders, and are categorized alphabetically or by topic.

(Here is a Nuxalk welcome, made available on the site.)

WELCOME
“YAW, SMATMC UKS!
QALXALULHM TS UULH LHUP STUTWINAKMTS AP S PUTL’ AP!
YA TI SLQ’ TS TC SKA ACWSALC AP ALH TIS S LHK’MSTALH TS! WAY!”

“HELLO, ALL YOU FRIENDS!
I WELCOME YOU ALL AND THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING!
I AM GLAD THAT YOU ALL ARE LEARNING OUR LANGUAGE! (OKAY)!”

While many of the entries are available to the public, some are password protected at the request of the language community.

First Voices also includes instructional guidance for groups wishing to participate in language archival. It recommends recording tools and methods, and simple training for submitting entries.

First Nations Films

In keeping with the theme of digital storytelling (or perhaps, moving slightly away from the theme, in that I originally thought that anybody could make these digital stories), First Nations Films is a film company that creates and distributes films and documentaries for, by, and about Indigenous people.

Each of the films in their collection has a trailer available on their catalogue site, and is available for purchase through the site. Watching the trailers is a great starting place for exploring the world of Indigenous film-making and production.

Module 4: Place and Displacement

Knowing the Land Beneath Our Feet

Knowing the Land Beneath Our Feet is an Augmented Reality tour of the land on which sits the University of British Columbia. Upon watching the creators’ video, we see their intention is to educate and provide the opportunity to connect with the land (unceded Musqueam land). Links below include Eleanor Hoskins blog post entitled “Place Based Learning Technologies” as well as detailed background information about Knowing the Land Beneath Our Feet. Is learning truly place-based when it is virtual? Can one truly connect with the land when it isn’t a real environment? Could augmented reality help people who feel displaced to connect to place – from a distance? Could the creation of such a virtual tour help Aboriginal youth articulate and develop their knowledge of place?

http://ets.educ.ubc.ca/place-based-learning-technologies/

http://fnis.arts.ubc.ca/research-resources/knowing-the-land-beneath-our-feet/

http:/thetalon.ca/knowing-the-land-beneath-our-feet-ubcs-indigenous-histories-and-presence/

First Mile

First Mile promotes and supports ICTs in rural Aboriginal communities across Canada. The site has a “Community Stories” section which highlights digital developments in these communities, from global citizenship workshops, to how communities are using social media, to physical connectivity. These community stories could serve to inform other participating and nonparticipating communities of potential uses for ICTs in their community. The site also hosts published research related to rural Indigenous communities, technology, and the challenges they may face. It isn’t surprising to see that different challenges are faced and addressed differently depending on the community. Is willingness to welcome digital technologies a major factor in these projects?

http://firstmile.ca/#home

Modern Science, Native Knowledge

In contrast to Tim Michel’s thoughts in his interview for week 12 where he indicates that Indigenous people are and feel displaced, this video produced by The Natural Conservancy, emphasizes how the Heiltsuk people feel a direct connection to and responsibility for the land (The Great Bear Rainforest). This is interesting given the detrimental effects of colonization on the Heiltsuk. Jessy Housty articulates the importance of place when it comes to identity, “we don’t make sense anywhere else in the world, this is our place and we have a responsibility to take care of it”. Like when Dr. Walsh (below, see post 4) discusses using multiple ways of knowing to conserve the environment, this too is emphasized, in particular the knowledge of the Heiltsuk people. Is it fair for this responsibility to lie on Aboriginal people, specifically in the preservation of the Great Bear Rainforest? Isn’t it at risk as a result of colonization?

Australia’s Biodiversity: Indigenous Perspectives

Dr. Fiona Walsh, explains the interconnectedness between biodiversity, place, and Aboriginal people in Australia. As an elementary school teacher, who has taught “biodiversity” for a number of years from an exclusively Western perspective, the way Dr. Walsh explains the relationship between humans and plants, from the perspective of using as much knowledge from multiple sources (western science, aboriginal knowledge), provides a good example of how to approach the BC curriculum with Indigenous worldviews authentically. As environmental concerns grow, place-based learning and indigenous worldviews seem to be at the forefront, Dr. Walsh echoes this, suggesting the more knowledge we have, the better equipped we will be to conserve the environment.

Aboriginal communities embrace technology, but they have unique cyber safety challenges

The digital divide in rural aboriginal communities and in lower socio-economic communities is one thing, but there are other challenges that arise in communities that may not have the digital fluency that is required in order to use the internet/devices safely. This article highlights some of the challenges in security and protocol when people in Aboriginal communities have access to a limited amount of technology. This article reminds us that things like cyber safety, money, online passwords, texting, etc. are all products of western society.

http://theconversation.com/aboriginal-communities-embrace-technology-but-they-have-unique-cyber-safety-challenges-69344

Aboriginal Voices: The Importance of Storytelling in Math and Science

Having narrowed down my research question onto the use of Aboriginal voices in digital media in classrooms, I have been able to focus my research a little better over the past couple of weeks. This week I have been looking particularly at how story fits into all strands of the curriculum; there are many teachers who feel the Aboriginal perspective doesn’t fit into their curriculum because they “don’t teach that unit”. Rather than a “one and done” approach, I would like to look at how stories told from the Aboriginal perspective in the voices of First Nations peoples can be woven through our classroom work particularly in science and math. The resources I have found this week include:

Highlighting Aboriginal perspective in the classroom seems like an easy first step for teachers. Some of the unease for teachers remains in differentiating between when we are highlighting culture and when we are teaching religion, an uncomfortable distinction for many teachers, which often leads to simply ignoring the topic. An easy first step seems to be the integration of the Aboriginal perspective in the science classroom. APTN Kids provides teachers with bilingual links to powerful, research-based programing like Coyote Science and here that demonstrate that including the Aboriginal perspective in classrooms is as fundamental as the characters in the story. When Coyote helps to explain science concepts, includes a joke of the week and the medicine wheel is included in the set design, students see a valuable perspective. This is a good example of what happens when the First Nations perspective is woven through the resources used in the classroom.
Show Me Your Math is a site developed by Lisa Lunney Borden and supported by her doctoral research that highlights the Aboriginal perspective in math learning. It highlights inquiry learning for students related to math that begins with authentic artifacts and continues through the use of authentic voices in telling the stories of the artefacts and the related math.
My former board of education, the Regina Board of Education developed a list of resources related to an Indigenous calendar. The thinking being that teachers weave First Nations teachings into the curriculum throughout the year rather than viewing it as a stand-alone unit of teaching. The book Aboriginal Success in the Classroom highlight the fact that a First Nations perspective is just that: a lense for viewing classroom work.
Two Eyed Seeing in the Classroom is an analysis of how the Aboriginal perspective can be highlighted in science classrooms. The paper explores how “Indigenous Sciences are underlain by the perception of multiple realities at that reality perceived by our five senses is but one of those.” (Cajete, 2000)
Aboriginal Perspectives in Teaching Science from the University of Regina highlights the importance of First Nations stories and the role of Aboriginal Elders in the science classroom as essential guides for teachers in integrating this approach. The paper discusses the importance of understanding the philosophical underpinnings of the story and how story can be misunderstood and the lesson miscommunicated if the teller doesn’t fully understand the story.

In the next few weeks, I will continue to seek examples of stories told digitally and how they are being used in classrooms.

Stories and Place

Nokum is My Teacher – David Bouchard

“to watch you learn to see” ~ Nokum’s words to grandson in response to getting an “education”

David Bouchard, a Canadian Metis born and raised in Saskatchewan, is a writer of over 50 books. This particular picture book includes both English and Cree languages and is a dialogue between a boy and his grandmother, or Nokum. Due to its powerful message regarding the intersection of indigenous peoples and western education, this story is a must read for all western educators.

To watch an excellent production of this book through video, click here: Nokum is My Teacher

Inhabit Media

While previewing The Blind Boy and the Loon by Althea Arnaquq-Baril, I was introduced to Inhabit Media as mentioned in the commentary within the book. Inhabit Media is a publishing company purposed in promoting and preserving Inuit voice, story and art through book publications for both children and adults. An extensive book reference page of their published children’s books is a valuable resource for the elementary educator.

Unnikkaat Studios Inc.

Althea Arnaquq-Baril, recognizing the need to preserve the language of her people, built her company, Unnikkaat Studios Inc., to produce Inuktitut documentaries and language productions. As the Inuit are traditionally an oral culture, using a means of oral documentation of stories and history through film making can be an effective and productive way of both preserving the voices of the Inuit and allowing their voices to be shared with others.

Morning on the Lake – Jan Boudreau Waboose

A beautiful depiction of place as told through the words of Jan Boudreau Waboose, a Nishwabe Ojibway from northern Ontario. Place-based references to landscape, animals, sky and environment are seamlessly interwoven throughout the text.

Rebecca Hainnu

Rebecca Hainnu is an elementary school teacher in Nunavut, a curriculum writer, and a picture book author. Particularly, A Walk on the Shoreline and A Walk on the Tundra encompass place-based knowledge. Her newest book extends plant knowledge and is entitled, Walking with Aalasi: An Introduction to Edible and Medicinal Arctic Plants.

Arts, Narrative, & Education by Christi Belcourt (Module 4-Post 3)

http://www.helpingourmotherearth.com/

This is how Christi Belcourt used her art for an education setting founded on a First Nation story: Sacred Fisher Story. This mural project is actually a tool guide for educators and students across Ontario based on First Nation teachings and knowledge. Lesson plans are provided, and much more.