This weblog is the most aligned with my topic, and I was particluarly excited to begin reading through information on it. I wanted to start by looking at sacred sites within First Nation’s territory, as I thought this would be applicable.

Site 1: First Nations Sacred Sites in Canada’s Courts: Book Review

In this review a distinction is made between two different kinds of protection one “strategy relies on obtaining current recognition and protection for what an indigenous people once unequivocally held and the latter strategy relies on the idea of protecting what an indigenous people once unequivocally were”. This is an interesting point to add to my reflection on the direction of my paper. Is the viewpoint of whether land is a “holding” needing to be protected, or is integral to the identity of a culture important, if the outcome is the same (land getting protected)? There is a distinction between two different types of strategies based on historical legal proceedings, the first being related to the “Meare’s Island Case,” and the second to the “Taku River and Haida Case”.

http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/ross0106.htm

From here I was, naturally, interested in finding out more about the cases. I found a website that clarified the decisions in the Taku River and Haida cases.

Site 2: The Haida Nation and Taku River Tlingit Decisions: Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities for Aboriginal Consultation and Accommodation

This case sets a precedent for consultation of Aboriginal groups. Basically, legally recognized claims are not required to “trigger” the consultation process. Impact upon asserted rights of groups is enough of a reason to enforce consultation. This decision is important as it values the rights of First Nations outside of the span of “legally recognized rights”.

http://www.lawsonlundell.com/media/news/236_Negotiatorarticle.pdf

This site got me thinking about whether there are similar stories of successful environmental management decisions or activism, so I began researching this.

Site 3: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada: Environment and Natural Resources: Success Stories

This website offers links to specific projects that have been completed both through government agency help and media attention. One thing that I keep thinking as I look through the site though, is that all of these experiences are mediated through the government agencies of the “colonizers”. This may be the quickest and most effective way to create change in a community, but is it the best way? Are FN rights and values respected in this process or must they conform to particular enforced criteria that may undermine their own values?

http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1307103658811/1307103823931

Site 4: IEN: Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign

I had looked at this site before, but in a different format and scope. Now I found something incredibly applicable to where my assignment is going. This particular portion of the Indigenous Environmental Network is focussed on the tar sands in Northern Canada and their impact on Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups and the environment. There is a variety of information in various media formats, presented by elders, youth and all other community members. Various bands are connected together on this issue and multiple viewpoints are represented through this website. Additonally, the focus on the tar sands as an issue is addressed, as 10 0r so years ago very few people knew of the environmental toll being taken in these areas. Media has brought light to these concerns.

http://www.ienearth.org/tarsands.html

Site 5: Native Web Resources: Environment

This site is a collaborative effort whose goal is to “provide a cyberspace for Earth’s indigenous peoples”. They aim to do this through sharing informational resources between regional, national and international individuals and groups and by “foster[ing] communication.” Different groups may upload their websites on a specific issue and may then coordinate their efforts or find support. The site is run by both “Native and non-Native” individuals, and hosts content from all over the world (although the majority of information and sites are from the US or Canada). Some great links are provided for environmental initiatives, concerns and success stories. Additionally under different headings (there are 35 different categories), there are resources specific to each topic, including many resources for Indigenous chat rooms or networking sites.

http://www.nativeweb.org/resources/environment/

Conclusion:

So ends my cyber-travel for the purposes of this assignment. I have acquired resources on a breadth of topics and have honed my research down to what is most critical for me to address in depth in my final project.

Entry 1

Rural Poverty Portal – IFAD

This resource provides some valuable ideas about how to encourage an Indigenous voice within the discussion about poverty, development and other major world issues. Also a central point is that Indigenous groups often have an “information gap” that media can fill. This article or commentary, put out by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), also provides details on international forums for Indigenous knowledge.

http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/topic/voice/tags/indigenous_peoples/ipday

Entry 2

International Labour Organization – Social Media Gives Voice to Indigenous Communities

This website provides information on how social media is supporting the spread of international and local Indigenous issues. It suggests combining community radio and social media to reach the most people, and provides links to documents on Indigenous rights and examples of social media.

http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/features/WCMS_186824/lang–en/index.htm

Entry 3

Indigenous Media Action

The project coordinator for this site is a Dine’ man who has been a media activist for 10 years. The site is a place to combine the efforts of different Indigenous groups with respect to issues they are facing. It is a very politically-minded site and has excellent resources on current issues for a variety of Indigenous communities. In addition to articles and other resources the site also allows for a variety of content from users. For my specific research it also provides much information on current environmental initiatives and “Calls to Action”.

http://www.indigenousaction.org/

Entry 4

Outta Your Backpack Media

A Indigenous youth empowerment site that promotes media justice. Youth can apply for a “backpack”, which provides them with a camera and tools to encourage the sharing of stories, situations and issues within their own lives and communities. There are additional resources on the site for interested youth and videos of completed projects. It is a great example of promoting Indigenous youth community building and identity through media.

http://oybm.org/

Entry 5

Embedded Aesthetics: Creating a Discursive Space for Indigenous Media

This article by Ginsburg (1994) discusses Australian Aboriginal media and how diverse it is in purpose, production and use. An important consideration presented in the article is the difference between how Aboriginal and non-Aboriginals view the work and what value and level of credibility they assign to it. First Nations Film and Video Makers World Alliance is mentioned in this article and may be a good place for future research regarding my topic.

https://files.nyu.edu/fg4/public/pdfs/Ginsburg%20-%20Embedded%20Aesthetics%20Creating%20a%20Discursive%20Space%20for%20Indigenous%20Media.pdf

For my weblog this module I started looking at different aspects of Indigenous identity in relation to ecological issues.

The Six Faces of Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Challenges and Opportunities for Canadian Co-Management Arrangements

This website is about natural resource co-management. It discusses First Nation involvement in making decisisons and incorporating the values and worldviews of First Nation’s groups. Also discussed is the idea that there are 6 faces of TEK that need to be considered when negotiating co-management arrangements.

First Nations Land Rights and Environmentalism in British Columbia

This is a very different sort of website than the others I came across. The website opens with “We were never conquered and we have never surrendered the right to govern or be stewards of our traditional territories.” The website also states “Disclaimer: strategies of dispossession of First Nations have included representing them in degrading ways. This website promotes a re-iconization of some of these illustrations by placing them in a new context to serve indigenous peoples.” The author of the website is a German woman, Dr. Karen Wonders and the site is very political in nature and continues on with the very clear standpoint taken on the first page. There are links to the websites of different First Nations groups as well as all kinds of lectures, symposiums, exhibitions, articles and media that relate to these topics.

LASA 2003 Meeting Article

The focus in this article from the Latin American Studies Association is on Indigenous people in Columbia. The author looks at how “representations of indigenous peoples have changed from ‘the savage colonial subject’ to ‘the political-ecological agent.'” This is a point that I think is important with respect to our discussions this module and also when I am doing my research and writing my paper. Even positive steretypes must be examined. In addition, the political aspect of environmental issues and resource management is an important consideration. The main website of LASA provides links to a variety of articles, some of which involve Indigenous issues.

First Nations Environmental Network

Incorporating traditional values, this network of individuals and groups encourages and supports others who are trying to protect traiditonally important areas. There is an area where members can post news updates and links and a link to the forum Turning Point,which offers up a place for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal individuals to egnage in discourse. Even though the site does not appear to have been active since 2009/2010, the way the site, and particularly the forum, is set up and the guiding principles are interesting and useful when considering how Indigenous communities could network and share their experiences.

Assembly of First Nations: Environmental Stewardship

This is a fantastic resource with respect to First Nations’ environmental conerns and current stewardship examples. The areas of Earth, Air, Water and Fire each have a variety of link to videos, factsheets, First Nations funding, articles and other resources to do with environmental stewardship within an Aboriginal context.

Environmental Progress for Indigenous Groups

I would like to investigate what positive impacts technology can have on Indigenous culture, particularly in an ecological sense. Can the internet be used effectively to spread information about specific ecological concerns that Indigenous groups have? Will it help give a voice to groups that have often been marginalized or silenced? Often there are environmental issues that arise within the traditional territories of Indigenous groups. These issues often have a direct and lasting impact on the health of the land and the people that live on it. Indigenous groups may be able to use the internet to voice their opinion in meaningful ways, but there needs to be more than that. Real change needs to be affected and this can be hard to attain, even with the best online presence. Internet and other new media might be the way to create this change, but how effective are they really? To distill it down to one main question, I would like to know: In relation to making a positive ecological change, including revitalization, what is the most effective way for an Indigenous group to use technology to make improvements within either their territory, or an area that has specific traditional importance?

#4 The Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources

The CIER is an organisation which is established by Canadian First Nations groups. Their website is easy to navigate and has four major focusses: taking action on climate change, building sustainable communities, protecting lands and waters, and conserving biodiversity. Basically this is a gathering point for initiatives, partnerships, issues and anything else concerning First Nations environmental concerns.

The website provides links to their library collection, reports on initiatives and also encourages partnerships with different communities. If any FN group is wanting to partner with CIER they will either help them address a topic area through project funding that they already have, will help them find funding to work on a community project, or will provide workshops.

Aside from the obvious good that the site provides, what struck me, after our readings so far, was how much this site looks like a typical government or company site. Also, even though the individuals on the board are FN members (and the majority have had some role in the leadership of their own community) they are also all people who have lots of credentials in the western sense; they have signed major financial deals, have degrees, headed up different societies, etc.. I’m not sure if this is an important observation or not, but I wonder what message this website sends, and whether it is also set up in a way that would be appealing for those who provide the funding for the projects the CIER carries out.

http://www.cier.ca/

#5 Indigenous Food First

While on the CIER site I followed a link to find out more about a program called IFF (Indigenous Food First). This is a new website with a focus on Indigenous Youth exploring food and what it means to them. The launch is in October 2012, so at this time there is only a section with some articles, an about page and a sign-up section for the newsletter that they put out. One interesting link is to the Dreamcatcher Youth Conference, which supports positive projects by Aboriginal youth who are making a difference in their community.

http://iffculture.ca/

#2 Saskatchwan Ecological Network

This website has general information for Ecological Issues in Saskatchewan, but has a great section on Eco-Education and Indigenous Education. In particular, one of their focusses is using technology in a way that supports Indigenous values.

Of particular interest was an interview with the Director of Cultural Resource Development and Publications for the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Center which provides an overview of how educators (particularly non-Indigenous educators) can teach in a respectful manner about sustainability including an Indigenous perspective. There are some great resources, written by Indigenous Educators, interviews with other important community members and links to other schools and organizations that might be useful for individuals (Indigenous or not) who have an interest inrespectfulIndigenous Education.

http://econet.ca/eco-ed/indigenous_resources.html

#3 Rekindling Traditions

From the Saskatchewan Eco-Network I found myself on a particularly interesting website which included units that combined TEK and Indigenous values with “Western Science”. Their goal is to provide resources so that “students are not expected to set aside their culture’s view of the material world when they study science at school”. The project is funded through 3 school divisions, the University of Saskatchewan, the Dr. Stirling McDowell Foundation and the Cameco Access Program for Engineering and Science and is called the Cross-Cultural Science and Technology Units Project.

One of the things I particularly liked about this website was that the way a user moves through it. For example, in the units menu you pick an animal to enter a section. The animals are in a circle. Whoever designed the website made a concious effort for it to be aesthetically more holistic (less linear) and perhaps more meaningful to Indigenous users. Even entering the website requires that you click on the raven, instead of an “enter” sign.

The resources specific to certain grades/topics and are very well laid out, providing additional resources for teachers and students in a print or web-based format. Contributors include teachers, elders and community members. A collaborative process like this, where the correct sources and individuals participate in a meaningful way, is a good example (or starting point) for how technology education can include Indigenous values in a respectful and meaningful way.

http://www.usask.ca/education/ccstu/

#1 Fisheries and Oceans for the Future

While searching for another link to the video “Return to Gitxaała” I came across the website Forests and Oceans for the Future. This website has a wealth of information about the Gitxaała Nation and their resource management strategies.

The website includes information on how the Gitxaała are combining their TEK with “western science” resource management strategies to meet the needs of their community. The process is undertaken by faculty and students at UBC and community members. They are focussed on resource management strategies in Northern BC with but they include research from parts of America, Western Europe and New Zealand. One of their underlying goals is fostering mutual respect and effective communication between stakeholders.

The focus of the website is on public education, policy research and ecological research with regards to resource management. To this end they include links to publications that are related to research with Indigenous groups, podcasts on the topic, and links to blogs where issues relating to TEK and resource management are being discussed.

In addition, the website provides links to public access lesson plans, which, although they are more suitable to secondary students could be altered for an elementary classroom. I found it to be a very interesting site with a lot of options for further research.

http://www.ecoknow.ca/