Author Archives: Tamara

(Entry 4) Website: Plateau Peoples’ Web Portal

This website is a multi-tribal version of Mukurtu, so rather than having one tribe use the CMS to house their community’s content, the Plateau Peoples’ Web Portal divides the site up into separate sections based on different Plateau tribes. There are a number of artifacts (artwork, crafts, stories and recordings) that a non-member can access without having to enter a username and password. However, each tribe has its own section/page of the website and can control access to sensitive cultural material they would rather not share openly. The media within this website is quite rich: the videos are professionally recorded and many photographs and articles appear to curated with care as well.

Link: https://plateauportal.libraries.wsu.edu/

Plateau Peoples’ Web Portal | Plateau Peoples’ Web Portal. (2010, November 27). Retrieved October 15, 2018, from https://plateauportal.libraries.wsu.edu/

(Entry 3) Article: A Community of Relations: Mukurtu Hubs and Spokes

Article: A Community of Relations: Mukurtu Hubs and Spokes

This article provides a more detailed history of Mukurtu and its evolution over the past decade; it also discusses (possible) future directions of the CMS. I think this article will be quite useful in providing a timeline describing how Mukurtu came to be, how it was initially used and how the developers intend to upgrade it in the future. Of particular interest to me is how the developers intend to consult Indigenous communities throughout the upgrade process (and how the CMS was developed through consultation with many different Indigenous communities). Within this article I also discovered a sort of ‘sister site’ (a multi-tribal version of Mukurtu) named the Plateau Peoples’ Web Portal (I’ll post a separate entry describing the site in more detail).

Link: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may17/christen/05christen.html

Christen, K., Merrill, A., & Wynne, M. (2017). A Community of Relations: Mukurtu Hubs and Spokes. D-Lib Magazine, 23(5/6). https://doi.org/10.1045/may2017-christen

(Entry 2) Article: Keeping our languages alive: strategies for Indigenous language revitalization and maintenance

Article: Keeping our languages alive: strategies for Indigenous language revitalization and maintenance

This article describes the current state of Indigenous languages in Canada and offers suggestions to help preserve language in the future.

Key concepts/questions covered in the article are as follows:

Why is it Important to Ensure the Survival of Indigenous Languages?
What are Indigenous Communities Doing to Revive and Continue Their Languages? (Subcategories: Documentation and preservation; Curriculum and resource development; Language engineering, among others)
What Methods are Working Well?
What Stands in the Way of Indigenous People Being Successful in Reviving and Continuing their Languages?
Future Directions: What Must Be Done in Order for Indigenous Communities to Successfully Revive and Continue Their Languages?

The authors provide a fairly thorough literature review so it might be useful to anyone interested in language preservation and/or the state of Indigenous language(s) in Canada.

Link: https://books.google.ca/books?id=iGNaDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA72&pg=PA90#v=onepage&q&f=false

McIvor, O., & Anisman, A. (2018). Keeping our languages alive: strategies for Indigenous language revitalization and maintenance. In Watanabe, Y. (Ed), Handbook of Cultural Security (pp. 90–109). Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=iGNaDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA72&pg=PA90#v=onepage&q&f=false

(Entry 1) Article: Archival Challenges and Digital Solutions in Aboriginal Australia

Article: Archival Challenges and Digital Solutions in Aboriginal Australia

This article describes the use of Mukurtu in preserving many historical artifacts from the Warumungu community in Australia. One of the (many) issues faced by Indigenous groups when attempting to preserve their culture is the difficulty in accessing content and/or artifacts that are stored in museums quite a distance away from the community. In addition, living in a community in which Internet access is a daily struggle, even when these artifacts are available through an online catalogue, it can be challenging to access these materials online (content can be too large for bandwidth). This article describes some of the challenges and success stories associated with the Warumungu’s community’s first attempt at using Mukurtu as an online archival storage system. I am particularly interested in examining some of the larger challenges this community encountered when first attempting to adapt and use a CMS.

Link: https://research.libraries.wsu.edu:8443/xmlui/handle/2376/5703?show=full

Christen, Kimberly. Archival Challenges and Digital Solutions in Aboriginal Australia. SAA Archaeological Record. August 2008, Vol 8, No 2, 21-24.

(Entry 5) Book: Across Time and Tundra: The Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic

Book: Across Time and Tundra: The Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic

I recently (re)discovered this hardcover book that I’ve owned for a number of years but never had the opportunity to read (we moved and I recently found it in a box). Describing the life of the Inuvialuit people (the Inuit living on the delta of the Mackenzie River), this visually stunning book includes some previously unpublished photos and artifacts of the Inuvialuit people in addition to first person narratives from one of the authors (Ishmael Alunik), and traditional Inuvialuit stories from elders. Of particular interest is the last section of the book that describes what the Inuvialuit believe they must do in order to continue to survive in a colonial, changing world. If for no other reason other than to become more aware of this previously threatened Indigenous group, this book is quite an interesting read.

Link: http://www.publications.gc.ca/site/eng/252793/publication.html

Alunik, I, Kolausok, E, & Morrison, D. (2003). Across Time and Tundra: The Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic. Vancouver and Gatineau: Raincoast Books and Canadian Museum of Civilization.

(Entry 5) Article: Te reo Māori in classrooms: Current policy, future practice

Article: Te reo Māori in classrooms: Current policy, future practice

The Māori language is now a requirement in the mainstream New Zealand classroom. The Prime Minister is learning the Māori language (te reo Māori) and non-Māori New Zealanders are attending te reo Māori classes as well. “The acceptance in national policy of the right of Māori children to learning experiences in te reo Māori in their classroom means that getting serious about teaching and learning te reo Māori is no longer an optional extra” (Stewart, 2014, p. 7).

This article, Te reo Māori in classrooms: Current policy, future practice, outlines the current (as of 2014) state of infusing the Māori language into all mainstream New Zealand classrooms. This article and other sources listed below are a great starting point when researching how other countries are listening to Indigenous communities’ concerns and taking action to make change.

Stewart, G. (2014). Te reo Māori in classrooms: current policy, future practice. set: Research information for teachers, set 2014 (3), 3-7

New Zealand Government. (2011, August 8). Te reo Māori in the classroom / How to plan for te reo Māori / Videos / Homepage – He reo tupu, he reo ora. Retrieved September 24, 2018, from http://hereoora.tki.org.nz/Videos/How-to-plan-for-te-reo-Maori/Te-reo-Maori-in-the-classroom

O’Sullivan, D. (2007). Indigeneity and Reconceptualising Māori Education Policy. MAI Review, 1(1), 1–4.

URLs: Te reo Maori in classrooms: Current policy, future practice
Te reo Maori in the classroom (New Zealand Government support site)
‘Māori has gone mainstream’: the resurgence of New Zealand’s te reo language

(Entry 4) Book: An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy

Book: An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy

Sean Morris and Jesse Stommel’s new book, An Urgency of Teachers, urges teachers and instructors at all levels of academe to consider shifting the focus of teaching and learning back toward the student, that is, to become more student/human-centered. Though the book does not specifically address Indigeneity, the authors’ intent is to create a space for dialogue on how learning can occur through less “mainstream” means (more akin to tribalism: spatial, spiritual, experiential and social). Like Brown, the authors stress the importance of the humanity of teaching and learning and the importance of emotions and values.

Sean Morris, & Stommel, J. (2018). An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy. Hybrid Pedagogy Inc.

URL: Summary: An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital

(Entry 1) Thesis: Making the Classroom a Healthy Place: The Development of Affective Competency in Aboriginal Pedagogy

Thesis: Making the Classroom a Healthy Place: The Development of Affective Competency in Aboriginal Pedagogy

The required readings/video for the third week of ETEC 521 piqued my interest and I wanted to know more about regaining emotional health in the classroom; Lee Brown’s thesis helped to provide context for the video interview and also provided a starting point for a literature review on the topic of oral traditions and the importance of emotions and values in the Indigenous classroom.

Brown, F. L. (2004). MAKING THE CLASSROOM A HEALTHY PLACE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFFECTIVE COMPETENCY IN ABORIGINAL PEDAGOGY (PhD). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/Lee_Brown_2004_Aboriginal_Affective_Pedagogy23690.pdf