Category Archives: Module 2

(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.

Post 5- Excuse me: who are the first peoples of Canada?

This article written by Erica Neegan gave me a new perspective on viewing the Education System in Canada. Written by a woman who is a visible minority whose partner is Cree, her view on how the education system is Eurocentric and the way schools are set up provide limited support for visible minorities and the schooling system is viewed as being unsupportive for First Nations people. There is a lot of fear around teaching about who the First People of Canada are, but there is also fear around the Canadian education system and its Eurocentric Colonial structure. This perspective shows that there is a lot we can learn from Canadian history and there are many changes that could be made in our own classrooms and schools to be more supportive of all students and their cultures.

Neegan, E. (2005). Excuse me: Who are the first peoples of Canada? a historical analysis of Aboriginal education in Canada then and now. International Journal of Inclusive Education,9(1), 3-15. doi:10.1080/1360311042000299757

Web Log Module #2

These are my stops that I found interesting during my travels on the web. I found the module 2 to be a major tipping point on my direction for my research question. Before I was focusing on computer programming and indigenous perspectives. Though I was finding it very difficult to research. These sites were helpful where it repurposed my question to be more focused on the relationship between 21st Century Skills with Indigenous Perspectives of Learning.

#1

STEM and TEK: Blazing a trail between 21st century and traditional ways of knowing

This website focuses on weaving together the principals of STEM with Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). The website is a culmination of activities focusing on implicit biases that people have and how low expectations has roots of racism. The website has examples of how innovative learning environments can help dismantle eurocentric ideologies with merging STEM and TEK.

#2 Aboriginal Worldview and Perspectives in the Classroom

The document is a resource guide created by BC First Nations Peoples and BC government on creating a guide on Characteristics of Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives. It provides more in depth knowledge for educators who are playing a vital role in designing a responsive schooling for Indigenous youth and all children. Provides language and frameworks on helping educators create lesson plans with being intentional with creating Aboriginal Education for all. I found this helpful because as someone who is not from Canada. This helps me understand the history and atrocities that were committed and where we are at after the Truth and Reconciliation report was given by the Government of Canada.

#3

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander STEM Professional Awards

“The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander STEM Professional Awards recognise people who have made a significant contribution to key STEM initiatives and demonstrate suitability and capacity to act as a role model for Aboriginal students. There are two awards in this category – the early career award and the career achievement award.” The website is rich with awards that were given to Aboriginal people who have made contributions to the STEM field. There are articles and photos of the award recipients. I found this useful because there are tons of white scientist in textbooks but no acknowledgment about the contributions of Aboriginal peoples within the STEM field.

#4 First Light Initiative

Program is created by an Aboriginal astronomer who works to deliver telescopes to Aboriginal schools. His main focus is to provide the tools for students to have a hands on approach to math and science.

#5 IndigiSteam

While on my exploration of websites I found that a lot of STEAM projects or programs for Aboriginal students were ran by non aboriginal corporate sponsors. I searched online for programs ran by actual Aboriginal groups. I found this website. It has some cool links that gets you connected with STEAM projects and Indigenous groups.

Post 3- Evaluated Resources

After the discussions around critically viewing Nanook of the North and how to teach students to critically evaluate what they are exposed to in order to determine the authenticity of the item, I was brought back to a session I attended at a workshop about BCERAC. This group critically analyzes and considers what is an authentic story, or book focussed on First Nations culture, traditions and history.

One of the requirements that was discussed in my workshop was what story is being told and who is it being told by. There are many books about Residential Schools that are written by people who did not experience first hand this part of history, or who have dramatized what occurred. The books that appear on the Evaluated Sources website are written by First Nations people and are factual, to allow the author to share their stories, not for someone else to profit off of.

https://k12.bcerac.ca/

Transformative Inquiry #4

Looking at other modes of inquiry learning that can be modified for the classroom and align with Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being. I found this resource after being pointed in this direction by Dr. Marker.

Transformative Inquiry (TI) is a unique approach designed to help educators negotiate the complex terrain of learning & teaching. While many types of inquiry exist, TI is imbued with a distinct emphasis on the emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental facets of education. This very much aligns with the Medicine Wheel. TI is a dynamic process that helps educators negotiate the complex and vibrant terrain of learning & teaching as they ask:

What do I really care about as an educator?
How can I nourish and maintain my energy as I teach?
How do my attitudes, beliefs and values affect my teaching?
What do learners really care about?
How do I/we build a healthy learning community in my classroom?
What matters in our broader communities, both local and global?
What is my responsibility in tending to our environmental crisis?
What solutions do my students offer resolving environmental dilemmas?

A FREE iBook is available here: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/transformative-inquiry/id854038743?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
A FREE .PDF version is available here: http://www.transformativeinquiry.ca/downloads/files/transformativeinquiryv4.pdf