Tag Archives: indigenous perspectives

Anishinaabe artist creates Turtle Island emoji to celebrate National Indigenous History Month in Canada

Designing a pictograph that can represent the broad diversity of Indigenous people is a very complex task that requires to be cautious in regards to stereotype constructions and that can encompass the different Indigenous communities across the country. However, Chief Lady Bird, an Anishinaabe artist based in Toronto who is from Rama First Nation and Moosedeer Point First Nation, designed an emoji that differs to such stereotypes and the typical lens through which many people view Indigeneity.

“It’s important to note that I don’t believe that one symbol can represent the vastness of Indigenous people. Every nation, every language group, every clan, every individual indigenous person has a distinct story & it would be unfair to ever imply that we fall under one category.”

The depiction of a turtle, tree and the sun represents Turtle Island, “which is the English name of the continent of North America as translated from a number of native languages.”
This emoji was designated to commemorate National Indigenous History Month; and as Jenniffer Hollett, Head of News, Twitter Canada emphasized: “The emoji designed by Chief Lady Bird and related hashtags recognize and celebrate powerful Indigenous voices and movements on Twitter”.
This digital representation expresses an initiative of cultural activism for Indigenous representation through social media where the wider public can connect and have access to Indigenous perspectives.

https://globalvoices.org/2018/06/04/anishinaabe-artist-creates-turtle-island-emoji-to-celebrate-national-indigenous-history-month-in-canada/

Ojo de Agua Comunicación
This community-based media organization that endeavors to foster Indigenous communication projects in Mexico demonstrate the strategic integration of media into their cultural fabric. Its website (although it´s presented just in Spanish) allows us to get an overview of its development during 17 years of work, in where this socially committed organization have promoted Indigenous media elaborated by their own protagonist.

Video: Documentales

Digital native media inform and empower rural and indigenous communities in Latin America

Another article that emphasizes the power of cultural communications through digital media and social networks in Latin America, presents a variety of digital sites that establish connections with rural and indigenous communities.
Through these sites, Indigenous communities can give voice to their own community problems, with the idea of creating links between cultural activism, journalists and citizens.
In this website, there are sites for journalistic work, social networks that encourage public debate and the sharing of knowledge through workshops in communities.

https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/00-17322-digital-native-media-inform-and-empower-rural-and-indigenous-communities-latin-americas

Post #17 – Honouring Earth – http://www.afn.ca/honoring-earth/

http://www.afn.ca/honoring-earth/

 

This page from the Assembly of First Nations offers a deep and wide perspective on ecology and the policies required to support a healthy environment. It also links out to other external resources such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the SARA Survival Guide. This page has a massive amount of links to all kinds of related content fact sheets, research papers, and facebook groups. This page would be an excellent resource for any teacher planning lessons seeking to integrate indigenous perspectives on specific and current ecological initiatives. It covers a variety of topics and is an excellent starting point for immersing a learner into the issues and current policies and initiatives.

Chiapas Media Project

One of the very few organizations in Mexico that work in collaboration with indigenous communities to produce their own media, which has been a space mostly developed by the Autonomous Zapatista communities to tell their own stories, in their own languages and from their own perspectives. It is interesting to see the differences in media representations made by outsiders and indigenous communities in Mexico; indigenous people tend to “portray themselves as survivors involved in the next level of struggle and resistance to neocolonialism and globalization” (Halkin, 2008) in contrast to corporate media that promotes a view of Zapatistas as armed “guerrillas” interested in power.
The extensive documentation of the Zapatista Indigenous communities includes videos on women’s collectives, agricultural collectives, traditional healing, autonomous education, and the history of their struggle for land, which presents an example of indigenous resistance for other indigenous communities in Southern Mexico.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiapas_Media_Project

The Politics and Poetics of Digital Indigeneity in Latin America

This post addresses some of the issues that had been raised in the previous modules, in relation to the nature of media constructions and the difference that technology makes to the concept of indigeneity itself, in the context of indigenous communities in Latin America.
It remarks the tension in indigenous self-representation online and what mainstream society expect from them, which is related to the determination from some media to ‘indigenize the internet by filtering concepts and practices through the lens of a ‘recognizable’, ‘traditional’ indigeneity” (Thea Pitman, 2017). The author emphasizes that he is not identifying this as a weakness, instead “it is a strategically essentializing tendency in indigenous self-representation” (Thea Pitman, 2017).

The Politics and Poetics of Digital Indigeneity in Latin America

Module 3 Post 4: Staying the Course, Staying Alive – Coastal First Nations Fundamental Truths: Biodiversity, Stewardship, and Sustainability

Description:

This book describes the 7 Fundamental Truths shared by the majority of BC First Nations. An insightful read that incorporates traditional teachings and oral storytelling. I learned from Heiltsuk, Namgis and Haida First Peoples perspectives on land and stewardship.

Link: http://www.biodiversitybc.org/assets/Default/BBC_Staying_the_Course_Web.pdf

Post 5- Decolonizing a Classroom

http://emergingindigenousvoices.ca/project/decolonizing-classrooms/

This article shares some of the challenges when decolonizing classrooms. We must be cautious that we are not having a few token pieces of First Nations culture in our classroom, because these are not authentic and will not represent the student body. By embedding First Nations culture into lessons and teaching, we will not offend through tokenism, but will engage all students.

Post 3- First Peoples Principles of Learning

This week I have become more inspired by the First Peoples Principles of Learning (FNESC). I appreciate how this describes what learning is and the emphasis on relationships and what learning involves. The knowledge shared in this poster is great, but the broad reach of it can be daunting when considering how to utilize this information when creating unit plans and a classroom culture. Being aware of how our own experiences, beliefs and identities impacts our classrooms and students is an important first step to embracing these principles.

Post 6: Media Indigena

Rick Harp´s podcast project: Media Indigena, has created a space to discuss current affairs about indigenous people by an indigenous perspective that includes the participation of journalists, academics and story makers. According to Harp, there are broad sources and a lot of content about indigenous made by non-indigenous, “but I wanted something that, instead of being a content provider, it was a context provider,” he explained. This platform offers a variety of perspectives that go beyond Canadian media.

https://www.mediaindigena.com/

 

BCTF – Aboriginal Ways Of Knowing and Being #4

https://bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/AboriginalEducation/AboriginalWaysofKnowing.pdf

I also use this as a guide to inform the work that I do as a Indigenous Curriculum Consultant.  This is similar to the FNESC “First Peoples Principles of Learning”.  I find that the BCTF’s “Aboriginal Ways of Knowing and Being” document makes deeper connections to cultural learning and protocol.

In understanding that many of our Indigenous teachings are rooted in the land,  I love that the first statement on this document is: “Learning is connected to the land, place, and spirit”.  It also recognizes a sacred connection our environment.

**Note this document has been revised its title to “Indigenous Ways Of Knowing and Being” but is not yet available in digital format.

FNESC – First Peoples Principles of Learning #3

http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/PUB-LFP-POSTER-Principles-of-Learning-First-Peoples-poster-11×17.pdf

The First Peoples Principles of Learning has been developed by the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC).  The purpose of this document it to have teachers reflect on how to approach the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in a respectful and holistic way.

All these principles speak to me, but one that I constantly connect with is: “learning involves generational roles and responsibilities”.  I honour my elders and knowledge keepers who help guide me in the important work I am doing as the Indigenous Education Consultant for the Vancouver School Board.

I have shared this document with teachers, and they have embraced it, using it to help guide them in planning and facilitating Indigenous perspectives and content within BC’s new revised curriculum.