Module 4 – Alexis’ Final Weblog

For most of my Weblog posts in this course I have focused in on my paper topic of m-learning in rural Indigenous communities, but for this last weblog, I wanted to spend some time sharing a diverse list of resources that I have come across in my day-to-day web use. The weblogs have been helpful to me throughout this term in seeking out sources and considering their value to education.

1. Tanya Talaga tells us about her new book: Seven Fallen Feathers

I watch The Social almost every day – it’s sort of like the Canadian version of The View. The ladies on the social are well educated women who discuss local and international news, as well, they debate controversial subjects and bring in the audience for discussion through social media. Just recently, on November 15, they had Tanya Talaga on the show talking about her new book Seven Fallen Feathers which is about seven Indigenous youth that go missing by leaving home in the North and attending school in the city. During the segment they discussed the issues of Northern Ontario youth having to leave their families to attend High School in Thunder Bay and how most Indigenous children receive $2,000 less in funding for education than non-Indigenous children. As well, they discussed Gord Downie’s work with a Secret Path and reconciliation after residential schools. It isn’t too often that Indigenous issues are discussed on The Social, so I thought it was an interesting thing to share – particularly good timing as we are in this class analyzing these very issues. It’s great to see shows that would fit more into the “popular culture” category having guest speakers such as Talaga to spread light on these issues.

Sometimes videos on The Social’s website become locked, or you may have to search for it on the page. So if you have issues viewing the video, just comment on this post, and I should be able to share it on this site. I saved a copy of the video.

 

2. Indigenous Storytelling in VR

Funded by the Canada Media Fund

CMF recently spearheaded a national effort to create Canada’s Indigenous screen office to support the development, production and marketing of Indigenous screen based content.

Engaging discussion with Indigenous filmmakers and artists – discussion about Indigenous life in the next 150 years.

This video offers great conversations around Canada 150, and what the future of Canada will look like. 2167 is the name of project discussed, aka year 2167 (150 years into the future).

 

3. Liberal government backs bill that demands full implementation of UN Indigenous rights declaration

This article was just posted today! Nov 21st!

This article highlights a decision by the Liberal government that backs bill C-262 that “…calls for full implementation of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).” UNDRIP recognizes the rights of Indigenous peoples to be free of racial discrimination as well as have autonomy with internal and local affairs. Notably, the bill also “…calls on governments to guard against any act of genocide, which includes ‘forcibly removing children of the group to another group’” as the “Liberals have acknowledged there is still much work to do as there are now more First Nations children in state care then at the height of the residential school era.” This bill will be an essential step in achieving reconciliation.

 

4. Assembly of First Nations to have seat at international climate change conference for first time

This is another article that I found earlier this month. This article discusses how the Assembly of First Nations was an official delegate for the first time in a major international climate change conference in Germany at the beginning of November. The article discusses how traditional knowledge needs to be respected in discussing issues regarding climate change.

 

5. First Nations families weigh children’s education vs. safety

Here is another video about the issues regarding rural northern Ontario’s Indigenous students having to leave their families and communities to attend High School in Thunder Bay. This video is different than ones I have previously seen, in that it focuses on some families that choose not to send their children to Thunder Bay, and try to find alternative places for their children to attend school. Thunder Bay has a history of abuse towards Indigenous people, which leaves rural communities scared, but without a lot of choices as to where their children can attend school. This video is a good resource in clearly showing the issues of abuse in cities like Thunder Bay and the need for education to be more readily available to Indigenous people in Northern Ontario. Self-determination and self-government for Indigenous communities needs to be a top priority in parliament.

 

6. Could a new approach to First Nations housing be a game changer?

I wanted to include this resource as well. This resource is about the housing crisis that plagues many First Nations communities in Canada. Because of natural disasters, many First Nations communities have reached out to the government in hopes of getting housing support, but have seen very little support. Building materials are expensive, making it difficult to make repairs to homes. Many homes don’t have running water, and many have holes in the walls that cause the homes to remain cold in the winter. It’s approximately a 10 year wait to get a home built on reserves because of poor government planning, with materials arriving without any building contracts in place. The video discusses how the housing plans, and the way the houses have been built, has been a tool to assimilate Indigenous people. It’s also discussed how the government control of the housing is causing mental health issues within the communities. The video discusses a new approach that might help to improve some of the issues around housing, including getting young people involved in the design process.

 

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