Author Archives: ColeAnderson

Cape Mudge Resort

http://capemudgeresort.bc.ca/about.php

The Tsa Kwa Luten Lodge on Quadra Island is an important site for the We Wai Kai Nation and as it is arguably the most noticeable commercial enterprise for this tribe. Throughout the final module I was reminded that we all have a responsibility towards environmental stewardship but how to achieve this goal would change from one culture to the next. For the We Wai Kai their lodge has two purposes to help facilitate environmental stewardship:

• First objective is to be a commercial business which provides tourists with incredible food, a gorgeous open log beam lodge, and incredibly beautiful spiritual hiking trail experiences that has a low impact on the environment.
• Second objective is for the winter when the lodges closes its door to the public and in partnership with the Nuyumbalees society it becomes a healing centre for the We Wai Kai people.

From many of the articles that were read, especially with the videos on the youth power, as a young boy I was exposed to the legacy of decolonization and the struggle that some tribal communities are continuing to experience during their healing process. Having a location as beautiful as this lodge, while focusing on environmental sustainability, was an incredibly important learning experience. It served as an early example on how a globalized capitalist society does not always have to be an antagonist relationship with the local tribal communities.

First Nations Education Steering Committee

http://www.fnesc.ca/science-first-peoples/#

I was inspired to find this website after reading the article, “Education Indigenous to Place: Western Science Meets Native Reality.” The mandate for this committee is to work on various provincial initiatives and to be a consultant with the BC Education Ministry. They provide various resources to the ministry such as an educators guide and within this guide there is direct information on: pedagogy, indigenous knowledge, community importance and life interconnection skills for the students. This website caught my attention because throughout the entire course I’ve been wanting to learn how I can incorporate more of the First Peoples Principles of Learning from a holistic perspective and this guide has given me a few more tricks in my toolbox.

Surrey Schools Aboriginal Learning Resource Page

https://www.surreyschools.ca/ProgramsAndServices/ABRG/Pages/default.aspx

As the result of the couple of articles from the “Axe Throwing Academy” I wanted to truly investigate what resources are available for First Peoples students in my home district, Surrey School District. Even though I was aware of the vast amount of data and resources that my district provides for both indigenous students and classes such as FN English 12 I was unaware of the vastness of the online data. Even though I have been teaching in Surrey for over 10 years this summer was the first time I had ever looked at the resources. Now that I am aware of this I will revisit this site throughout the coming months and years as we move into the new curriculum and include more of the First Peoples Principles of Learning into the brick-and-mortar classroom.

Nisga’a Lisims Government:
Primary and Secondary Education

http://www.nisgaanation.ca/primary-and-secondary-education

Inspired from the “Designing for Learning Engagement in Remote Communities: Narratives from North of Sixty” I wanted to explore what are the capabilities in the education system for people who live in the Nisga’a territory. The Nisaga’a Treaty signing was a watershed event in Canadian history because it create a new level of government within BC. From exploring this website I learned that the tribal council used some of the treaty money to equip their schools with some really good technology such as the Apple laptops. However, from the website I observed is in their schools English is the dominant language but there is a lot of connection to the land and the importance for the students to learn from their elders within their community.

Even though this was a theme from a previous module it wasn’t until now, and exploring this site, that I understood the connection between the community based learning and the globalized institutional learning. As I sit and write this weblog entry I find my eyes stray over to look at a satellite hybrid map of Metro Vancouver. Every time I look at the map I look at where the UBC Point Grey Campus is located and the Nsiga’a Lisims headline quote then crosses my mind which reinforces my evolving thoughts of what truly constitutes as learning:

Huxwdii adigwil yukwhl siwilaaksim’
Learning is a Way of Life

United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

Based upon the article “Rethinking the Digital Age” I was inspired to take the title in the most literal sense and explore how I could reimagine and include further strategies in implementing First People into my classroom. Being that I am a social studies teacher who finds globalization to be a fascinating phenomenon, my research was centred on the United Nations. I wanted to gain a global perspective, a status check, on how the indigenous cultures are doing in the world.

On the Canadian federal government’s website “Indigenous and Northern Affairs” I found this 18 page document that was signed and ratified by the UN General Assembly. This global document provides an example of how indigenous communities are indeed being supported by various globalized institutions. As I read through the document there were some very power key words such as considering, convinced, encouraging, recognizing etc. Having this website as my last entry into the entire assignment #2 weblog helped me to understand the gulf that exists between local indigenous knowledge and globalization while finding evidence that proves that not all the local indigenous are doomed.

Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre and the We Wai Kai Nation

http://www.wewaikai.com/cultural-centre

In my first blog entry for the third module I wanted to share a personal story from my childhood and how its connected to this course. I have been going to Quadra Island, a northern gulf island in BC, to camp at Rebecca Spit and throughout the years I learned who the We Wai Kai First Nation People were and even considered a couple of them to be a family friend.

The We Wai Kai Campground and the Nuyumbalees society was established in 1975. It’s goal was to help preserve the traditions of the potlatch, their language and culture. This museum site was established to help preserve all of those components as well as to be an educational centre for the general public. Its connected to various We Wai Kai locations throughout Quadra Island. As a young kid I was fully aware that my family and I were camping on native territory but most of the gulf islands along our coast did not have aboriginal names but instead had Spanish names which at a young age I never understood the reason.

Nunavut 99 – The Early Years

http://www.nunavut.com/nunavut99/english/early.html

In the third module most of the literature focused on exploring the various issues and stories of the Inuit. My own understanding as to why the territory of Nunavut was created in 1999 was woefully inadequate.

In the article written by Robert McGhee, “Nunavut 99” the author succinctly explained what the different time periods were for the Inuit and the dominating influence on their history that the various ice ages have had on the Inuit culture. He also explained what the impact of European Explores and the fur trade has had on their culture. Knowing where the Inuit genealogy begins, the Bearing Sea, not Siberia, and how they were not the first ones to occupy the land of Nunavut was incredibly enlightening. Knowing this knowledge helped me to understand why in Canada when the government talks about the First People’s there’s a different designation for First People, the Metis, and now the Inuit.

UBC Raises Reconciliation Totem Pole to Honour Residential School Victims, Survivors

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/04/02/ubc-totem-pole_n_15764286.html

This was the other story, article, I wanted to share in conjunction with the UBC Residential Research Centre developments from the #7 discussion forum. In the article written by the Canadian Press and published by the Huffington Post it recounts the day when the Haida designed totem pole was raised with various pictures to depict the raising the pole ceremony. At first I thought it was strange that a Haida themed Totem Pole would be raised on Coast Salish traditional territory. However, knowing that the pole was raised on UBC grounds, a university for the province, it made sense to me even though the Haida were known as warriors and slave traders up and down the BC coast.

In the article there were personal stories such as 73 year old Pauline Jones. Pauline’s story was connected to how the pole was made from 800 year old red cedar and how there are three sections (before, during and after Residential School). This story helped me to understand the importance of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee recommendations and how trend setting unique UBC’s leadership role globally and domestically has been in our tribal communities healing process. If it wasn’t for this course I may not have paid that much attention to these developments because I would have ignorantly thought I had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

B.C. Should be Renamed to Reflect Indigenous Ownership, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun says

http://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/british-columbia-should-be-renamed-to-reflect-indigenous-ownership-says-lawrence-paul-yuxweluptun

In the spirit of the proposal of renaming Stanley Park I wanted to research just how far this idea of renaming important geographical landmarks was currently in British Columbia. This article was written by Kevin Griffin by the Vancouver Sun in 2016 and it depicts an art exhibition by Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun at the UBC Anthropology Museum. Mr. Yuxweluptun was born in Kamloops but has Coast Salish and Okanagan ancestry. He proposed through his exhibition a very controversial and provocative idea. The idea was that the entire province of British Columbia should be renamed to better suit the First Nations who had lived for thousands of years.

The crux of Yuxweluptun perspective and idea goes back to when BC had entered into confederation even though most of the land in this province had never been ceded for to the Canadian Federal Government through treaty or war. Even though the article does recognize the massive work that would be required to change the name of the province but despite that work the residents of Canada various iconic names in the province have already been changed. This was in conjunction with the renaming of the Haida Gawaii Islands and the Coast Salish Sea. However, in the spirit of renaming there are still limits on how far the federal government is willing to go. If there should ever be a name change to the province of BC there should be a province wide referendum and the people should decide.

Artist Proud of Ferry Design and its Message to the Young

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/artist-proud-of-ferry-design-and-its-message-to-the-young-1.7594750

This article was inspired from the guiding questions from week #8 which asked how are the indigenous youth are taking ownership of their culture. In the Times Colonist newspaper written by Katie Derosa she tells the story of Darlene Gait. Darlene was selected to design the outside murals for the new BC Ferries boats that were built in Poland for the BC southern gulf islands. Darlene designed the outside artwork design for the first vessel that arrived in BC from Poland, the “Salish Orca.” This vessel was the first of three vessels that there designed by BC Ferries to replace some of the older vessels and it was the first to have a First People artwork design to be painted onto the vessel’s outer hull. At the time of me posting this blog the vessel has begun sailing the Comox to Powell River route and will be sailing that route throughout the year while carrying thousands of people. The other two vessels that will also have special artwork were the “Salish Raven” and the “Salish Raven.”

Even though Darlene is no longer a youth she has a lot of pride that her children, and quite possibly her grandchildren will ride on this boat. For Darlene just knowing that her grandchildren will see her artwork in a very public place, even when she is gone, gave Darlene a great sense of pride and happiness. It made me wonder if this was part of her healing process from the wrongs in the past. As a young adult who loves anything that is part of the visual or performing arts I am happy to know that Darlene is happy with the message that her artwork will bring to youth in her tribe.

Reviving a Lost Language of Canada Through Film

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/7365951-reviving-a-lost-language-of-canada-through-film/

On the “Canada Press,” a free app which curates Canadian news stories 24/7, an article was written by Catherine Porter which tells the personal story of Hiellen. A Heida older woman who for the first time in her life is now allowed to speak her traditional Haida language publicly without the fear of being punished by the Federal Government. The story explains how the Residential Schools took over 150,000 Native children away from their parents and forced to “learn” western culture. These schools nearly brought 60 different languages within Canada to the brink of extinction.

However, what really caught my attention with this story was how film media, as I had discussed in class this past week, can be a force of good. A large portion of the article explores Hiellen’s personal story and the incredible harm that the Residential Schools had on the survivability of their traditional language. This article showed me that media doesn’t always need to be negative because the Haida have just produced Canada’s first Haida-Language featured film, “Edge of the Knife.” In preparing for the film Hiellen was re-learning how to speak her traditional language.

Semiahmoo People

http://www.historylink.org/File/9123

I enjoy walking along the shoreline searching for the next sunset. I would meet up with friends to watch the sunset and take photos and that is where my story begins. Two weeks ago I was in Drayton Harbour / Semiahmoo Point, USA and just before the sunset we found a man who was there for the same reason. Over the span of an hour he told us the several stories of how the Semiahmoo People used to live on these lands and this particular location was their most sacred burial ground. He comes to this location every night because when the sunsets are the best he can feel the presence of his ancestors walking along the shoreline even though he was born in Havana Cuba.

From this I wanted to learn more about the Semiahmoo because I wanted to shed the stereotype of our First Peoples. In the 2009 article written by Phil Dougherty he explained that in the 1790s 300 people lived here and unlike their fellow Coast Salish brethren’s they were net fishermen. This location, along with Lilly Point in Point Roberts, was their main stable food supply. It relates to what we have been learning in this module because in “Visual Media and the Primitivist Perplex” the article talked about the documentation of the various First People in the USA in an exotic primitive lens. This story, along with the sunsets, showed me that even if there is only 90 of them left, and they live in Canada, their ancestral memories and bone synergies to the land remains. There are some things that science just cannot explain…… and it shouldn’t be able to explain.

Sinixt First Nation Win Recognition in Canada Decades after ‘Extinction’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/30/canada-sinixt-first-nation-extinct-recognition

I wish to incorporate two sources into one to succinct story. The first article was written by Ashifa Kassam. In the 1950s our Canadian Federal Government declared the Sinixt people to be extinct after the last known resident Annie Joseph died. For decades no thoughts were given until 60 years latter in the city of Nelson Rick DeSautel had charges laid against him by federal officials for poaching. He was there to hunt Elk about 65kms north of the international border. In the Provincial Supreme Court Rick DeSautel told his story how the Sinixt had lived on these lands for over 10,000 years and Judge Lisa Mrozinski listened to genealogical and oral history stories of the Sinixt. Judge Mrozinski declared that even though there’s an international border and Rick was American the Sinixt people do have the right to hunt on lands that have been part of their traditional territory for thousands of years.

http://www.firstnations.eu/invasion/sinixt.htm

Who were the Sinixt and how does this relate to the course? The second website has a very extensive database of the Sinixt. The Sinixt were a people who lived along the Columbia River and the salmon was sacred. It relates to the course because in week #4 I emphasized how media, such as the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, are examples of positive stories. There are countless negative stories but where are the positive stories in media? This is an example of a proven incorrect story which has been corrected.

Jumbo Wild

http://www.keepitwild.ca

In BC, the Columbia Mountains and Purcell Range harbours a decades long dispute. The provincial government wants a year round winter resort which will have thousands of visitors. While Qat’muk was the official name that the Ktunaxa, First Peoples, had given to this land because this is where the grizzly bears spirits while in hibernation will come out to play. Its a battle between capitalist ski hill expansion versus environmental protectionism with spiritual land connections.

However, after I listened to Nancy Turner from week #6 I understand the connection that botany has to the land. This showed how media once again can be used positively. It exemplifies how our “post-colonial” government cannot stop the far reaching effects of internet streaming services such as Netflix.

Vancouver Olympic Logo: A Smiling Maker of Death?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123851564

In my recent discussions I discussed the Vancouver Olympics and the Four Host Nations. However, there was another story that wasn’t shared – the Inukshuk. In the article written by Martin Kaste, the official logo for the games was an Inuit marker. A marker designed for those who are traveling over vast frozen arctic land. This was controversial because the Inuit do not live down in the Pacific Northwest but yet one of their markers, albeit stylized, was use to symbolize the games for all Canadians? However, did we really want to use a symbol that represents death and survival?

According to Peter Irniq, an expert on this design, the actual layout of the Inukshuk in the 2010 games was a “fake.” While the story of survival and attrition are linked to the game spirit the power of media, and tourism to make money can distort the original meanings of even a pile of rocks…..