Author Archives: Parm Gill

Resources for Indigenous Cultures around the World

NativeWeb

NativeWeb is good resource for finding information about international Indigenous groups. The site is used to aid communication between the many different Indigenous population, so they can find commonalities. Here is NativeWeb’s mission statement.

“NativeWeb is an international, nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to using telecommunications including computer technology and the Internet to disseminate information from and about indigenous nations, peoples, and organizations around the world; to foster communication between native and non-native peoples; to conduct research involving indigenous peoples’ usage of technology and the Internet; and to provide resources, mentoring, and services to facilitate indigenous peoples’ use of this technology.”

Common Portrayals of Aboriginal People

Media Smarts: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy

Media Smarts is an organization which develops digital and media literacy programs and resources for Canadian homes, schools and communities. They work to support adults with information and tools so they can help children and teens develop the critical thinking skills they need for interacting with the media.

They have a section which explores common portrayals of aboriginal people, and provides resources, such as tip sheets, and lesson plans for parents and educators.

Two Row Times

Two Row Times: The Spirit of all Nations

Two Row Times is an Ontario based weekly print and online newspaper which covers Indigenous issues. Local, regional, national and international news stories are featured, as well  arts, sports and health & wellness. There is quite a variety of topics which are covered. For people like me, who have never attended a pow-wow, there is a useful article on the Do’s and Don’t of attending pow-wows.

I was also impressed at the number of social media outlets utilized.

social media links

mediaINDIGENA Podcast

This podcast by mediaINDIGENA discusses James Daspchuk’s book Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life, and Canada’s Aboriginal policy of displacement through starvation.

“Western Canada lost a third of the population within six years.”

The mediaINDIGENA site is a a multimedia, interactive e-magizine which is a collection of works by 10 Aboriginal bloggers.

Native Resistance: Women Warriors

 

Pine Leaf, the Indian Heroine

The article, Fight the Power: 100 Heroes of Native Resistance, Women Warriors, by Vincent Shilling lists Native women warriors who fought heroically against colonization. The stories of these warriors illustrate non-stereotypical depictions of historical Indigenous women. This article is part of a series posted on the Indian Country Today Media Network.com.

 

CBC Digital Archives: Native Issues

By Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The CBC Digital Archives website includes a collection of archives about native issues. Many of the archive stories include video or audio clips and summary lists of ‘Did You Knows’ which list key facts. In addition, some of the archives have lesson plans already created for teachers to use. The archives cover a range of topics including, treaty rights, land claims, native literature and key historic events.

Native American Dictionaries

Online Dictionaries

This link on the Multilingual Books website lists a number of online resources for the following languages:

The online dictionaries vary in formats. Some are in ebook format or PDF files while others are web sites.

 

Idle No More

Idle No More is an ongoing grassroots protest movement, founded in Canada in December 2012 by four women: three First Nations women and one non-Native ally. The purpose of the movement is to oppose unilateral and colonial legislation, to support empowerment in order to build sovereignty & resurgence of nationhood, and to pressure government & industry to protect the environment. In a short number of years it has become one of the largest Indigenous mass movements in Canadian history, and has become, to some degree, an international indigenous movement.

The movement makes use of the internet through it’s website as well as its social media channels:

Here is a a short documentary about the Idle No More movement

Links

Musqueam: A Living Culture

The Musqueam: A Living Culture web site provides information about the Musqueam people, their language, territory, history, and present information about educational tours and local events. The educational tours are a great idea for classrooms tours or groups of (12+) people.

The site also features some great educational videos from the Musqueam Nation’s YouTube channel. Here is the featured video which discusses some of the history and traditions of the Musqueam people.

Featured image by jamesabbott1963 (CC BY 2.0)