Category Archives: Module 4

1. http://aboriginalstudents.ca/resources/
For the final weblog, I want to shift from resources for understanding and teaching Aboriginal students to resources for Aboriginal students themselves. This first entry is a repository of links to a variety of scholarships and employment opportunities. It also includes employment preparation for several jobs, such as police officers. The links on this site would be most suited for late Secondary to Post-Secondary level students.

2. http://rccbc.ca/education-and-cmecpd/health-career-preparation/aboriginal-ementoring/
This link is to the Rural Coordination Center of British Columbia. This organization serves to advise the BC Government as well as the Doctors of BC (the former BCMA). The purpose of this website is to provide resources and mentoring to recruit rural doctors, especially targeted at Aboriginal youth to support them moving into the health care field. The site provides contacts and a process to enhance education and obtain a mentor. There is great value in helping Aboriginal youth become doctors and medical practitioners for their own communities.

3. http://aboriginal.ubc.ca/students/prospective/
This link is for prospective and current Aboriginal students at UBC. It connects to resources and information specifically for Aboriginal post-secondary students around Indigenous programs, housing, financing etc. I included this as an example of what Universities and other post-secondary institutions are doing to support Aboriginal students. I found that all the post-secondary institutions I searched have similar resources. This is especially important for Aboriginal students, as it is understood that these students are more likely to fail or drop out of their post-secondary studies (Whitley, J., 2014).
Reference
Whitley, Jessica. “Supporting Educational Success for Aboriginal Students: Identifying Key
Influences.” McGill Journal of Education 49.1 (2014): 155-81. Print.

4. http://canadaworldyouth.org/apply/programs-for-aboriginal-youth/
This link is to the Canada World Youth; Indigenous Youth Leadership Program. This program is designed to provide opportunities to build leadership and employability among Aboriginal youth. The program has four components, youth exchanges, youth forums, internships, and United Nations Seminars. Aboriginal youth have the opportunity for an exchange to live and volunteer in other Indigenous communities around the world.

5. http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/visions/wellness-vol7/connecting-the-dots-promoting-the-wellness-of-urban-aboriginal-youth-and-families-in-bc
My final link is to the “Connecting the Dots” initiative, which, under the umbrella of the Canadian Mental Health Association and the network of Aboriginal Friendship Centers works to provide supports for Aboriginal youth who struggle with mental health and addiction issues. This is an important resource, as many Aboriginal youth struggle with these issues and struggle with finding support. For Aboriginal youth who struggle with mental health issues or addiction, being healthy and well is a vital foundation for being successful with the educational and leadership opportunities above.

Andy Everson is an artist. He was taught by his mother how to paint and was inspired to bring stories and journeys to life through paint. He learned that he was able to create and manipulate shapes and images using digital programs and found that he got better control over what he produces. The designs could be tested and were more cost effective. This allowed him to become more independent and work at his own pace and preference. Andy posts on Facebook to share his art. He expressed that unlike galleries, he is able to get feedback and develop relationships through Facebook. Andy often manipulates popular images to spread messages. Some of these include changing the image of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team logo to show support, a anti-pipeline skull and oil drop image and a storm troopers helmet that has been adapted with traditional form line design. He uses these iconic images to juxtapose meaning and create an impact on topics that are important to his community and others around the world. Andy Everson has had a huge impact, having his images replicated and changed by others looking to use art as impact at protests and events around the world. These images are shared and spread because he uploads them on free digital forums such as Facebook. He is an excellent example of how you can use the digital age to spread a message that is true to your heart, without changing what you believe in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bc6K6ycrGI

This Youtube Video speaks about the need for change in urban schools. It speaks of the need for greater cultural inclusion, more Indigenous visibility, sharing the true history of Indigenous peoples, in hopes of raising awareness about Indigenous culture. The main speaker speaks of a need to encourage children to be proud of themselves and their roots so they can flourish in the school setting. This video made me consider the Week 10 discussion about place and its role in education. Place has been prominent in Indigenous cultural teachings and I believe it should be present in classrooms today. A greater understanding of place would result in a greater understanding of Indigenous history. In most of Canada, these two concepts are completely linked. Once students understand the way of life prior to colonization and the true history of how Canada has developed, they main gain a better understanding of how and why we see the Canada that we have today. I find there is a fundamental lack of comprehensive history teaching in schools. This seems to be very worrisome as I truly believe an understanding of the past is the key to a better present.

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/poetry1.htm

This website has links to a a variety of poetry from different Indigenous people and tribes. One of the links is called a teacher cyberguide. There you can find information about how you could use the poems and resources to structure a lesson or unit. I think poetry is a very important form of literature. It is subtle and thought provoking. It is often written much more methodically, instilling a great deal of passion and heart. Challenging students to create poetry is a great way to have them express deep and meaningful feelings. There is something inherent to poetry that makes those messages come out. This is also a great resource because it contains traditional poems form a variety of Indigenous peoples.  Oral traditions are beautiful but sadly fleeting. As we have learned, there are many Indigenous students who are taught lessons from their elders. They may share poems such as the ones archived here, so it is good that they are preserved. This is one way to see how traditions and the digital age mesh together.

The WISN is the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network. I was interested in learning more about science from an Indigenous perspective to understand the differences and variations from Western science. On the home page of their website there is a section titled Science Research: https://wisn.org/category/indigenous-science-research/. This site shares information about how and when Indigenous science became recognized and coined as a term. It also highlights research that is currently being conducted. Their research library: http://library.wisn.org/ has categorized articles so they are easy to search. The categories include art, colonization, sacred sites, migration, traditional stories, star knowledge etc. This is really neat resource to gain a better understanding of Indigenous science and current areas of research. This network also has a variety of projects that are focused on empowerment, conservation and promoting research. They have one project that is a series of video productions! Great use of content creation and media to spread a message.