Tag Archives: Online

How can the internet help to preserve indigenous culture – Chris Cramer

In my first weblog I focused on how indigenous communities can get online. In my second weblog I want to look at the question how the internet can help to preserve indigenous culture.

Life at the Edge of the Internet

Preserving the Digital Heritage of Indigenous Cultures

Abstract

This paper presents our research and field work with the Waorani Indians in eastern Ecuador regarding how they can preserve their digital heritage and culture on the Internet. We focused on empowering the Waorani to use technology to approach the Internet on their terms: to tell their story, not have their story told, to be independent, not dependent. Using analogies to life in the jungle, we explored issues such as digital self-determination, proprietary file formats, control of material entrusted to cloud service providers, international data import/export, content ownership vs. licensing, and intellectual property.

Archival systems are only as valuable as their input data. This data is at risk due to competing economic and legal forces that can adversely influence content, digitization, ownership, and permitted usage. To address this problem, we present an encryption framework that encourages medical tourism to indigenous villages by protecting archived medical data, privacy, and constitutional rights.

http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/mow/VC_Madsen_et_al_E_1330.pdf

 

How to Preserve Cultural Memory in the Digital Age

Humans are a fortunate species. We are not the strongest or fastest. We don’t have the biggest brains or live the longest. Yet we are dominant over the planet. From cuneiform to computer chip, our memory technologies give us a unique survival advantage: knowledge. But that knowledge is not secure in the digital age.

We’re moving from an information economy of relative scarcity to one of abundance. And we have yet to build an infrastructure that can manage titanic masses of data at scale. The high cost of publishing books and making films forced us to ask what we can afford to save. But anyone with an internet connection can write blogs and post home movies to YouTube. Now we must decide what we can afford to lose. […]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/abby-smith-rumsey/culture-memory-digital_b_10357622.html

 

Aboriginal Culture in the Digital Age

The object of this paper is to bring a holistic perspective to the implications of ICT for Aboriginal ways of living, thinking and knowing. Is ICT the potent enabler for the promotion, renewal and enrichment of Aboriginal cultures as many claim? For example does ICT offer new possibilities for the preservation and teaching of Aboriginal languages? Within the context of increasing numbers of Aboriginal peoples living away from traditional communities in large urban melting pots, can technology help safeguard the right of Aboriginal children and young people to learn their culture and speak their Indigenous languages? On the other hand, what types of cultural risks does the new ICT broadly, but not exclusively, refer to existing and emerging digital technologies such as the computer, telecommunications, the Internet, wireless, satellite, mobile phones, etc. technology present for Aboriginal peoples? Is appropriation and distortion of traditional Aboriginal knowledge one of them, and if so, what can be done to mitigate the risks of inappropriate access and use of this knowledge? These are some of the major questions explored in this paper.

http://www.kta.on.ca/pdf/AboriginalCultureinaDigitalAge.pdf

 

The Use of ICT to preserve Australian Indigenous Culture and Language – a Preliminarily Proposal Using the Activity Theory Framework

Abstract

Propinquity between Australian Indigenous communities’ social structures and ICT purposed for cultural preservation is a modern area of research; hindered by the ‘digital divide’ thus limiting plentiful literature in this field in theoretical or practical applications. Consequently, community consultations become mandatory for deriving empirical and effective processes and outcomes in successful culture and language preservation and teaching of Indigenous culture in Aboriginal Australian communities. Analysis of a literature review has identified ICT as the best provision method to immortalize and teach cultural knowledge and language for Indigenous Australians determined by the accessibility of ICT’s, the capacity of Aboriginal Australians to learn to use ICT and in some instances, the increased cost effectivity for multi-community communications and meetings from geographically dispersed land councils to use ICT. This research examines the effectiveness and outputs of culturally conscious, end-user driven ICT development and implementation into contemporary Indigenous Australian social structures and communities.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Van_Der_Meer/publication/297324225_The_Use_of_ICT_to_preserve_Australian_Indigenous_Culture_and_Language_-_a_Preliminarily_Proposal_Using_the_Activity_Theory_Framework/links/56de5f9c08aeb8b66f94b0bb/The-Use-of-ICT-to-preserve-Australian-Indigenous-Culture-and-Language-a-Preliminarily-Proposal-Using-the-Activity-Theory-Framework.pdf

 

Indigenous tribe in Brazil creates video game to help preserve culture

For indigenous communities grappling with how to preserve their cultures, there’s the constant question of how to bridge the gap between historical tradition and a tech-focused world. But a seemingly unusual medium has emerged as an avenue toward achieving this goal: gaming. And one indigenous tribe in Brazil is using it as a means to tell their story.

http://mashable.com/2016/03/07/indigenous-video-game-huni-kuin/#tt1rI6LKtOqu

 

References:

Aboriginal Culture in a Digital Age. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2017, from http://www.kta.on.ca/pubRep.html

Dupere, K. (2016, March 07). Indigenous tribe in Brazil creates video game to help preserve culture. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from http://mashable.com/2016/03/07/indigenous-video-game-huni-kuin/#tt1rI6LKtOqu

Katikala, R., Madsen, K., & Mincaye Nenquimo Enqueri, G. (n.d.). Life at the Edge of the Internet Preserving the Digital Heritage of Indigenous Cultures. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/events/calendar-of-events/events-websites/the-memory-of-the-world-in-the-digital-age-digitization-and-preservation/presentations-day-1/

Rumsey, A. S. (2016, June 14). How to Preserve Cultural Memory in the Digital Age. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/abby-smith-rumsey/culture-memory-digital_b_10357622.html

Van Der Meer, Sarah & Meer, Der & Smith, Stephen & Pang, Vincent. (2015). The Use of ICT to preserve Australian Indigenous Culture and Language – a Preliminarily Proposal Using the Activity Theory Framework. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Van_Der_Meer/publication/297324225_The_Use_of_ICT_to_preserve_Australian_Indigenous_Culture_and_Language_-_a_Preliminarily_Proposal_Using_the_Activity_Theory_Framework/links/56de5f9c08aeb8b66f94b0bb/The-Use-of-ICT-to-preserve-Australian-Indigenous-Culture-and-Language-a-Preliminarily-Proposal-Using-the-Activity-Theory-Framework.pdf

 

 

MODULE 3 WEBLOG

The following are resources (articles, videos, websites) on ideas and initiatives focused on Indigenous knowledge, learners and education:

Conestoga College. (2017, March 20). Indigenizing Post-Secondary Education [Video file].

This video explores the experiences of a few post-secondary Indigenous students, within their courses and on-campus supports. The students provide suggestions on going beyond a Euro-centric style of teaching and infusing Indigenous content and teaching methods into the education system, as well as ways to help build stronger relationships among Canadians.

Project of Heart. (n.d.). Project of Heart.

This is an “inquiry based, hands-on, collaborative, inter-generational activity” that helps students learn about the history of Aboriginal people in Canada, including the legacy of the residential school system. It is tailored to different grade levels, including post-secondary, but is not only tied to educational institutions: it can be used by anyone.

Province of BC. (2013, October 25). Changing Results for Young Readers: Laura Tait, First Peoples Principles of Learning [Video file].

This is a presentation by Laura Tait, an educator and administrator. She covers ideas such as Indigenous identity, pedagogy, reflective practice, relationships and understanding. Tait invites viewers to look at the world through an Indigenous lens. She shares some activities that teachers can use with their students and resources for their professional development.

Simon, J., Burton, K., Lockhart, E. (2014). Post-secondary distance education in a contemporary colonial context: Experiences of students in a rural First Nation in Canada. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 15(1).

This article shares some of the challenges of and opportunities through post-secondary online/distance education in rural and remote First Nation (Indigenous) communities in Canada. The Elsipogtog First Nation community in Nova Scotia is profiled. Student experiences using videoconferencing technology are shared.

University of British Columbia. (2017, February 17). Learning from Story [Video file].

This video is part of a non-credit massive open online course (MOOC), “Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education,” which focuses on strategies, teaching examples and resources supporting teaching and learning of Indigenous ways of knowing. The video focuses on the use of Indigenous storytelling and the benefits of utilizing it as a teaching strategy.

Module 1: Seeking a direction

I have not yet decided on a direction for my research in this class, but am sharing what I have come across so far as I consider the readings we have done so far and am beginning to look forward to my own research project:

In this together; Fifteen stories of truth and reconciliation

 

This collection of essays from indigenous and non-indigenous writers in Canada explores ideas related to the recommendations for truth and reconciliation. It is an eye-opening look at assumptions about first nations and colonization.

Metcalf-Chenail, D. (2016).  In this together; Fifteen stories of truth and reconciliation. Victoria: Brindle & Glass Publishing.

REDx

This website showcases Tedx-style conversations by members of first nations and settler allies, attempting to shed light on historical and present-day first nations. I particularly like this one because, in addition to sharing first nations perspectives, it also is shared online in a Tedx style that has become familiar to anyone who spends time online: a short, single-camera lecture by one person in front of an audience that then lives online to be shared. The short duration of each video makes them more palatable to online viewers.

Redx Talks https://vimeo.com/redxtalks/videos and facebook https://www.facebook.com/REDxTalks/

A Tribe Called Red

A Tribe Called Red is a Juno-award winning group of artists who mix traditional First Nations music with techno, hip-hop and electronica. They are active on social media platforms, interacting with audiences online and selling music via various online platforms. They are leveraging technology to share a modern iteration of First Nations culture

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/t-4XlYv-gbs?list=PLtdY2X7SaZq4YG1S8N0IkAh6lDoaw09vO” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Open Minds

Open Minds is a collaboration between the Calgary public and catholic school boards and private enterprises. Teachers work collaboratively with facilitators to use community sites as a classroom for a week of place-based learning with the intent that the work will form a year-long project.

Open Minds: http://cbe.ab.ca/ccom/Pages/Home.aspx#ctl00_ctl33_SkipLink

Cree in an App

Many schools with high First Nations populations now offer Cree as a language of choice for students rather than French. This seems to be a logical step in engaging students who have a much closer connection to Cree than they do to French. It’s a way of valuing a culture and allowing students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum. These schools engage aboriginal elders who work in the schools. The Calgary Public Board of Education will be formally taking on initiatives to meet the calls for the recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In planning for this, Learning Leaders acknowledge that this may lead to a bottleneck in terms of needing aboriginal elders and experts to work in classrooms where demand exceeds the supply. Some tools that may allow classrooms to make first forays into learning include online access to Cree dictionaries and language.

Cree Word a Day

Cree dictionary

Cree word of the day

Cree app 

I am interested in the ways first nation cultures live today and how we can share that in our classrooms as we look towards meeting the recommendations of the truth and reconciliation commission.

Module 1 Post 1: Revitalization of Mi’gmaq Language

Seeing as ancestral languages play such a crucial part in First Nations’ teachings and culture, I wanted to search for ways in which Indigenous peoples were using technology as a way to encourage the learning and revitalization of their ancestral languages.

Learn Mi’gmaq Online is a self-guided site that offers users the ability to learn how to speak Mi’maq, either individually or as a classroom supplement. A Mi’gmaq Partnership between Listuguj Education Directorate, McGill University, and Concordia University developed the site and content.

The website consist of lessons that are categorized into units, varying in themes and topics of conversations. Each lesson provides new vocabulary and audio recordings of Mi’gmaq speakers, so you can listen and practice as you work through the lessons.

The site is very well organized and introduces users not only to words, but also touches on the importance of pronunciation and rhythm of the language. I found this website to be a great example of how technology can help facilitate the revitalization of languages, thereby helping Aboriginal people restore a sense of identity.

In my search, I also came across the Mi’gmac Mi’kmaq Micmac Online talking dictionary. The aim of the project is to develop an online resource for the Mi’gmaq/Mi’kmaq language, and so far they have posted over 3500 entries in the dictionary. You can do a simple English word search and it will generate a list of Mi’gmaq words that correspond to it.