Tag Archives: throat singer

STEM and Coding

We’ve been discussing how and if technology can be used to preserve elements of Indigenous culture. While doing research for my project, I found two programs that integrate culture/language with STEM and Coding.

  1. inSTEM

Actua has a STEM outreach program that has an Indigenous Youth in STEM program called inSTEM. It aims to create community-centered programs that are culturally relevant to engage First Nations, Metis and Inuit students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

First Nation Resource Magazine has an interesting article that outlines the program really well. Find it here, on pages 8-11.

  1. Codemakers

Also offered by Actua, the Codemaker program allows students to explore computer science though coding. I found this particularly valuable as a resource because one of the projects they did in Iqualuit involved using digital programming skills to remix traditional throat songs.

Here is an article about the program.

Here is a short video of the program in Iqualuit:

Tanya Tagaq takes on cyberbullies and stereotypes

Inuk throat singer Tagaq relieved after online harrasser’s Twitter account shut down

By Connie Walker, CBC News

I found this article interesting because it ties together the conversation around online identities of aboriginal people, cyberbullying, and Nanook of the North.  This story covered by the CBC discusses the online harassing of an Inuk throat singer after she posted photos of her infant child next to a freshly killed seal.  Anti-seal hunting activists verbally attacked her online until one of the offenders’ Twitter account was removed after a police investigation.  Her performances include a version of Nanook of the North where she addresses stereotypes by creating her own music to accompany the famous film.  The article includes links to her performances and Twitter feed

http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/tanya-tagaq-takes-on-cyberbullies-and-stereotypes-1.2669892

Module 2 Post 3

Brendan Clark