Tag Archives: traditional knowledge

https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/research/eFaries.pdf

This online article, by Dr. Emily Faries, is hosted by the Ontario Ministry of Education. It is an attempt to help educators understand the issues facing aboriginal students from a historical perspective. It details the lack of aboriginal representation in provincial curriculums and points to government concessions that indeed the needs of aboriginal students are not being met. Identity is a major theme of the essay, as is spirituality and connection to the land. Dr. Fairies overall message is that the Ontario Ministry of Education has an opportunity to fix the wrong of the past and she makes a strong case. This paper would be an excellent read for those interested in aboriginal educational reform.

Worldviews and Aboriginal Cultures: Where hearts are rooted

https://education.alberta.ca/media/307113/o02.pdf

This article provides an insightful view into the historical relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the European settlers. It reiterates that education is the key to recognizing the wrongs that have been committed and by acknowledging the broken past, bridges to a more positive relationship can be made. It includes information about the major historical events and what kind of impact they have had on the lives of Aboriginal people. It brings to light the notion of incorporating Aboriginal content in ways such as creating a foundation for a solid classroom community or recognizing how our individual actions affect those around us.

module 3 post 4

ALASKA NATIVE EDUCATION: HISTORY AND ADAPTATION IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

http://ankn.uaf.edu/Curriculum/Articles/OscarKawagley/ANEHistory.html

This article talks about the interconnection of Aboriginals and nature and how specifically, the Yupiaq people in Alaska, are no different. Due to their remote location with a harsh climate they have come to have vast empirical knowledge of the land. It breaks down the essence of the Yupiaq lifestyle and how nature plays an important role in all aspects of their lifestyle. It explains how the encroachment of Western civilization has changed the way they go about many things, including education. Many of the teachers(non-Aboriginal) don’t recognize that the Yupiaq children learn differently and are not like European children. By ignoring their values, beliefs and culture, ultimately they are saying their skills and knowledge is of little importance. This article offers relevant information from the perspective of the Yupiaq people and what ignoring and encroachment do to Aboriginal children skill acquisition.

Module 3 post 3

Deepening Knowledge to Inspire Action: Including Aboriginal Perspectives in Teacher Education

https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/oise/UserFiles/File/TEACHING_GLOBAL_MATTERS_FINAL_ONLINE.pdf

The focus of this particular article is bringing awareness of Aboriginal content to new and upcoming teachers; to encourage teacher candidates to be willing and ready to incorporate Aboriginal knowledge and pedagogy into everyday teaching. It addresses the main reasons why new teachers may not include Aboriginal content and realizes that when these reasons are addressed teachers are more encouraged to include Aboriginal content. Giving new teachers the knowledge and resources to feel like they have more than just a “little” relevant and accurate information to share they are more capable of teaching the material.

Module 3 post 2

Empowering the Spirit – First Nations, Metis and Inuit Education

The Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium in conjunction with Alberta Education has created a website to assist educators in providing an authentic learning experience which reflects the values and traditions of the First Nations, Metis and Inuit populations. These groups have chosen to provide resources which focus on both literacy and numeracy. In addition to free resources which are embedded within this website, there is a travelling classroom library which can be requested by educators. This library provides students with culturally responsive books for loan. The cultural awareness section is meant for educators and administrators who are unaware or require additional information on the needs of these students and their families. This website is an excellent resource for teachers of Aboriginal students. For the purposes of our course, this website provides an insight on the reality of how few literary resources are available for students. For students reading (or seeing) literary representations of themselves is important for empowering them within their communities.

To access this website, go to: http://empoweringthespirit.ca/

Ronaye Kooperberg (Module 3 – Post 5 – Community Reality)

West Coast Environmental Law

http://wcel.org/resources/environmental-law-alert/aboriginal-traditional-knowledge-and-environmental-decision-making

West Coast Environmental Law is an organization in B.C. that provides information and guidance to those people who want to protect the environment. This website contains numerous resources on various environmental issues and topics in B.C. In particular, they discuss how indigenous traditional knowledge can be incorporated into the decision making process in environmental issues.

Parliament of Canada – indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights

http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/lop/researchpublications/prb0338-e.htm

This website contains information released by the Parliamentary Research Branch of Canada. It explains how the indigenous traditional knowledge is different from western science, and why it is important to protect traditional knowledge. A list of references, as well as electronic copies of reports are included.

Vanishing Cultures Project

The Vanishing Cultures Project (VCP) partners with worldwide indigenous groups in an attempt to safeguard cultural values and practices. They aim to collaborate in order to document lifestyles and traditions; creating a digital archive. I find this a very important issue due to the rapid globalization and loss of traditional knowledge, however I wonder what the best way is to compact that massive loss, and if this is a positive alternative?

The VCP has 4 main functions:

Documentation of an indigenous community facing great change.
Education to raise awareness about the struggles, issues, and customs of indigenous peoples.
Advocacy for global diversity and Indigenous rights.
Fundraising after each documentary after which profits are donated directly back to the indigenous community to help fund grassroots cultural initiatives.

To find out more:

http://www.vcproject.org/about/what_we_do/

Module 1, Post 5

Aboriginal Virtual Science Fair

Aboriginal Virtual Science Fair

Aboriginal Virtual Science Fair is a science fair competition open to aboriginal students with the objective of developing an interest in science and validating indigenous people’s knowledge.

The winners of the science fair have their projects posted on a video in their site. One project tries to find whether the three sisters: corn, beans and squash grow better separate or together.

The past projects would be interesting to share with students involved in a science fair at school, to show connections to traditional indigenous knowledge.

http://www.aboriginalvsf.com/main/

http://www.aboriginalvsf.com/main/2013-winners-asf/

Module 1 Post 2

Module 3, Post 5 – Health and Wellness Organizations

The other aspect I was interested for my final project was Health initiatives. So I have also looked into organizations that provide information about health and wellness.

This organization provides a holistic approach and is focused primarily on healing physical and mental issues from residential schools. They fund a lot of different projects as well as publish documents relating to these concerns.
http://www.ahf.ca/links

This organization works to make public health care more inclusive for all indigenous people. They mix together traditional knowledge with scientific processes such as case studies to help improve public health care.
http://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/318/How_We_Work.nccah

Catherine