Category Archives: MODULE 3

Jessica Presta: Module 3, Post 4

There exists a bidirectional relationship between self-identity and self-determination. To be able to discover who you are, you need opportunities to grow, learn, evolve and advocate for yourself. In doing so, you solidify who you know yourself to be. Who you know yourself to be can also be influenced by what you uncover when you become who you want to be. Therefore I believe you cannot speak to self-identity without speaking to self-determination and vice versa.

The First People’s of Canada have been prescribed identities by colonizers since they first came to North America. They have been classified and given status or had it taken away if married out of their tribes. They have been prescribed identities by bodies of government in order to carry out cultural genocides. They have been known as savages and now survivors. This prescribing of identity needs to end and ownership given back to the First People’s of Canada. It is their time to tell their stories, share their identities and change the narrative. It is also time for them to determine who they are within a colonial society and who they want to be. It is time they take their power back by sharing their stories, their successes, and dismantling and decolonizing the ‘West’ and their worldviews with the help of their allies.

I wanted to share a poem, written and read by Dennis Saddleman. He attended residential school in Kamloops as a child, against his will, and has had to battle with the consequences of time spent there. Dennis was able to put his anger from that time of his life into creative writing and has become a huge success, speaking at many events domestically and internationally. The stories of his identity and self determination through the use of poetry are powerful and moving. Dennis’ story is of success and resiliency.

Support is available for anyone affected by the lingering effects of residential schools, and those who are triggered by the latest reports. A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.

Cultural Appropriation in Sports – M3 P3

As I was reading about cultural appropriation, many of the situations found were about sports teams and their chosen mascot. This is interesting to me as I coach many sports, watch many sports and am overall interested in the world of sports. At school, our mascot is a warrior and it was only around 7 years ago that the logo for this mascot was changed from an Indigenous person in a traditional head dress to an arrow with feathers hanging off of it. This was before my time but apparently there was work completed with Indigenous folks and Elders in the community to ensure the use of the arrow and feather was appropriate for our school. There are so many examples of this within sports communities:

  • Cleveland Indians are now the Cleveland Guardians (baseball) https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-chief-wahoos-removal-a-blow-against-cultural-appropriation
  • Edmonton Eskimos are now the Edmonton Elk (football) https://globalnews.ca/news/7201833/edmonton-eskimos-football-team-name-change/
  • Washington Redskins are now the Washington Commanders (football) https://hhsepitaph.com/10670/sports/nfl-team-rebranded-washington-football-team-in-response-to-cultural-appropriation/
  • Kansas City Chiefs… not renamed however changed their mascot (football) https://www.npr.org/2021/07/27/1021373125/kansas-city-chiefs-removed-their-offensive-mascot-but-have-no-plans-to-change-na
  • Chicago Blackhawks have no plans to change their name (hockey) https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2899256-blackhawks-wont-change-name-plan-to-raise-awareness-of-native-american-culture

With so many examples of this appropriation in high profile organizations, it’s no wonder that the issue of cultural appropriation needs to constantly be addressed with our students and in our communities. After realizing how much of Indigenous culture is appropriated, I feel as though the section in my final project Cultural appropriation vs. appreciation will be an important one.

Module 3 Post 5

In continuing to narrow my focus to resources that articulate the impact of social media on Indigenous Identity, Dinero (2020) articulates the stresses of youths that feel the pressure to prove their Indigenous identities. However, with the use of social media, there is no true “Gatekeeper” to police how one identifies themselves. This paper then articulates how youths and others are given the ability to self identify. This coincides with some of my earlier resources and findings that many Indigenous people are self-identifying to combat the colonial ways where Indigenous people were identified to be controlled or put through genocide. This paper argues that social media allows for flexibility and voices to be heard. Many Indigenous people are using social media to fight for their voice and a seat at the table, meaning, they want their stories and their needs heard and communicated. The paper challenges how some articles articulate indigenous culture as something you can put on and take off. For example, a question about using social media to post Indigenous culture. This resonated with me as I have focused on the loud and sometimes stereotypical posts made by influencers that “demonstrate their culture and identity.” However, this paper accentuates that sharing their everyday lives is sharing their culture. This lens reminds me that culture may not be something I can observe in a post, but the sharing of any kind, is the culture of that individual.

Dinero, S.C. (2020). Virtual tribe: Indigenous identity in social media. McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/reader.action?docID=6129807&ppg=26 

Module 3 Post 4

Prior to watching this video, I do warn you of some real pictures and stories of abuse and racism is pictured, so watch and listen with care. The problem with this statement that I had just made is that many stories we hear about Indigenous people require such a discretion to be read out.

My focus for my paper is on Social media and how it maintains Indigenous Identity, language and  culture, this TedTalk resonated with me because social media allowed them to reverse the dialogue and to come out of stereotypes and deficit thinking. #IndigenousDads was started by Joel Bayliss who used his rage from racism and mistreatment and social media to reverse the dialogue of portraying Indigenous Dad’s in negative ways to that of positivity. It was started as a response to a cartoon that used a very negative stereotype of Indigenous people, particularly Indigenous father’s, showing them as alcoholics that can’t even know their child. This was shortly after a Detention Centre leaked photos of Indigenous youths that were detained had covers placed over their heads and were abused. This made Joel Bayliss and many Indigenous people feel like the blame was on families to what had happened in the Detention Centre. Joel’s hashtag and twitter post of his day spent with his family garnered much attention, and demonstrates how social media allows authentic representations of Indigenous people, their culture, identity and language.

 

Module 3 Post 3

As I search for young people who use social media to share their Indigenous identity, voices, stories and culture, on multiple occasions, I was re-introduced to Shina Novalinga’s tiktok and instagram. I first came across her Instagram in the summer where she shared her journey in getting a traditional Inuit face tattoo with her mom. She shared the Western perspectives that were shared with her during her process such as, “you will ruin your face” or “you will regret it.” Her short recorded journey included a current pop song, text of her feelings of pride, anxiety and support from her mom who was also getting the tattoo, and selfie video content resulted in more than 700K likes. Her other videos utilizes her big social media platform to share her throat singing to viewers, the silenced voices of her ancestors such as her grandfather who never shared his experience in residential schools, and her advocacy for Inuit families and citizens of Nunavut that included voicing their lack of food security and high food costs, and she advocate for women who suffer from domestic violence. She also uses her platform to raise money for less fortunate communities. She also shares videos of the norm in her community of Puvirnituq, Quebec. For example, in Ontario, cupcakes cost 3 dollars but in her community it costs 11. There are only two stores in that community and water only comes from tanks and a light appears when you are running out. She gives perspectives to much of the Inuit community’s current lived experiences and situations. Through her followers’ responses (and my own), you can really see the untold or silenced realities that her platform allows her to inform. I have also attached some of the articles written about her sharing of identity and culture, but also the voice she gives to real issues.

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shinanova/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shinanova?refer=embed

Yahoo: https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/29-dollars-grapes-food-insecurity-140705994.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANFgZkNVArxllMWIljbQp9PFihxDQs3sCgs8zgbvDZt7eLKq6SKBeJSCnZHwY1LmsAmIUKEvcc23XqYHgDVyrDjv3G1iFRcOkluNvoH7cKL0–xdEcKqqQ_cckungLMkatRbp0h5I6Rn1Fh-EYN2GDAYwYwvs34hIxIEiU0g38gV

wbur: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/04/15/inuk-throat-singing-shina-novalinga

vogue: https://www.vogue.com/article/shina-novalinga-indigenous-inuk-throat-singer-tiktok

 

Module 3 Post 2

As I continue to look into Indigenous identity and how social media can be (or not) a tool to maintain culture and identity for many Indigenous youths, I came across this UBC site that tries to unpack historical and current definitions of Indigenous identity. Much like my previous Module 3 post, this page accentuates how certain identities are externally given and act as a means to oppress Indigenous groups. For example, during the residential school era, Indigenous people were identified so that their children were removed from their homes and made to convert to the Western ways and practices, or when identities were stripped of Indigenous people due to their choice of inter-cultural marriage. This demonstrates that the blanket term “Indigenous” may not be a term that many identify with. Rather, Indigenous people may identify themselves by specific local terms based on family and community location and traditional names. This seems to be how I have determined the Indigenous identities of the Indigenous youths I have come across on social media. That is, through their self-identification.

If you’re ever questioning the use of your terminology, this is a good read.

Kesler, L. (2010, February 10). Aboriginal identity and terminology. University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/aboriginal_identity__terminology/

Aboriginal Identity & Terminology

 

Critical Race Theory – M3 P2

Critical Race Theory (CRT) as stated by Britannica.com is, “intellectual and social movement and organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour.”

Though it has resurfaced more so in the United States, the concept still applies to those of us living in Canada. Many of the arguments surrounding Critical Race Theory and the lived experience of Black Americans could potentially be similar to the lived experience of Indigenous people living in Canada. Our society has been created around Indigenous folk being the “Other.” Systemically, they have been treated differently (i.e. Residential Schools) leaving their current experience in our legal, medical and educational systems as very different than white folk.

Learning more about CRT has allowed me to reflect a little bit more profoundly on what I think race is and how it is constructed.

The following videos and article were also helpful for me in gaining more of an understanding around Critical Race Theory:

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05

Module 3 (Post 3) – Meshing Laboratory Science with Traditional Ecological Knowledge

The following article by Natalie Rademacher discusses post secondary educators who are combining their laboratory science courses with Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Some of the educators who are named include Gregory Cajete, who we know from our course readings, and Samantha Chisholm Hatfield, who teaches at Oregon State University.

Read the article here.

From the article:

“By meshing laboratory science with Traditional Ecological Knowledge, college professors aim to cultivate better environmental decision makers — and decisions.”

White Teachers, Critical Race Theory and Aboriginal Education – M3 P1

The following project I found on the topic of white teachers, critical race theory and Aboriginal education. The author, Michelle Vanhouwe, submitted it as part of her Masters. What interested me the most of this project was the section about the challenges to implementing anti-racist education.

Three areas of resistance are discussed:

  • traditional pedagogic concerns: Vanhouwe goes into detail about the traditional belief of meritocracy; the belief that we are all the same and have equal opportunity if we work hard enough. Anti-racist education challenges this.
  • conservative political views: Such as assimilation and what it mean to be Canadian.
  • conservative views of race and anti-racism: We don’t acknowledge race and racism, it is seen as a problem for the Other, etc.

As I continue to research for my final project of this course, I think the Reference list from Vanhouwe will come in very handy. The town I live in has many conservative political views and this project allowed me to think about that a little bit more deeply. I sometimes live in a fairy tale world where I think everyone has the same views on life as I do because typically I choose to surround myself with like minded people. This was a good reminder that there will always be people who disagree and in order to move forward we need to work through that.

 

 

Module 3 (Post 2) – What if Indigenous Science Were Part of the Science Curriculum?

The document linked in this blog was a very interesting read. Dr. Darren Ranco, an anthropologist and member of the Penobscot Nation, worked with a team to develop the Wabanaki Youth in Science (WaYS) program. When it was first developed in 2013, WaYS was offered to teens so they could learn about STEM and environmental stewardship. The part of the document that really piqued my interest described the expansion of the program into Maine University. There are now four courses being offered that weave together western science and Indigenous science.

https://futurumcareers.com/Dr_Darren_Ranco-WHAT-IF-INDIGENOUS-SCIENCE-WERE-PART-OF-THE-SCIENCE-CURRICULUM.pdf