Tag Archives: Indigenous knowledge

Module 2 (Post 3) – Indigenous Science Division of Environment and Climate Change Canada

While searching for resources about Indigenous science, I discovered that earlier this year Environment and Climate Change Canada started an official Indigenous Science Division (ISD). Dr. Myrle Ballard, an Anishinaabe scholar at the University of Manitoba, is leading the division using the framework of Three-eyed Seeing. I am excited to see a federal ministry taking steps towards reconciliation and hopefully decolonizing the science that informs government environmental decisions.

The ISD has a beautiful logo that represents Bridging, Braiding, and Weaving. I was unable to find the information on whether or not I could post it without copyright infringement. I did find a neat option to download a QR code that should take you directly to the image, though!

Module 2 (Post 1) – Living Knowledge

The Living Knowledge Project is an Australian-based research project that was developed to find the most effective way to integrate indigenous knowledge into the secondary science curriculum. The page that I have linked to here is dedicated to the history of ‘both ways’ education, where students are exposed to a mixture of western and indigenous education.

https://livingknowledge.anu.edu.au/html/educators/07_bothways.htm

M3- POST 5

In my research on how technology and digital media are used by Indigenous people, I found the following articles:

Oppenneer, M. (2009). Using ICTs for indigenous cultural preservation: Challenges and strategies. Ethnos Project. (Link)

The importance of Indigenous knowledge and its contribution to our global society has been recognized recently.  We now know that we need to acknowledge the value and significance of Indigenous knowledge to protect it and use it in our global problem-solving plan. In our modern world, however, the most accessible method to do so is to use digital technology and multimedia. That, as Oppeneer (2009) discusses, would impose challenges for Indigenous communities, which can result in the digital divide and inequity.

“Challenges can arise when there is disharmony between the design of the technology and the knowledge traditions of the Indigenous communities using the technology.”

One challenge is the fact that these technologies have been designed with western values and are not associated with the traditional values of Indigenous people.

“Indigenous people are a poor match for technologies that “reflect Western values of individualism, the privileging of texts and the commodification of knowledge, trends that run counter to and likely many indigenous traditions.”

That’s what is mostly known as “computer-mediated colonization”. Ess and Sudweeks (2012) discuss that many computer-based technologies were built based on the cultural values and beliefs of their builders. They will carry their original properties with them when we integrate them into new environments. They wouldn’t probably fit in a community with different cultural backgrounds, so we are faced with digital colonization.

Oppeneer (2009) explains three different projects tested in Australia “to show how the disharmony between the technology and tradition can be addressed.”

One of these projects is organizing digital materials reflecting the cultural identities of the Warumungu Aboriginal community. This project was supposed to “provide a free and open source community archive platform that provides international standards-based content management tools adaptable to the local cultural protocols and intellectual property systems of indigenous communities, libraries, archives, and museums.” You can find more information about it here.

I think these types of projects would help the Indigenous communities to find and share their voice and preserve their culture in the digital world.

“For Indigenous communities willing to embrace ICTs, change is part of the new reality. Change means new technologies, new formats, and new expectations. For such communities, embracing this change will be vital to maintaining tradition in the modern age. It can become a critical aspect for the reintegration of knowledge back into the community.” (Oppeneer, 2009)

Reference

Ess, C., & Sudweeks, F. (2012). Foreword. In P. H. Cheong, J. N. Martin & L. P. Macfadyen (Eds.), New media and intercultural communication. Identity, community and politics (pp. xi –xx). New York: Peter Lang.

Module 2 – Post 4: Coding, Mathematics and Indigenous Ways of Knowing

This mathematics project utilizes technology as a way for students to extend their knowledge of Loom Beading and Metis Finger Weaving. The project highlights the importance of conversations with Indigenous Peoples to gain knowledge through relationships. Students had the opportunity to learn from Elders and Indigenous Artists about their culture and the Indigenous arts of their ancestors. In addition, students could develop mathematics skills by combining this knowledge with coding. Students planned out their patterns created them with hand looms, and then coded their beading project.

This project directly relates to my final research topic as it identifies the importance of partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous views. Elder and Indigenous Artists were consulted to educate the students on traditional knowledge. The two websites recognize critical pieces of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and provide an example of a local context to make learning relevant to students.


For more information on the project:

https://theconstructionzone.wordpress.com/2021/09/30/coding-indigenous-ways-of-knowing-mathematics/

The following website provides the background information needed for attempting such a project discussing topics like the importance of relationships, protocols, the story of the bead, and cultural appropriation. It provides a clean layout and offers direct connections to the math curriculum topics.

https://sites.google.com/teltgafe.com/indigenouslearnersinmath/session-2?authuser=0

 

M2 P1 Indigenous Digital Skills Training Program Which Teaches Kids How to Bring Indigenous Cultural Knowledge, History and Language to Life Through Augmented Reality, Minecraft and Python Coding

I find this idea of a training program that enables Indigenous and non-Indigenous kids to connect with and learn from elders about cultural knowledge, history and language, while learning digital skills in technologies like augmented reality, animation and coding to be fascinating. I see this as a potential to not only teach children valuable digital skills while simultaneously learning from elders about Indigenous culture, history and language, but also as a way to build up XR language learning content that could help teach learners down the road. For example, I attended a Secwepemc language immersion school called Chief Atahm School and if a training program like this was included in the curriculum, the students could be contributing to Secwépemc language learning content while also gaining valuable skills that can help them in a growing area of employment. Some of the students that go through the training program and have learned Secwepemctsin at Chief Atahm School would have the skills to continue to work in language revitalization using XR technology after they have graduated high school.  This could be part of creating the infrastructure to develop the required skills and talent to produce XR language learning content to help preserve and revitalize Secwépemc language and culture.

 

https://indigitalschools.com/impact/

Module 3 Post 1 (Sam Charles)

Inspired by week #6 readings, I started to explore the idea of what Indigenous Knowledge means. This relates to my final project where I am exploring the usage of video within the dissemination of Indigenous Knowledge.

Three key topics (explored this week related to the week’s readings):

  • What does Indigenous Knowledge Mean
  • Defining Indigenous / Traditional Knowledge
  • Federal Government usage of Indigenous Knowledge

I was fortunate to participate in training facilitated by the Indigenous Corporate Training Group earlier this year. Their blog of April 6, 2018 does a great job summarizing what Indigenous knowledge means and why it is important.

Bruchac (2014) also investigates the topic of Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Knowledge in her 2014 paper of that title

“Traditional Indigenous knowledge can be defined as a network of knowledges, beliefs, and traditions intended to preserve, communicate, and contextualize Indigenous relationships with culture and landscape over time.” (p.3815)

I had never heard of the Government of Canada’s Impact Assessment Act, but it is a measure in place intended to help meet reconciliation commitments through recognizing Indigenous Knowledge in what it does. This act “requires that Indigenous Knowledge be taken into account when it is provided for impact, strategic and regional assessments.”

Understanding how to tangibly interconnect Indigenous Knowledge with subjects like climate change and sustainability was highlighted in this CBC news story:

Another example of integrating Indigenous knowledge into science dialogues through a Conversation op-ed.

Jessica Presta: Module 1, Post 5

For my final post in Module 1, I wanted to discuss the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). The FNHA emerged as a health governance structure in BC in an attempt to improve First Nation’s health outcomes and close the gaps that exist between BC First Nations and the rest of the population. The FNHA is a first in Canada and is a province wide health authority that “plans, designs, manages and funds the delivery of First Nations health programs and services in BC” (First Nations Health Authority, 2022). One of the resources on their website I am most interested in is their Cultural Safety and Humility Framework. This infographic is highly detailed and outlines the many steps required for a transformative healthcare system that is culturally safe for Indigenous people.

 

References

First Nations Health Authority (2022, October, 10). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations_Health_Authority

Module 2: Post 3 – Indigenous knowledge

This essay by Dr. Marie Battiste at the University of Saskatchewan is a wonderful overview of Eurocentric knowledge and Indigenous knowledge. The author explores the ways in which Eurocentric knowledge has sought to discredit Indigenous knowledge, and she details the recent resurgence in interest, validation, and exploration of Indigenous ways of knowing – for example, in science, law, education, and ecology.

Battiste describes how, through an “act of intellectual self-determination, Indigenous academics are developing new analyses and methodologies to decolonize themselves, their communities, and their institutions” and that “Indigenous scholars discovered that Indigenous knowledge is far more than the binary opposite of western knowledge.”

She emphasizes the need for Indigenous knowledge especially in education, for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. She writes “more and more literature has challenged the suppression of Indigenous knowledge and has underscored the importance of bringing it into the mainstream to establish a body of knowledge that can be drawn on for the common good.”

As we know, “the exclusive use of Eurocentric knowledge in education has failed First Nations children. Indigenous knowledge is now seen as an educational remedy that will empower Aboriginal students if applications of their Indigenous knowledge, heritage, and languages are integrated into the Canadian educational system.”

Battiste describes Indigenous knowledge in general, but helpful terms: “Indigenous knowledge is an adaptable, dynamic system based on skills, abilities, and problem-solving techniques that change over time depending on environmental conditions[…]”. Furthermore, “Indigenous knowledge is also inherently tied to land, not to land in general but to particular landscapes, landforms, and biomes where ceremonies are properly held, stories properly recited, medicines properly gathered, and transfers of knowledge properly authenticated”.

She also notes that “focusing on the similarities between the two systems of knowledge rather than on their differences may be a more useful place to start when considering how best to introduce educational reform.” This sentiment inspired me to focus, in my final research paper, on how Indigenous education and non-Indigenous education are similar. I won’t be directly comparing the two, but to the extent that it comes up, my goal will be to see the similarities and – where there are differences – to see what I can learn from Indigenous ways of teaching and learning, in an effort to flip the script on assimilation.

Reference

Battiste M. 2005. Indigenous knowledge: Foundations for First Nations. WINHEC.