Category Archives: MODULE 3

M3, Entry 2: Yawarani VR Film

Yawarani is a VR180 film made in collaboration with Indigenous community members in the Amazon rainforest; it is intended to preserve the group’s sacred culture and elders’ wisdom and, when viewed with a VR headset, the experience is even more immersive (Outside TV, 2019). The film was supported by YouTube, Adventure Film Festival and OutsideTV and was directed by Daniel Bury: different versions were simultaneously created for multiple formats, such as vertical video and traditional 16×9 (Bury, n.d.). Even through the basic 180 capability offered by YouTube, one can still navigate around various scenes that were captured of the community members and their surroundings, enabling engagement with what is presented:

OutsideTV. (2019, March 28). Yawarani: A VR Film Made With Indigenous Creators [Video]. YouTube.

What is crucial to note about this project is that the Indigenous community in Yawarani had a desire to ‘immortalize’ their culture through film and VR for the purposes of educating their youth and showcasing their sustainable lifestyle to the wider world (OutsideTV, 2019). Bury (n.d.) emphasizes the collaborative nature of this project, in addition to hosting workshops in the community to teach members about the stages of producing film and VR, such as screenwriting, scene design, post-production, and editing. This exemplifies the potential to share technological knowledge without imposing Western ideals and values: share it when it is welcomed and has collaboration at the heart of it.

References

Bury, D. (n.d.). Yawarani: A Film Made With Indigenous Creators. Daniel Bury Interactive. https://www.danielbury.com/new-page

OutsideTV (2019, March 28). Yawarani: A VR Film Made With Indigenous Creators [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU6OwSjod3o&t=90s

M3, Entry 1: Indigenous Resiliency through AR

The exhibit Alan Michelson: Wolf Nation was hosted at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan, intended to highlight the effects of colonization in creatively provocative ways: the first image below shows the AR interaction titled “Town Destroyer” (2019), which occupies a long hallway and simulates a panoramic feeling and is activated by AR (Rina, 2019).

Alan Michelson with Steve Fragale, “Town Destroyer” (2019), wallpaper and augmented reality, with video, color, sound; 5:57 min. Sound by members of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory (all images courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art)

In the absence of AR, viewers see a white bust of George Washington at his Mount Vernon estate; when viewing it through the app however, the image becomes three-dimensional with colonial maps, site markers, historical documents, etc. that illustrate his more truthfully destructive legacy (Rina, 2019).

Another major work in the exhibit is “Sapponckanikan (Tobacco Field) (2019), which is the first one viewers see upon entering the museum:

Alan Michelson with Steve Fragale, “Sapponckanikan (Tobacco Field)” (2019), augmented reality

Through the app, viewers can see a ‘portal’ opening on their cellphone screens to the same location 400 years prior: the museum’s lobby becomes filled with tall tobacco plants experiencing their seasonal cycles (Rina, 2019).

The exhibit brilliantly employs the “surface level” viewing of its works to mirror Western revisionist history that can be easily taken for granted to be true. This is juxtaposed to the much more nuanced and even darker truths that the AR app for the exhibit reveals. As Rina (2019) states in her article, the exhibit also layers time and space to convey the resilience of North American Indigenous people by asserting that they were and still are here.

References

Rina, A. (2019, December 23). Highlighting the Resilience of Indigenous People Through Augmented Reality. Hyperallergic. https://hyperallergic.com/530443/highlighting-the-resilience-of-indigenous-people-through-augmented-reality/

M3, Entry 5: Indigenous Knowledge informing conservation efforts

Module 3: Decolonization and Indigenous Property Rights

Entry 5: Indigenous Knowledge informing conservation

As part of my research, I am looking for specific examples of how Indigenous ways of being, doing, and knowing, can be woven into math, science, and technology.

I first came across this story through a website I use in my class for current events called Newsela. This article discusses how Indigenous knowledge and storytelling help to inform scientists researching Kermode (spirit) bear populations in British Columbia. The study found that science-informed researchers had overestimated the population of bears in the region and the real number was much closer to that which was taught through the traditional stories. This particular article is written for middle school students and is a good way to show how Indigenous knowledge can work with science.

I found the peer reviewed article related to this study as well. The authors also referenced another study that combined Indigenous knowledge and genetic research to inform conservation efforts related to caribou populations.

Bookshire, B. (2021, June 28). Science and Indigenous history team up to help spirit bears. Newsela. https://newsela.com/read/indigenous-people-kermode-bear/id/2001020259/

Service, C., Bourbonnais, M., Adams, M., Henson, L. Neasloss, D., Picard, C., Paquet, P., & Darimont, C. (2020). Spatial patterns and rarity of the white-phased ‘Spirit bear’ allele reveal gaps in habitat protection.Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12014

M3: Entry 4 – The importance of Land

The following clips are from a presentation by Dr. Dwayne Donald, a professor at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Education. As part of his talk, he explains that to understand Indigenous people we need to first understand the local stories of the land. In the second video, he tells two stories based on the Okotoks Erratic and the Mistaseni Rock in Saskatchewan. With these stories, he shows how the land is an important part of the identity of the Indigenous people in the area.

The ERLC YouTube channel has several other videos taken from his talk, as well as some other great resources related to Indigenous education.

Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. [Donald, Dwayne]. (2019, April 29). The Connection between Land and People. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/PBumxYQh1UU?list=PL6P1FySUgEPQa2NkYE2Pak0h5-d8n5A20

M3, Entry 4: Decolonization and Indigenization resource collection

Module 3: Decolonization and Indigenous Property Rights

Entry 4: Decolonization and Indigenization resource collection

This post on UBC’s NITEP (Indigenous Teacher Education Program) page is a collection of resources created to support educators in decolonizing education and indigenizing their teaching. The resources shared are from a variety of Canadian provinces and also one from Australia (8 Ways of Knowing Framework) that I hadn’t seen before.

Diving deeper into the 8 Ways of Knowing Framework, I found the protocol page which states, “if you use something, give something back.” This is a good reminder for me as I seek out resources and begin the process of decolonizing my teaching practice: Reciprocation is part of the process. I cannot achieve this goal in isolation, but rather within a larger community.

NITEP. (2021, January 18). Indigenous education digital resources: From toolkits and reports to guides and frameworks, find resources that will help decolonize learning and indigenize teaching. UBC Faculty of Education NITEP. https://nitep.educ.ubc.ca/january-18-2021-indigenous-education-digital-resources-from-toolkits-and-reports-to-guides-and-frameworks-find-resources-that-will-help-decolonize-learning-and-indigenize-teaching/

Protocol. (July 9, 2021). 8 Ways. https://www.8ways.online/our-protocol

M3, Entry 3: Importance of Elders

Module 3: Decolonization and Indigenous Property Rights

Entry 3: Importance of Elders

This Cree Elder introduced herself with her sacred name, Bald Eagle Woman who Leads, and her Christian name, Doreen Spence. She shares a powerful personal story that explains the devastating effects of residential schools on Elders and communities and the importance and role of Elders within a community.

Spence, D. (2017). The crucial role of Indigenous elders. The Walrus. [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipvy8yVTVoQ&t=16s

M3, Entry 2: Coordination Deal

Module 3: Decolonization and Indigenous Property Rights

Entry 2: Coordination Deal

These CBC and APTN news stories report on a historic moment when Cowessess First Nation became the first First Nation to take control over their child welfare system. This announcement reminds us that decolonization affects not only education, but other systems in our society.

This week’s readings about building collaborative relationships with Elders, communities, educators, and parents to design culturally responsive education systems highlighted the need for families to have control over child rearing (McGregor, 2012).

The steps taken today and in the future to ensure that children can be raised in their own communities also plays a role in building a strong, culturally responsive education system.

APTN News. (2021, July 6). Cowessess First Nation signs $39M deal to implement child welfare system. APTN National News. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/cowessess-first-nation-signs-39m-deal-to-implement-child-welfare-system/

Bosivert, N. (2021, July 6). Trudeau signs agreement returning child welfare responsibilities to Cowessess First Nation. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pm-cowessess-child-welfare-1.6092236

McGregor, H. E. (2012). Curriculum change in Nunavut: Towards Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. McGill Journal of Education, 47(3), 285-302.

M3-P5 Decolonizing Water EC-GPS

“Learning is connected to place. Epistemologies, ontologies and indeed, cosmologies are generated from and connected to the land and water. For us, land and water are not only sites of learning, but are also actively involved in the process of education” http://decolonizingwater.ca/our-approach/#two-eyed-seeing

McGregor (2012) article, “Traditional Knowledge: Considerations for Protecting Water in Ontario” looks at the water crisis impacting Indigenous communities in Ontario and around the world. She determines that “Western science and technologies have prevented full and equal participation of Indigenous peoples in water management and is contributing to the loss and degradation of water” (p.2). However, she acknowledges that a holistic approach needs to be taken and recognizes that the “tools of science, applied appropriately, can aid us, we must turn to the traditions and knowledge that did not fail us for thousands of years to find a real solution”(McGregor, 2012, p.24).

The Decolonizing Water project is a great example of minds and perspectives coming together. The venture was developed within the Geography Department at the University of British Columbia and the goal of the project “is to create a self-sustaining water and ecological monitoring program that will enhance protection of water resources and fulfill the promise of Indigenous water governance” (Decolonizing Water).

This project brings together non-indigenous and Indigenous students, artists, lawyers, Elders, and professors to find solutions for water issues that meld Indigenous law and modern scientific knowledge. The team is “committed to reciprocally enabling respectful Community-Based Research and observing OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access and Possession) protocols” (Decolonizing Water). In other words, the research and data is owned by the Indigenous communities and they then preserve the right over who can access and use the data.

One such innovation, The EC-GPS Water Logger which is a low-cost, easy to assemble device that tests water quality. This technology enables communities to conduct fresh water monitoring with simple instructions and parts that can be easily accessed even in remote communities. This invention originated at a “Water Bush Camp organized by Caleb Behn (then-Executive Director of Keepers of the Water), in the traditional territory of Halfway River, Saulteau, and West Moberly First Nations at Carbon Lake in 2015. The logger is an adaptation of a device built by Dr. Mark Johnson (UBC) to log and monitor water in remote and humid environments in the tropics” (Decolonizing Water).

Please watch the video below to see the Water Bush Came meet up.

The Invention:

I started the think of the SS9 key skill: “What perspectives do different groups (environmental groups, First Peoples) have on the use of natural resources” and the Spiritual dimension Howe (1998) discusses in his tribalism framework. This source suggests that technology, relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can assist in preservation of water, which is a sacred entity (McGregor, 2012).

M3: P5 Indigenous Food Sovereignty

http://www.yourcier.org/news/how-cier-is-tackling-food-sovereignty

“People are starting to garden, who may have never gardened before, people are excited and have a lot of questions. This year, some people are growing carrots and potatoes for the first time.” – Kristy Anderson

As I explore infusing Indigenous education into my practice and building a sense of place even in online learning, home and community gardens often come to mind. The ability to learn, grow, experiment, observe and share opens up a world of learning through even a few potted garden plants.

I am a big fan of https://www.growingchefs.ca/ but have not found many resources on incorporating Indigenous education resources on food and gardening.

Food Studies 10 in the BC Curriculum has content requirements on

First Peoples food protocols, including land stewardship, harvesting/gathering, food preparation and/or preservation, ways of celebrating, and cultural ownership

And I am curious to find what else is out there!

M3: Entry 3 – Alberta Treaty History

The Alberta Teachers Association has created a publication called Stepping Stones. It was developed to help teachers meet the TQS requirements of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Foundational Knowledge competency. As part of my final project, I want to explore the history of treaties in Alberta and they have created an excellent map and information guide for Treaty 6, 7, and 8. Other topics include: Traditional plant uses, Linguistic Diversity and Revitalization and Elder Protocol. The ATA is continually adding new documents to the collection so users are encouraged to check back for new publications regularly.

Alberta Teachers Association. (2021). Resources: Stepping Stones. Retrieved July 7, 2021 from https://www.teachers.ab.ca/For%20Members/Professional%20Development/IndigenousEducationandWalkingTogether/Pages/Resources.aspx