Tag Archives: Indigenous language

M4: P2 – Keoni Mahelona and Peter-Lucas Jones on Indigenous Data Sovereignty

This event was part of McGill’s Feminist Publishing and Tech Speaker Series in 2021, and more befitting to this course was co-hosted by the Initiative for Indigenous Futures (IFF). I came across Peter-Lucas Jones in an Unreserved with Falen Johnson CBC podcast (Johnson, 2021). In that podcast Jones speaks about his machine learning software he created to revitalize Māori language, culture, and traditional knowledge. 

In this speaker series event, Jones, along with his partner Keoni Mahelona, bring up several interesting and important points about storing Indigenous languages and knowledge online. The first idea that Jones touches on is how Indigenous peoples have always stored data in song and dance (FP&TSS, 2021, 8:01). However, moving into the 21st century Indigenous groups are looking for ways to store their language and culture digitally. In doing so, Jones and Mahelona discuss ways to overcome the plight of using online platforms. To me, the most poignant notion is that although there are services offered for “free” by Facebook and YouTube, these companies are making money off the data that they collect from individuals and groups (FP&TSS, 2021, 29:33). In fact, Jones and Mahelona liken the data mining of big tech today to the land grabs of colonizers (FP&TSS, 2021, 56:27). An important way that they avoid giving into big data grabs is by creating their own platforms so that they own the data themselves (FP&TSS, 2021, 41:51). Another interesting point that is brought up is that of digital obsolescence (FP&TSS, 2021, 69:56). Digital obsolescence is prominent online. If Indigenous groups are using online platforms to keep their knowledge safe, they must ensure its continuity by keeping their links available online to circumvent online obscurity. 

This is a long (92:14) video, but brings to light many important aspects of Indigenous online spaces.

References

Feminist Publishing and Tech Speaker Series (FP&TSS). (2021, March 3). Keoni Mahelona and Peter-Lucas Jones on Indigenous Data Sovereignty. [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/YgPfWUdtjig

Johnson, F. (Host). (2021, May 16). How Indigenous people are promoting and learning their languages. [Audio podcast episode]. In Unreserved with Falen Johnson. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-105-unreserved/clip/15843149-how-indigenous-people-promoting-learning-languages. 

Module 4 – Post 3 – Honouring Indigenous Languages

This is such a great resource for honouring Indigenous languages. In this guide, educators can share some Indigenous languages such as Cree, Inuktitut, Lunaapeew, Michif, Mohawk, Ojibwe, and Oji-Cree. For each language, the guide tells you what the word or phrase is in English, then the Indigenous language, along with the pronunciation. The words and phrases that are taught in these languages are welcome, hello, goodbye, thank you, I’m sorry, how are you?, let’s play, and my name is.

This is such a great resource as it allows educators, such as myself, to help revitalize Indigenous languages that have been lost. We can have a significant role in reconciliation and it can be as simple as teaching our students how to say these words and phrases in Indigenous languages. It would also be very powerful for educators to invite Elders in to speak and share their Indigenous language.

I will definitely be implementing this tool into the classroom in the fall. Below is an example of how we can honour the Cree language.

M2-P4 – Dr. Amy Parent: Raising Nisga’a Language, Sovereignty, and Land-based Education Through Traditional Carving Knowledge (RNL)

I will be looking at Howe’s (1998) 4 aspects of tribalism in my final paper. The first aspect, the spatial dimension is threatened by cyberspace as “identity and land are inseparable” (p.22). After viewing Mary Simmons video this week, she furthers the point that Inuit identity is embedded in language. So how can language/identity be preserved for community member especially those students who have moved away from their nations?

Dr. Parent aims to tackle a three part project that looks at language development through VR, the carving of a new house pole, and the reparation of a house totem pole from Edinburgh, Scotland. I am interested, for my paper, in the VR component (Johnson, 2020).

Dr. Amy Parent believe’s virtual reality has the ability to revitalize the Nisga’a language.  She considers language as a “‘guide for a total way of being. It teaches us our cultural behaviors, ethics, and who we are as a people, in terms of our identity,” …“Our language contains important land-based  knowledge, which provides us with the ability to live well with every aspect of Mother Earth.'” (Parent, as cited in Van Eeuwen, 2020).

“only approximately five per cent of Nisga’a citizens can speak their language fluently” (Van Eeuwen, 2020). This projects aims to combine technology and the minds of Elders and Knowledge keepers to commutate land-based knowledge in the Nisga’a language. Dr. Parent sees the VR medium as a way to spark interest for youth, and

I am glad I came across this project and want to reach out to Dr. Parent as she is looking for a classroom in Vancouver. It would be great to be involved in this project.

 

References

Eeuwen, T. V. (2020). UBC Prof Amy Parent creates revolutionary program to revitalize Nisga’a Language. Retrieved from https://looselipsmag.com/features/ubc-prof-amy-parent-creates-revolutionary-program-to-revitalize-nisgaa-language/

 Johnson, R. (2020, December 23). Project to use virtual reality technology to teach Nisga’a culture and language. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/nisga-a-vr-technology-language-culture-1.5846341

 

https://amyparent.ca/projects/

 

Understanding the Land Acknowledgement

MODULE 2:  ENTRY 1

The York University Land Acknowledgement could be used with staff and students to explain why acknowledgements are used. It is from the perspective of the University but the concepts can apply to any of our school buildings.  There are several professors and students that speak to why acknowledgements are important and how we can make them more meaningful rather than something you check off as part of your meeting or presentation.

 

 

Reference:

cass yorku. (2019, January 2). Understanding the Land Acknowledgment. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNZi301-p8k

M1, Entry 5: Indigenous Language Revitalization

Module 1: The Global and the Local in Indigenous Knowledge

Entry 5: Indigenous Language Revitalization

This TED talk discusses the importance of language to culture and identity. Watch to find out what is currently being done in Canada to support the revitalization of Indigenous languages and what still needs to be done to meet the goals of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

Morcom, L. (2019). A history of Indigenous languages – and how to revitalize them. [TED, 14 mins.] https://www.ted.com/talks/lindsay_morcom_a_history_of_indigenous_languages_and_how_to_revitalize_them#t-826657