Posts from — October 2009

Earlier this week we were discussing the rights a group has in protecting their culture.  In answering the question I was surprised to learn how little I know about how Canadian and international law impacts the Aboriginal groups of the world.

In researching Aboriginal law in Canada I came across a very useful site that lists international, constitutional and federal law including commissions and court decisions for Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia.  This site is a wealth of information and can be found here.

The site is a great one-stop location for legal information and links to the official International, Federal and consititutional documents.  Here is a quick listing of some of the Canadian content:

Canada:

• Constitution
• Federal Laws
• Court Decisions
• BC Treaty Commission
• Nunavut Commission
• Indian Specific Claims Commission

I stumbled upon this group a while ago while researching Second Life.  Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace or AbTeC is a group of Aboriginal technology and media specialists and what they do is a  bit hard to explain so I will let them do it:

AbTeC is a network of academics, artists and technologists whose goal is to define and share conceptual and practical tools that will allow us to create new, Aboriginally-determined territories within the web-pages, online games, and virtual environments that we call cyberspace. Our multi-faceted effort will include a storytelling series, an ongoing gamesnight, a modding workshop, Machinima, and performance art.

Our main objective is to identify and implement methods by which Aboriginal people can use new media technologies to complement our cultures. In other words, how can we use the exciting new tools now available on the personal computer to empower Native people, especially our youth, to both preserve and produce our knowledge, culture and language in this highly technological society? AbTeC’s roots lie with a project called CyberPowWow, a pioneering on-line gallery and chat space for contemporary Aboriginal art. It was through CyberPowWow that we realized that, even on the Internet, Native people need a self-determined place to call home.

The group has done a lot of very interesting work related to Aboriginals in Cyberspace including research publications,  digital productions and their site also has a very informed blog.  Some of the more intersting and relevant blog posts can be found below:

• Indigenous Representations in Commercial Video Games
• Scathing review of Remix: New modernities in a post-Indian world
• Digital Drum: Aboriginal Media Production
• First Nations / Second Life
• Stereotypes in Gaming
• What is a (Native) Game?

I think site is of interest to anyone curious about how Aboriginal groups are represented in cyberspace, and more specifically, in modern video games.  There is definitely an interesting body of knowledge emerging from this group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_peoples_in_Canada

I don’t know why I didn’t think of wikipedia before, but this page has a great list of resources and information on the  Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Since I am a totally rookie, this site is a great jumping point for me.

I am still in the search for bogs, so if anyone finds some please let me know.

http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/blogging_part_1.htm

The Art of Blogging – Part 1

by George Siemens a professor at Athabasca University who is a theorist on learning in a digitally-based society.

This is a good starting point to learn how blogs are used for knowledge construction

In recent readings and posts I have been coming across many first nations groups that I am unfamiliar with.  From  geographical and historical perspectives it is very hard to keep track of the many unique communities across Canada.

One site that has helped me in looking into these groups is www.firstnationsseeker.ca this site lists what appears to most, if not all, of the first nations groups and communities in North America as well as the Caribbean, Russia and Greenland.  The list is organized linguistically which is essentially by geographic region so it is very easy to gain more information about local groups.

For each group a map is provided showing their region as well as any links to native or band sites.  The site lists well over 100 different groups with 1-20 links to individual community sites.

If you are looking for more information on a given first nations group in North America this is a great site to check first.

The Digital Drum WebSite

Web Site URL: http://www.digitaldrum.ca/en/

The Digital Drum is a project set up in 2007 by Canadian Culture Online, which is run by the Department of Canada Heritage.

It is a site similar to YouTube, and is designed to engage youth in Aboriginal Cultural Expression. One of the aims is to connect youth with Elders in the hope that this will help youth to identify with their native culture. The site offers a variety of media clips on many topics related to the interests of Indigenous youth. It is easy to watch stream, vote, post comments and upload material. The site is designed to be attractive to modern adolescents. It is a great way to develop a multimedia discourse by connecting Indigenous youth to a Pan Indigenous Discourse. It is obviously open to abuse, as I discovered in the Blogs, but it is a very interesting idea and seems to be working.

The Alaska Native Knowledge Network

Web site URL:  http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/index.html

This site is run from the University of Alaska Fairbanks , is a resource fro educators interested in Indigenous Alaskan knowledge and ways of knowing. This is a serious, up to date, culturally sensitive and culturally relevant resource for educators in Alaska working with Indigenous communities. The ASKN site offers a long list of its own publications, both digital and print. These include articles, books, guidelines, DVDs, CD ROMS and posters. The ASKN also publishes a digital newsletter, and a catalogue is available online dating back to 1996. The site offers culturally based curriculum resources organized through a Curriculum Spiral Chart. These resources have been chosen to show how Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing and Western knowledge systems can be combined in a culturally relevant curriculum.

As an example, Some Curriculum resources are located at: http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/resources.html

Some Lesson plans are located at: http://ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/units/index.html

There is also an up to date calendar of events, and finally a moderated listserv for announcements.

This professional and well-maintained site is a good example of what a teaching university can offer as a resource for educators working in rural communities.

The Inupiaq Dictionary Project

Web Site URL: http://wiki.bssd.org/index.php/Category:Inupiaq_dictionary

This is a school based project inspired by Audie Chikoyuk of Marshall, Alaska in the Bering Strait School District that uses Wiki technology to encourage indigenous students to build a language dictionary.

The Wiki contains links to each Inupiaq word entered into the system. Each word has it’s own page with a word, definition, MP3 audio file, image and any other additional relevant information. Since it is a Wiki, anyone can add or make changes to the content, which may or may not be a good thing in the long run. It is a very simple site, and still quite small, but has grown to include a dictionary in Yupik as well. This is an important site as it demonstrates indigenous youth creating and sharing a product that promotes an internal discourse with very little investment. The fact that it is an oral dictionary is important in my quest for digital products that can be used in Mexican Indigenous communities, because these languages often do not have a globally accepted written form. Since Indigenous languages tend to vary from community to community, the Wiki technology gives students from different communities the opportunity to add variations to the same entry, encouraging a peer-peer discourse.

The Four Directions Teachings website

Web Site URL: http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/

The Four Directions Teachings site is a very professional project. This Canadian site receives money from the Department of Cultural Heritage. It is a beautifully produced resource for incorporating native knowledge in the classroom. It aims to protect and promote indigenous knowledge. The site mixes audio teachings by elders and beautiful flash videos. The site is an example of how with careful research and consulting a high quality product is possible. Careful consideration has even been given to the interface that aims to “replicate the fundamental flow of movement and interconnectivity of the indigenous experience.”

The site also provides downloadable lesson plans that aim to take maximum advantage of the oral teachings included in the site. The lesson plans are designed to incorporate the holistic nature of indigenous teaching methodologies, incorporating the idea of multi disciplinary learning and the medicine wheel. The four sections of the wheel incorporate the idea of Native Learning styles the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical aspects of the learning process, and each lesson plan aims to use and balance all four parts.

The teacher’s resources include learning activities (lesson plans) for each of the tribes represented for incorporating the audio material provided by the elders into the classroom at different educational levels.

I really recommend that anyone who has the time looks at the site and reads the teacher’s resource document at http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/Teacher_Resource_Kit.pdf

The Four Directions Project

Web site URL: http://www.4directions.org/

The LTC (Learning Technology Center at the University of Texas at Austin ran the Four Directions project from 1995 to 2001 as an Indigenous Model of Education. The 4Directions website is administered by the Pueblo of Laguna Department of Education. It received funding from the Technology Innovation Challenge Program of the U.S. Department of Education.

The site appears to be no longer maintained, as there are broken links and the site is small. However, the site proposes and demonstrates several uses of technology for indigenous students to record and share objects of cultural relevance. It demonstrates a way for indigenous groups that are physically separated from each other to form a database of culturally relevant media.

The site contains an example of a student based virtual project, the 4Directions Virtual Museum (http://www.4directions.org/resources/features/qtvr_tutorial/4DVMuse.htm).

The project is very small but uses QTVR (Quick Time Virtual Reality) to record artifacts of significance to the American Indian students and place them in a virtual museum along with additional material that explains their significance produced by the students.

There is also a virtual tour of the National Museum of the American Indian, created by American Indian students. They have chosen objects of interest to them and when the visitor clicks on one of these “hot spot” objects, apart from viewing an image, a commentary written by the student appears about the artifact

Finally there is a database of lesson plans and other didactic material.

A Line in the Sand

URL: http://www.hanksville.org/sand

Hanksville.org is a site that offers a few links to narratives and a few more links to Native American resources online.   Of particular interest is A Line in the Sand.  This website discusses Indigenous sovereignty issues, cultural property form the Indigenous perspective, legal resources and stereotypes.  Reading lists for each of these topics are recommended and linked to.  Furthermore a section of this site is dedicated to indigenous literature and art.  Finally, a section lists websites and resources for tribal and governmental contacts, colleges and media.

Despite the valuable commentaries and essays features in A Line in the Sand, what I have found unique is the section Responses from Native Peoples, profiling authors and poets as well as linking to virtual libraries and an article that provides tips on evaluating the authenticity of an “American Indian website”.  I believe this section makes A Line in the Sand stand out as a valuable resource for a researcher as it provides what seems to be a unique approach in portraying issues of Indigenous peoples.

Cultural Survival

URL: http://www.culturalsurvival.org/

Cultural Survival is a US based organization that works with and defends the rights of indigenous communities in Asia, Africa, South America, North America, and Australia.  Of interest to any researcher, Cultural Survival’s website makes available over thirty-five years of articles on indigenous issues worldwide.  A simple article search can lead one to comprehensive information about a plethora of topics such as indigenous distance education in Canada or indigenous discrimination in Britain.  Another way to access these articles is to browse the publications’ archives.

I believe this website could be of great interest to researchers as it covers many topics regarding many indigenous communities around the world.  The website does not provide additional resources or links to other sites.  Furthermore, it does not seem the source or author of any of the articles are divulged.  For that reason I feel this site is most useful for preliminary research and mere exposure to the issues that are dealt with by indigenous communities.

Media Portrayals of Aboriginal People

URL: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/aboriginal_people/index.cfm

The Media Awareness Network provides resources and support pertaining to media and information literacy for youth.  Sharing tips for parents and classroom activities and lesson plans for teachers, this website has an array of information about media and specific scenarios and communities.  A simple website search can lead one to a variety of articles pertaining specifically to Aboriginal experiences in regards to media.  Issues discussed include common portrayals of Aboriginal people, the effects of stereotyping on youth and the history of Aboriginal development in Canada.  Additionally to providing clear examples and explanations of these issues, each article is accompanied by web resources and recommended readings.  The shared links lead to interesting pages such as the NFB,  Aboriginal news sites and independently written articles.

I find the articles available on the website as well as the one’s recommended by the website to be excellent tools for anyone wishing to educate youth about the reality of media and the misrepresentations that are often taught as common knowledge.  Moreover the information can be of interest to any individual wishing to be exposed to this issue and begin more extensive research.

The Overseeing Gaze

Videos

Technologies such as the internet have reopened the debate about intellectual property, copyright protection and cultural ownership. Weblogs, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube are just a few of the tools available to people wishing to correspond, chat or post media on topics of interest to them. A huge increase in the commodification of culture and increased marketing has only inflamed the debate.

The first video shows what can happen to a culture when the Internet is used to promote or market tourism in a global context. The second video is an overview of just how quickly technology has changed Internet marketing over the past 10 years or so.

Adivasi, Tourism & Internet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GREXK92sWEw (video)

Technology Impact on Internet marketing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlysgiV-u8M (video)

The next video is an example of how the Internet is used to promote non-violent yet illegal activity. A vigilante demonstrates how to place copper wire on railway tracks to short circuit railway traffic lights. The idea is to train sympathizers of the cause how to disrupt railway traffic.

Friends and Allies http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8044688699643137747&ei=ylLaSrLaF4fYqAPhuJ35Cw&q=Canada+%2B+Indigenous+people+and+the+internet&hl=en# (video)

Here are a few more examples of how the Internet is being used by indigenous people to get their message out… whatever the message may be.

NnishTV.com on employment in Thunder Bay http://www.vimeo.com/1526523 (video)

Native American Children Raising Funds to Purchase a Native Youth Ranch http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&q=Canada%20%2B%20Indigenous%20people%20and%20the%20internet&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&q=Canada+%2B+Indigenous+people+and+the+internet&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv&start=10 (video)

Nanook of the North

Videos

There has been considerable discussion in the course about the objectivity of the film, Nanook of the North, and it’s portrayal of Innu people. This 1920’s black and white film is of some historical significance if only because there’s practically no other footage around. Click on the link below to view the film Nanook of the North.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLERFRQl5EY (video)

Go to this site for information on the film and on Flaherty http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Nanook_of_the_North (document)

Go to this site for an Innu perspective of Nanook of the North.
http://www3.nfb.ca/enclasse/doclens/visau/index.php?mode=theme&language=english&theme=30661&film=13896&excerpt=612098&submode=about&expmode=1 (website)

The Innu Nation has a couple of websites with plenty of information about their history and their culture. When I took a look at the Innu Nation site, the links were all down. Perhaps you’ll have better luck. Innu AIMUN has some good resources and their links are working.

Innu Nation – Resources http://www.innu.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=3&lang=en (documents)

Innu AIMUN – Memorial University of Newfoundland http://www.innu-aimun.ca/modules.php (website)

Protecting Cultural Rights

Videos

MIT WORLD Distributed Intelligence

This video on Copyright, Fair Use, and the Cultural Commons about the shift in intellectual property protection and rights from the days of Shakespeare when ownership was held in perpetuity up to present day limits. This is a long one but it gives you some great background information as well as the latest trends in copyright and fair use law. The Fair Use and Free Speech is shown in this presentation. I included a link to this documentary below.

Copyright, Fair Use, and the Cultural Commons (April 2007) http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/469 (video)

Here are a couple of other related sites that you may find useful. Center for Social Studies has some teaching materials that may be useful. Keep in mind that the information is based on US best practices and US law.

Fair Use and Free Speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY-2YshuJ8o (video)

Code of Best Practices and Fair Use http://www.cmstudies.org/documents/SCMSBestPracticesforFairUseinTeaching-Final.pdf (document)

Center for Social Media http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ (website)

Stereotypes

Videos

YouTube – D Indians Shave – by Chris Spotted Eagle

This video is based on street interviews taken in 1972 highlights some of the misconceptions Americans had about American Indigenous people. The interviewee is a native North American. You may be surprised by some of the answers he got to questions like do Indians shave, how much land do Indians own, where did scalping come from, do Indians speak a common language, how many Indians live in the Us and so on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBx7mele67g (video)

Here are a few other videos to remind us about lack of tolerance and respect some people seem to have towards indigenous people. There are some strong messages being sent here.

• The Indians in Brazil – Who are they? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAhjy4HLNWI (video)
• Laughing at Aboriginies? – Tough Questions to QUT Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM0HYYBKblg (video)

Indigenous People

Videos

Native Tube – Indigenous people –by keeper79
An audio visual presentation dedicated to the 400 million indigenous people living in the world. There are plenty of interesting pictures of indigenous people from around the world. The song that accompanies the presentation is quite enjoyable too.

http://www.nativetube.com/video/205/INDIGENOUS-PEOPLE (video)

There are plenty of other thought provoking videos for you to watch. I would like to recommend the following…

• Long Train of Abuses part I http://www.nativetube.com/video/23/Long-Train-of-Abuses–Part-1 (video)
• Took the Children Away http://www.nativetube.com/video/10/Took-The-Children-Away–Archie-Roach (video)

Land of the Secwepemc

From my fourth post on the Drum, Northern Cree, it made me look back to the Tk’emlups Indian Band’s site (http://www.tkemlups.ca/) as I was looking for information on the Kamloopa Pow Wow where I had seen Northern Cree play.  Kamloops is also my home town.

Looking through the Tk’emlups site I stumbled on the Land of the Secwepemc or Land of the Shuswap site.

http://www.landoftheshuswap.com/msite/index2.php

Created by the George Manuel Institue the Land of the Secwepemc has a tremendous amount of historical and cultural information. It includes information about territory, traditional practices, landmarks and oral history in mp3 format. One that I’ll be downloading is about the balancing rock near Savona. My dad and my brothers hiked there to see it when I was about eight. It will be interesting to hear the First Nation story about it.

The site documents legends, language, songs and dances. It also has oral telling of experience at the local residential school in Kamloops. This will certainly be a site I spend several more hours in listening to!

Recording Artists: Northern Cree

I was fortunate enough a couple of summers ago to visit my home town, Kamloops, and attend that years Kamloopa Pow Wow in Tk’emlups territory (where the rivers meet). I hadn’t been since I was quite young and had forgotten the moving experience that is a pow wow. I started to look for one of the Drums (drum group) that I remembered, Northern Cree, online. Turns out they are quite famous. There are numerous recordings on youtube as well as cd’s available online.

The link I’ll include is for Honor the Eagle Feather CD by Northern Cree on the Canyon Records site which has been producing and distributing Native American music since 1951

http://store.canyonrecords.com/index.php?app=ccp0&ns=prodshow&ref=CR-6269

I’ll also include a link to Northern Cree’s own site

http://www.northerncree.com/

Their music is widely available online through many retailers.