Module 4 Post 1: CBC Archives ~ Celebration of Aboriginal Heritage

Is I quickly approach the end of my MET program I thought of looking for something celebratory. So this came up with a search for Aboriginal celebration.

I’ve often used or suggested to other educators that there is something for any classroom on CBC archives as well as Aboriginal Studies.

http://archives.cbc.ca/society/native_issues//topics/3531/

This page holds 15 audio and video clips that feature notable Aboriginal personalities as well as Aboriginal culture. I’m currently enjoying listening to Buffy Sainte Marie talk about her experiences as an Aboriginal person in mainstream media as well as other Aboriginal people. I enjoyed her story of insisting that any of the Aboriginal characters on a television program should be played by Aboriginals, she said she hadn’t been asked to do a television program since.

Along with Ms. Sainte Marie they have Architect Douglas Cardinal, Matthew Coon who paddled to New York to protest the Great Whale Project, Georges Erasmus and his view of the future, Phil Fontaine who discusses residential school and his life in politics, Elijah Harper and his vote that blocked Meech Lake, Tom Longboat a marathoner, Alanis Obomsawin an Abenaki singer and activist, Bill Reid and his beautiful art, Louis Riel, the legend of Nokomis, Winona and the birth of Nanbozho, History of baggataway (lacrosse), and a look at the first Arctic Winter Games.

Some are short clips, and some are longer. All have some profoundly important person or events with respect to Canadian and Canadian Aboriginal Society.

This is only a selection of the clips available on the archive. There are several other links on the page that lead to an in-depth CBC piece on Aboriginals, National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, National Aboriginal day, and more. I think I’ll spend a bit more time here before looking for other links and watch and listen to some amazing people and the events that have shaped my understanding of our Canada.