United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization

This is another massive web site with an incredible amount of information available.  Their main goal is “to build peace in the minds of men” and they are “working to create the conditions for genuine dialogue based upon respect for shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture.” The site is divided into five main themes:

-Education

-Natural Sciences

-Social & Health Sciences

-Culture

-Communication and Information

Within each of these main themes, there are sub-themes.  For example, the Culture page lists:

-Cultural Diversity

-World Heritage

-Intangible Heritage

-Creativity

-Dialogue

-Normative Action

-etc.

In addition to these sub-themes, there are several featured articles and videos a section of services such as publications, statistics, databases, cultural journals, etc. and a list of communities which are links to other organizations divided into four categories including public and private sectors, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors for Culture, etc.

I thought I would share this interesting research article discussing Aboriginal Culture in Canada involving digital technologies. The article, written by the Aboriginal Voice Culture Group, explores the future of . This group endeavours to explore the relationship and impact of information and communications technologies on Aboriginal cultures and identity in Canada.

The document directly relates to many of the topics we have discussed this week including:

Is ICT the potent enabler for the promotion, renewal and enrichment of Aboriginal cultures as many claim?  For example does ICT offer new possibilities for the preservation and teaching of Aboriginal languages?  Within the context of increasing numbers of Aboriginal peoples living away from traditional communities in large urban melting pots, can technology help safeguard the right of Aboriginal children and young people to learn their culture and speak their Indigenous languages?

The article is a great read and discusses many of the websites playing a role in helping Canadian Aboriginals to shape their online identity.  Here are some of the sites the article mentions:

• Métisradio.fm
• Sunchild eLearning Community
• Métis Museum of Canada
• ImagiNATIVE

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.

http://www.wiky.net/

This is the website for a First Nations community located at the eastern end of Manitoulin Island in northeastern Ontario. “Wiky”, as it is affectionately known, is not too far from Sudbury and I have several good friends with strong connections to the community. I was interested to see the “primitivism” described by Prins (2002) evident on the homepage: visuals include a dancing youth fully-dressed for a powwow, braided sweet-grass and a logo consisting of the traditional medicine wheel with human, deer, bear and bird footprints, and four dangling feathers.

As a “community portal”, this site (dated 2005) provides links to:

• Wikwemikong Development Commission (updated within the past week)
• Wikwemikong Family Centre (updated in January 2009)
• Rainbow Ridge Golf Course (kept up-to-date)
• Wikwemikong Heritage Organization (takes you to a poster for an upcoming 2010 event, with further “primitivism” evident; site updated May 2009)
• Wikwemikong Public Library (broken link)

The links to the Development Commission and the Family Centre are in direct service to Wiky members. The Rainbow Ridge Golf Course appears to be an income generator for the community by attracting golfers from the wider region. The Heritage Organization’s main purpose appears to be promotion of heritage events such as the upcoming 50th annual Cultural Festival, both serving the Wiky membership and encouraging education and participatory cultural activities for natives and non-natives alike.

David

It’s important for aboriginals to connect with one another so that they can speak with one voice on issues that are common to them all. Whether is here in Canada or somewhere else in the world, the digital divide has played an important role in bringing these aboriginal people closer together.

Aboriginal Connections is a directory that has multiple listings to various Indigenous websites from around the world. There are 967 listings and 16 categories for Canada alone.

Some of my more favorite categories include:
 Education (73)
 The Arts (152)
 Heritage and Culture (53)
 First Nations (129)
 News and Media (73)

Sites that interested me were:
 Aboriginal Children’s Circle of Early Learning a teaching resource site
 Haa Ai (Inuktitut for Look at This) a web messaging site
 Arctic Studies Center check out the Mask Exhibit
 Canada’s Digital Collections An impressive collection