The First Nations Information Project is designed to provide a mechanism to share knowledge, interests, and effective practices connecting the Aboriginal community from around this expanse country and the world.

The site consists of the following main sections:

• FIRST NATIONS
• NATIVE BUSINESSES
• CULTURE
• NEWSPAGE
• NATIVE LINKS
• FN ORGANIZATIONS

Some sections are more up to date than others but I found a lot of great information under “First Nations” you will find contact information for many First Nations groups.  The “Native Businesses” section was very interesting as it gives a break down of Native focused businesses by province.  Lastly the “cultures” link puts you in touch with Native Friendship centers and cultural organizations by region.

Overall this site is great for contact and organizational information.  I have never seen such a complete list of organizations, bands and Native companies in one resource before.  It is definitely worth a look if you require this type of information.

On the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada website they have a very interesting section devoted to Aboriginal Communities in Canada that are considered success stories.  Here are the communities they have listed:

• Akwesasne
• Blood Tribe
• Cape Dorset, Nunavut
• Eel Ground First Nation
• Sprouts Day Camp, Iqaluit
• St. John’s Native Friendship Centre, Newfoundland
• Wikwemikong
• Wendake First Nation, Quebec
• Westbank
• Membertou First Nation
• Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development Inc.
• Nunavik Youth Hockey Development Program Kuujjuaq, Quebec
• Haida Heritage Centre
• Wabano Centre
• Four Host First Nations – Olympics Art & Culture

Each success story contains a case study on the community and most share a video.  Again this is an excellent resource for gaining some insight into Native communities and more importantly successes within these communities.

In my research on First Nations in education I encountered many figures and facts that paint a pretty bleak picture for many Aboriginal youth and communities in Canada but this resource focuses on some of the great strides and pioneering efforts some of these communities are leading.

On of the success stories that really stuck out was the one focused on Eel Lake.  This community has been focused on blending new technology with traditional cultural teachings.  The group has been using technological aids such as smart-boards, videoconferencing and the internet, the Eel Ground First Nation is gaining recognition as one of the most technologically advanced in Canada. Since it first opened its doors the Eel Ground First Nation School has seen attendance triple with their groundbreaking approach to learning.

Hit this link for more information on this project and a video of the community at work.

I am not sure how we all missed this site but it is another excellent resource.  In module 2 there were some readings related to Aboriginal groups and their use of discussion boards but throughout the course I rarely found “active” discussion boards with frequent, new content.

http://www.firstnations.com/ is definitely a site with an active an active First Nations community.  Among their newest topics are concepts concerning:

• Nov 30 A Poem (3)
• Nov 30 Another Poem (1)
• Nov 30 A Bald Eagle and a Man (0)
• Nov 30 Osiyo Nigada! (4)
• Nov 30 Development as colonialism (4)
• Nov 30 Native American Style flutes (12)
• Nov 30 Native American Heritage Day (12)
• Nov 30 Shroud Of Turin…. (11)
• Nov 30 Intertribal Market (7)
• Nov 29 The Crow (19)
• Nov 29 Lotikwahu (6)
• Nov 28 the road (1)
• Nov 28 Salish Sea – some recognition. (0)

I have given many of the posts a quick read and they provide an interesting insight into current issues facing first nations people.

The site also offers some great links to other websites, some of which have been previously mentioned here.

In week 10 out reading about Inuit elders really got me thinking about their role in native communities.  Many cultures embrace their elders as a source of wisdom but I am aware of few groups that elevate them to a status equivalent to first nations groups.

The website http://www.niichro.com/Elders/Elders7.html shares some great information about Native American Elders, Leaders, Seniors and the demographics behind Native communities.  The website is focused on a cross-cultural look at diversity and aging and I must say there is some great information and insight here.

The site is a joint project between the National Indian and Inuit Community Health Representatives Organization (NIICHRO) and the Canadian Ethnocultural Council (CEC) and is focused on addressing issues for elders in first nations communities.

Here are some of the concepts that the site focuses on and their links:

• Different Histories, Some Common Issues
• Seniors and Elders
• Some Demographic Trends
• Elders at Risk
• The Normal Process of Ageing
• Essential Elements of Ageing Well
• Barriers to Ageing Well: The Problem of Unwanted Isolation
• A Wholistic Approach to Unwanted Isolation

Check out the site for more information and some insight into issues facing Aboriginal elders.

The Aboriginal Education Research Network or AERN is a voluntary forum of educational stakeholders and academic institutions in Saskatchewan whose goal is to foster collaborative research in Aboriginal Education.

The objectives of AERN are to:

• forge stronger links between research and educational practice and research and policy development;
• develop a comprehensive research agenda and identify provincial research priorities in education;
• develop a code of ethics and research protocols for shared research initiatives;
• build and promote the building of capacity in the area of Aboriginal education research;
• communicate research findings among members, the wider educational community and the general public;
• collaborate in specific research projects through joint grant applications and pooling of research resources;
• identify sources of funding for research; and,
• uphold high ethical standards and levels of research expertise in the province.

The network has been developed with the help of numerous government groups and educational institutions throughout Saskatchewan and has amassed a wealth of Aboriginal research including some of the following articles which I found of some relevance to course materials:

• Aboriginal Identity and Learning: An Assessment of Educational Practices in a Rural Saskatchewan Collegiate (2006)
• Aboriginal Knowledge and Perspectives: Identifying, Deliverying and Assessing Best Practices With Middle Years’ Students (2006)
• Factors That Contribute To Aboriginal Students’ Success in School In Grades Six to Nine (1999). Executive Summary.
• When Aboriginal and Métis Teachers use Storytelling as an Instructive Practice, (2006).
• Strengthening Community through Science Curriculum Actualization, (2006).
• Towards Full Engagement of First Nation, Inuit and Metis Students: A Study to Support Learning of Students in Transition, Executive Summary, 2008

These articles apply well beyond the context of Saskatchewan and delve deeply into Aboriginal Education in Canada.  Anyone looking for relevant and engaging research in any of these topics should explore the resource and see if these articles are useful for current research.

The BC ministry of education has assembled a page summarizing some of the research conducted in BC related to Aboriginal youth and Education.  The page can be found here:

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/research.htm

The site contains numerous relevant research reports relating to career transitions, student performance, Aboriginal education policy, behavious disorders among aboriginal students and  information on partnership projects.  Here are some of the more applicable research articles found on the site.

• Learning and Career Pathways
• Sharing Our Success: Ten Case Studies in Aboriginal Schooling
• Student Performance Data and Research Tools to Ensure Aboriginal Student Success
• Over-Representation of Aboriginal Students Reported with Behaviour Disorders
• The Current Position of Aboriginal Support Workers in the BC Education System
• Readings and Research from BC

I think these resources contain a great deal of information related to current research in Aboriginal Education.  These links would be a great starting point for any student still search for a topic to research in this course.

Spawned by our discussion about questions to consider before researching in Aboriginal communities I started digging around for more information about Aboriginal research.

One site that turned out to be quite relevant is the Government of Canada’s Panel on Research Ethics (PRE) and more specifically their article on the Aboriginal Research Ethics Initiative (AREI).  The site outlines the following framework for research involving Aboriginal Peoples:

• a commitment to building on local, national and international initiatives
• engagement of and partnership with the community
• application of  PRE’s First Principles to this initiative

These general guidelines provide a great basis for research in this field and the following reseources provided by the site offer a deeper look into the Ethics of such research:

Update on PRE’s Aboriginal Research Ethics Initiative (AREI)

Draft 2nd edition TCPS Chapter 9 Research Involving Aboriginal Peoples

Research Involving Aboriginal Peoples in the TCPS

Anyone actively involved with research in Aboriginal Communities should definately consider visiting this site as there is a lot of great information for researchers.  For example here is a quick list of guidelines from the Research Involving Aboriginal Peoples in the TCPS:

B. Good Practices

Researchers and REBs involved with Aboriginal communities should consider the following “good practices,” which have been drawn from the documents referred to above:

• To respect the culture, traditions and knowledge of the Aboriginal group;
• To conceptualize and conduct research with Aboriginal group as a partnership;
• To consult members of the group who have relevant expertise;
• To involve the group in the design of the project;
• To examine how the research may be shaped to address the needs and concerns of the group;
• To make best efforts to ensure that the emphasis of the research, and the ways chosen to conduct it, respect the many viewpoints of different segments of the group in question;
• To provide the group with information respecting the following:
  • Protection of the Aboriginal group’s cultural estate and other property;
  • The availability of a preliminary report for comment;
  • The potential employment by researchers of members of the community appropriate and without prejudice;
  • Researchers’ willingness to cooperate with community institutions;
  • Researchers’ willingness to deposit data, working papers and related materials in an agreed-upon repository.
• To acknowledge in the publication of the research results the various viewpoints of the community on the topics researched; and
• To afford the community an opportunity to react and respond to the research findings before the completion of the final report, in the final report or even in all relevant publications (see Section 2 on information disclosure). Aboriginal Peoples may wish to react to research findings. It is inappropriate for researchers to dismiss matters of disagreement with the group without giving such matters due consideration. If disagreement persists, researchers should afford the group an opportunity to make its views known, or they should accurately report any disagreement about the interpretation of the data in their reports or publications.

I have been spending some time researching different materials that are aimed at bringing Aboriginal knowledge and history into the classroom.

There are a lot of resources out there and I becoming surprised by the number of them that are developed by educators who are attempting to reach their Aboriginal students through relevant content or promote cross-cultural understanding among their students.

This site is simply a blog article which provides links to a complete First Nations Identities Course.  An overview of this course can be found here.  Feel free to browse these great resources which are all in printable pdf form.

• Ojibwe language handouts and games
• More Ojibwe stuff
• nish bingo
• Syllabics
• More handouts!
• The Great Indian Bus Tour of Toronto: student version
• Final project/summative

There is a lot of material here and would be very useful for any teacher looking for quality Aboriginal Identity focused materials for the classroom.

Developed by the Heritage Community Foundation this site is an “edukit” which is designed to enhance student understanding of the knowledge developed by Fist Nation people throughout history.

http://www.edukits.ca/aboriginal/contributions/index.htm

This resource was developed in conjunction with numerous agencies including Alberta Aboriginal Affairs, Museums, Schools, Aboriginal researchers, historians and elders such as Billy Joe Laboucan and Laura Okemaw.

The site features a student and a teacher zone.  In the student zone you will find numerous activities, biographies, puzzles, games, links and a photo gallery.  The resources contain a great deal of information about Aboriginal people and honours the contributions made by such historical figures as Alex Decoteau, Pakan and Star Blanket, as well as present day people like Allen Sapp and Jordin Tootoo.  In the teachers zone you can find activities and lesson plans for integrating these resources into the classroom.  There are both junior and senior high sections containing links to curriculum outcomes, teacher information, a full lesson plan and related downloads.

Here is an example of the resources available for a Grade 12 Lessons on Aboriginals in Business:

Generalization & Rationale

Objectives

Introductory Activity

Main Lesson

Download

Anyone who is trying to incorporate more Aboriginal history and knowledge into their classroom should consider checking out this site.  Also it gives a good idea of how such traditional First Nation knowledge can be weaved into the curriculum.

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

The discussions related to Nanook of the North as well as many of our readings in this module had us analyzing how First Nations people are depicted in the media and online.  Within the module I kept on thinking the stereotypes the Western world has developed around the Native American persona.

One site that I found summarized these stereotypes in an honest and realistic manner is the Media Awareness Network’s Common Portrayals of Aboriginal People page.  The site digs deep into North American film and television to list numerous ways in which Aboriginal people have been misrepresented.  In their list they touch on some of the following misrepresentations:

• Romanticization
• The Indian Princess
• The Native Warrior
• The Noble Savage
• Historical Inaccuracies
• Simplistic Characterizations

Other sections of the site investigate some very relevant topics including:

• Aboriginal People in the News
• Native Names and Imagery in Sports
• The Impact of Stereotyping on Young People
• The Development of Aboriginal Broadcasting in Canada
• Aboriginal Voices in the Arts and Media
• The Importance of Media Education

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.

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.

There have been a few links to the news section of Turtle Island’s website but they also have an extensive list of film and theatre resources related to or produced by Aboriginal groups.

Ginsburg article really got me thinking about how Indigenous people’s are involved with and portrayed in modern film and even theatre and I was racking my brain as to additional films that i believe were accurate portrayals of First Nations people and the list I came up with was fairly short.  I am glad to see all of these great films listed in one place, it is a great resource for Aboriginal film studies or further research into how Aboriginal groups use media to share their culture.

Something that comes up time and time again in Aboriginal education are high school and post-secondary completion rates.  It is understandable that completion rates may be lower when First Nations students are enrolled in less traditional and, for lack of a better word, more Western institutions but most Aboriginal youth in Canada attend off-reserve high schools and colleges so the issue is worth investigating.

An article by Tracy King from the University of Toronto takes a critical look at the issue in her article “Fostering Aboriginal Leadership: Increasing Enrolment and Completion Rates in Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions” published in 2008.  The article can be found here with a library link here.

The article does a good job of contrasting Aboriginal vs Western leadership, the role of government and their impact on the educational system for Aboriginal youth in Canada.  Beyond this, the article offers a number of options and strategies to increase completion rates at the post secondary level.  King concludes that the key to improving this scenario is a hollistic approach and a collaborative strategy involving educational leaders and decision-makers at all levels.

In my research I came across a 2009 article that explores digital technologies and their impact on Aboriginal learning in Canada.  Written by Fatima Pirbhai-Illich, K.C. Nat Turner and Theresa Y. Austin and titled Using digital technologies to address Aboriginal adolescents’ education: An alternative school intervention the article is a good read.

The link to the article can be found here, if you click on this RSVPN link it should take you right to the paper after logging in with your UBC credentials.

This article is a very interesting and timely piece that researches how digital technologies can support the learning of Aboriginal students.  More specifically the ethnographic project examines the impact of digital technologies on academic and technological literacy of one class through a number of projects.  The technology-focused and multi-modal activities were capped by a student written and produced public service announcement and some images and parts of the script are included.

The paper provides an interesting snapshot of one group of teacher`s efforts to reach out to Aboriginal students using technology in a Canadian classroom.  Although no astounding conclusions are recommended or made it is encouraging that groups of teachers are taking it upon themselves to take a closer look at how technology can be used to foster and support Aboriginal youth in their classrooms.

In researching Aboriginal science education I stumbled upon the works of Australian science educator and writer Michael Michie.  Michie has assembled some great resources as well as founded the Indigenous Science Network Bulletin.  His work has focused mainly on Aboriginal Science Education and how best to integrate modern scientific views with traditional Australian Aboriginal teachings.  This bulletin has been in operation for over 12 years and contains a wealth of information in this area.

Michie has also collected many links in his research and was kind enough to categorize them for readers on a links page.  Although the list is not extensive and was last updated in 2006 the content is extensive and timeless.

Here is a list of some of Michie’s research.  Maybe some of it will be useful for those studying from an Australian or science perspective.

• Border crossings: Understanding differing worldviews of science through the Northern Territory science curriculum (GASAT/IOSTE, Perth, 1997)
• Beyond bush tucker: Implementing Indigenous perspectives through the science curriculum (with Jane Anlezark and Didamain Uibo, CONASTA47, Darwin, 1998)
• Interfacing Western science and Indigenous knowledge: A Northern Territory perspective (with Mark Linkson, ASERA30, Rotorua, NZ, 1999)
• Where are Indigenous peoples and their knowledge in the reforming of learning, curriculum and pedagogy? (UNESCO, Bangkok, Thailand, 1999)
• Providing teacher support materials for curriculum developments incorporating intercultural understandings in teaching science (with Mark Linkson, ASERA31, Fremantle, 2000)
• Revitalising Indigenous science education: A synthesis of the Northern Territory experience (NTIER, Darwin, 2000)
• ‘Compliance’ in health: Learning lessons from indigenous science education (with Fred McConnel, AMA Conference, Darwin, 2000)
• Why I think indigenous science should be included in the school science curriculum (ASERA32, Sydney, 2001)
• The role of culture brokers in intercultural science education: A research proposal (ASERA34, Melbourne, 2003)
• An affirmation of the place of indigenous knowledge in developing globalised science curriculum (Indigenous Science Network, 2004)
• Teaching science to Indigenous student: Teacher as culture broker or is it something else? (NARST, Vancouver, 2004)
• “Teachers as culture brokers”: Work in progress (ASERA35, Armidale, 2004 – this is a Powerpoint presentation, not a paper)
• Lost in a sea of literacy: Numeracy and Indigenous adults (12th Annual Conference of Adults Learning Mathematics, Melbourne, 2005)
• Engaging with Australian Indigenous science (CONASTA 54, Melbourne, 2005 – website)
• Writing about Australian Indigenous Science for a junior secondary textbook: Some considerations (ASERA36, Hamilton, NZ, 2005)
• Language-Culture Incommensurability in Science in Non-Asian Indigenous Peoples (Workshop on Southeast Asian and Japanese cultural influences on the understanding of scientific concepts, Penang, Malaysia, 2005)

In researching aboriginal science and technology education I have found a variety of resources that have been very enlightening.  One of the most interesting is a book that assembles a number of research articles and reflections on the subject of First Nations education in Canada

The Circle Unfolds takes a critical look at First Nations education form a science and technology perspective.  It provides an accurate history of Aboriginal education in Canada and reflects on how best to restructure and transform Aboriginal education in terms of learning processes and teaching.

Some of the articles deal with specific issues related to some of the research proposals we have written such as “Non-Native Teachers Teaching in Native Communities” by Taylor “A Major Challenge for the Education System: Aboriginal Retention and Dropout” by Mackay and Myles and “Redefining Science education for Aboriginal Students” by MacIvor.

The collection is both broad and deep providing a great overview of many of the challanges First Nations Education has had in the past and explores how it might change in the future.

Most of the book is freely available through Google Books so I suggest checking out the contents to see if there is anything useful for your own research.