Author Archives: Evonne Tutkaluk

About Evonne Tutkaluk

I am in my first year of my Masters in Educational Technology

Indigenous Education

Another interesting site I found addresses Indigenous Education. It has a North American focus. This organization, Bowman Performance Consulting, LLC has done its homework and has included an enormous amount of links to other sites, alphabetically organized, to Native American Educational Resources for various types of Indigenous: youth camps, caregivers, language, children’s blogs, conferences, study programs, associations, councils and organizations and specific Indigenous people’s education sites to name a few. This site also includes information about grants and scholarships, evaluations, business development, certifications and publications. The contact us information is included at the bottom of every webpage. I would recommend this site to anyone who needs information about and links to many North American Indigenous people’s organization website.

Indigenous Environmental Network

This Indigenous Environmental Network site caught my eye and correlates with Module 4. The Indigenous Environmental Network was formed by Indigenous peoples and other individuals and was developed in 1990 to address environmental and economic justice issues and develop strategies to protect the environment, Indigenous culture and the health of Indigenous peoples. Issues such as energy, climate, water and the importance of health and culture are highlighted on the website. The organization and site describe themselves as a “network of Indigenous Peoples empowering Indigenous Nations and communities towards sustainable livelihoods, demanding environmental justice and maintaining the Sacred Fire of our traditions.”

The site has links to all sorts of environmental activities, traditional gatherings, resources, energy and climate information and other Native Network Organizations as well as including current Indigenous news. The site also includes a section of suggested reading, news updates and places to access newsletter archives and subscribe to its newsletter. This organization, the Indigenous Environmental Network, also has a Facebook page and links to it are on the site as well. As well, you can listen daily to live interviews with speakers, panel discussions and interviews.

The following is taken directly from the website but should be recognized…

A “SNAP-SHOT” of environmental and economic justice issues in indigenous lands (US-CANADA):

a. Toxic contaminants, agricultural pesticides and other industrial chemicals that disproportionately impact Indigenous peoples, especially subsistence and livestock cultures.

b. Inadequate governmental environment and health standards and regulations.

c. Clean up of contaminated lands from mining, military, and other industry activities.

d. Toxic incinerators and landfills on and near Indigenous lands.

e. Inadequate solid and hazardous waste and wastewater management capacity of Indigenous communities and tribes.

f. Unsustainable mining and oil development on and near Indigenous lands.

g. National energy policies at the expense of the rights of Indigenous peoples.

h. Climate change and global warming.

i. Coal mining and coal-fired power plants resulting in mercury contamination, water depletion, destruction of sacred sites and environmental degradation.

j. Uranium mining developments and struggles to obtain victim compensation to Indigenous uranium miners, millers, processors and Downwinders of past nuclear testing experiments.

k. Nuclear waste dumping in Indigenous lands.

l. Deforestation.

m. Water rights, water quantity and privatization of water.

n. Economic globalization putting stress on Indigenous peoples and local ecosystems.

o. Border justice, trade agreements and transboundary waste and contamination along the US/Mexico/Canada borders and other Indigenous lands worldwide.

p. Failure of the US government to fulfill its mandated responsibility to provide funding to tribes and Alaska villages to develop and implement environmental protection infrastructures.

q. Backlash from US state governments giving in to the lobbying pressures of industry and corporations against the right of tribes to implement their own water and air quality standards.

r. Protection of sacred, historical and cultural significant areas.

s. Biological diversity and endangered species.

t. Genetically modified organisms impacting the environment, traditional plants and seeds and intellectual rights of Indigenous peoples – bio-colonialism.

u. Economic blackmail and lack of sustainable economic and community development resources.

v. Just transition of workers and communities impacted by industry on and near Indigenous lands.

w. Urban sprawl and growth on and near Indigenous lands.

x. Failure of colonial governments and their programs to adequately consult with or address environmental protection, natural resource conservation, environmental health, and sacred/historical site issues affecting traditional Indigenous lands and its Indigenous peoples.

y. De-colonization and symptoms of internalized oppression/racism/tribalism.

z. And many others ..

Compiled by the INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK

Australian Aborigines – Indigenous Australians

As I have extended my research for my final paper to Indigenous Elders world-wide with a focus on Canadian Indigenous Elders, I came across this site and I was attracted to what this site had to offer. I was excited by what I found!

The site is sectioned and provides information about Australian Aborigines including their: History, Migration, Appearance, Clothing, Languages, Diet, Society, Marriage, Homes, Land, Culture, Flag, Government, Law, Games, Dance, Music, Art & Design, Tattoo, Death, Reincarnation, Spiritual, Magic, Initiations, Elders, Lore, Message Sticks, Caves, Bora Ground, Shaman, Aboriginal Dreamtime. The site also provides links to Australian Aborigines Google Videos. There’s also a list of links at the bottom of the page that allow you to explore further or direct back to the AUSTRALIA INDEX.

What I like about this site is the detailed history it provides; it allows you to picture what it must have been like for Aboriginals in the past. I also like that it includes all the relevant information for all four modules, not just Module 4. Really awesome site – definitely worth checking out!

Indigenous Education and Environmental Issues in Saskatchewan

This site fits nicely with Module 4’s theme of Ecological Issues in Indigenous Education and Technology. This site is courtesy of the Saskatchewan Eco Network. This website includes a variety of information about First Nations and Metis peoples and more specifically related to Saskatchewan. This site’s ecological theme is about teaching youth to have respect for nature and develop good relationships with the earth by learning through the cultural practices and traditional teachings of Indigenous peoples. The site has a number of other curriculum resources for the classroom created by Indigenous educators as well. They include unit topics such as:
• Traditional Plants
• Dances of First Nations
• Legends
• Dwellings

It has specific resources including lots of links to many such as ones about. Sections A-D are taken from the site:

A. Perspectives on Indigenous Education and teaching our young people about healing relations with the earth.
• Interview with Darlene Spiedel
from the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre

B. Resources on Indigenous Education and Environment in Saskatchewan
• Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre -SICC Interviews with Elders
• Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre – Languages Site

C. Practising the Law of Circular Interaction: First Nations Environment and Conservation Principles – the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre.

D. Rekindling Traditions : Cross-Cultural Science & Technology Units (CCSTU) Project
Rekindling Traditions is a project undertaken by the Ile la Cross School Division. Elders, teachers, and curriculum developers from different schools came together to develop the materials. They describe the goal of the curriculum as follows:
To make Western science and engineering accessible to Aboriginal students in ways that nurture their own cultural identities; that is, so students are not expected to set aside their culture’s view of the material world when they study science at school.
There are units on:
• Snowshoes
• Nature’s Hidden Gifts
• The Night Sky
• Survival In Our Land
• Wild Rice
• Trapping
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The site also provides a list of organizations and interviews with educators that one can access for additional information to perhaps provide context to the resources. This site has quickly become one of my top favourites and will be included as a resource for my final paper as it includes relevant information about my topic of the Evolution of the Role of Elders with the Rise of Digital Technology. Really excellent website!!!

Aboriginal Family Issues

This is also one of my favourite finds so far! In my searches for my final paper on the evolution of the role of indigenous elders with the rise of digital technologies, I came across this site. This site is a publication of Australian Institute of Family Studies. As I have extended my search to Indigenous world-wide, I was intrigued by what this site had to offer. It coordinates very well with my topic and it will be useful for future research. The program addresses Aboriginal family issues such as racism, child removal, stereotypical media portrayal of Aboriginal families, role of elders and colonization to name a few. There’s a range of issues within each of these categories that is worth exploring. What I really appreciate is the emotional side that is addressed in the issues and how this organization is available to help Indigenous families with the variety of issues they face. What I found especially interesting are the programs mentioned on this site such as the Cree Nation’s ‘Will of the Youth’ program in Quebec. This program is very much like the Fraser River Journey program only in this program the youth stay with the elders for three months and are taught traditional ways of survival including hunting and fishing. They are away from civilization but return with so many lived experiences to pass on! Excellent site with lots of Indigenous information to offer!

Indigenous Rights

The Public Ethics Radio site has hosted a few different talks on Indigenous rights. Among other issues, it discusses Indigenous intellectual property rights and how mainstream capitalism has monopolized on indigenous knowledge! In Episode 13 Sarah Holcombe asks some very pertinent questions in this regard! “Western pharmaceutical and agricultural businesses have long recognized that there is money to be made from the traditional knowledge of local, indigenous communities. Sociologists and anthropologists also seek to gain—intellectually and academically—from conducting research on and with these communities. What rules should govern the interaction with so-called traditional knowledge? How can intellectual property rights be designed so as to minimize harm to indigenous peoples and maximize the goods of research, and share it equitably?”

This site also reminded me of a couple other sites I came across: The Aboriginal Media Lab one from the Canadian Parliament and one from the Australian Parliament specifically on Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights. Comparing the Canadian and Australian sites was very interesting in terms of the differences they consider!

I really like the way the Canadian site differentiates between Western Science & Traditional Knowledge! The chart describes how Indigenous Traditional Knowledge differs from Western Science.

Excellent information for sure in all these sites! I will definitely add them to my resources list so I have them to refer to when I start my final paper on Elders and Technology!

Indigenous Rights in the News

Indigenous cultures view of themselves IS heavily influenced by the perceptions of the dominant culture – the Western mainstream capitalistic culture – paving the way and deciding which interpretation is considered “true” in their eyes – and indigenous people follow suit and end up becoming / behaving the way they are viewed! What a cycle of perpetual mayhem! At least there is hope as Smith (1999) reminds us – hope in different ways!

In my Module 3 blog post searches I found a couple different videos and websites from different parts of the world about Indigenous rights and the role of media and community reality and how Indigenous peoples are still fighting to be acknowledged and have their basic rights acknowledged. I found a couple short videos of a news clips reporting on the UN accusing Australia of the embedded and entrenched racism of the past remaining in their current daily lives and the dominant culture, again Western mainstream capitalism, of the north of Australia (specifically noted in this clip) continues to perpetuate this racism and discrimination towards Indigenous communities. They discuss the fact that Indigenous peoples are still fighting for their basic human rights including becoming part of the health system, justice system, etc. These clips showcase exactly how common these issues are to appear in the news and that these issues of the past are still alive today!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yrKwNrv0Ws&NR=1[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8y9FEfIi88&NR=1[/youtube]

Globalization & Autonomy

Indigenous Perspectives on Globalization: Self-Determination Through Autonomous Media Creation

Globalization and Autonomy – Website

This website is a great resource for Module 3’s theme of Indigenous Knowledge, Media and Community Reality. It is well designed, aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly, easy to navigate, includes 2 different menu bars. On the right it is a glossary of terms and on the left it is divided into Topics, Quick Links and More Information. It has great number of links to topics about many different aspects of Indigenous peoples and their cultures including common topics such as: Community & Identity, Culture, Democracy, Global Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Property Rights, Technology, Trade and Finance, and World History. It also addresses colonialism and Indigenous history (for a variety of different communities and Indigenous cultures)! This site also ties in well with my topic of Elders and Technology and closely correlates with our Module 2 discussions of stereotypes. This site does a great job of addressing different types of Indigenous rights and communities and their identities. Excellent information found here, this site will be one that I will use and reference in the future for sure!

Australia – Indigenous Affairs Master Class

Since we’ve had lengthy discussions lately about the World bank and it’s destructive efforts (behind the scenes), I thought I would include some positive examples that I found! The National Australian Bank is making efforts to acknowledge Aboriginal rights! Check out the two videos – two very different focuses – but both seem to be very uniquely positive!

NAB’s Indigenous Affairs Master Class – Terri Janke
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmRoEi7Mqos[/youtube]

Terri Janke deals with artwork Copyright. Where are you taking my art – beyond its cultural settings? Lots depends on whether or not they will allow their Indigenous Knowledge to become public knowledge, make it available and then it exists that breach of copyright happens and Indigenous art and Knowledge needs to be protected from the commercialization of culture – so this poses challenges. She speaks of copyright to protect Indigenous artists and talks about communal artwork and cultural expression – what is the artwork representing and who does it belong to?! However, Copyright tends to be more focused on individual rights vs communal, tribal, historical cultural expression and rights –Indigenous artists connect their works to their cultural stories and these connections are essential for Indigenous artists / peoples.

NAB’s Indigenous Affairs Master Class – Dr Chris Sarra
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxEQSxwQnXE&NR=1[/youtube]
Dr. Chris Sarra talks about the role of the NAB institute in Australia, their work and how they are making strides in the education system to improve education for Aboriginal children. He talks about perceptions of the public and teachers of Aboriginal children and talks about the struggles Aboriginal students face regarding the typical stereotypes they are related to and they sometimes end up becoming unless teachers prevent this so that schooling can be a positive experience for Aboriginal and Indigenous children.

Another awesome video (Ted Talks) about Chris Sarra’s efforts: TEDxBrisbane Chris Sarra – All you need is…. TO DREAM
This is a very inspiring and uplifting video! From the two videos, I’ve come to believe that Chris Sarra is an excellent mentor and example of what can be accomplished by an Aboriginal if they believe in themselves and go for their dreams – sending a huge message of hope for Aboriginal children! He talks about the crucial role of the teacher furnishing or stifling dreams!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPOFPgIpGdY&feature=related[/youtube]

These videos and others like them that I’ve uncovered will make excellent additions to the research I’ve collected about my topic on Elders & Technology & the many dimensions that encompasses including how Elders relate to the youth today.

Social Justice & Human Rights

SOCIAL JUSTICE & HUMAN RIGHTS: MICHAEL ECKFORD aka ANDERSON

In my searches I found a great little video about the need for improved social justice and human rights in Australia. Michael Eckford, an Aboriginal, aka Anderson, describes Australia as a country that has merged in to a culturally diverse country but this could be seen as actually returning to its former multicultural state prior to European & British invasion. Cultural and ritual tolerance as with multiculturalism, there are many different cultural groups that have different ceremonies, traditions and rituals and there are protocols set in place. Talks about how there needs to be new laws created to address the multiculturalism in Australia since many other ethnic and Indigenous groups from Asia, Europe, Africa, etc. have immigrated to Australia and now call it home. He stresses the need for greater tolerance and no acknowledgement of racism via the radio, newspapers or other media.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptN00Q1frFw[/youtube]

Another interesting video caught my eye on this topic. A Maasai Elder, Ole Suya from Simanjiro, speaks on IPR’s.

Maasai Elder on Intellectual Property Rights (English)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f7eSOoM6yM[/youtube]

These videos and others like them that I’ve uncovered will make excellent additions to the research I’ve collected about my topic on Elders & Technology & the many dimensions that encompasses.