http://www.indigenouspeople.net/

“A people who have a past, a history, and culture.

A culture with history will never die.

Conquered? Maybe.

Forgotten… Never!”

This website introduces arts, music, and poetry by the Native People. It also introduces literature by/about different indegenous cultures as each indegenous culture is unique in its own way.

What interested me the most about this website is the Stereotypes & Racism section. The section contains an archive of 42 YouTube videos related to racism against indegenous peoples in the historical context. Not only the history of stereotypes and racism occured in North America, it also introduces racism against the Native people in Mexico as well as those in South America.

The following YouTube is one of the video clips from the archive.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv1hWRqf0ko[/youtube]

“Each indigenous culture is distinct and unique. While many peoples may express similar worldviews and a common indigenous identity, their cultures are nonetheless based on different histories, environments, and creative spirits”.

http://cwis.org/

“We are dedicated to a wider understanding and appreciation of the ideas and knowledge of indegenous peoples and the social, economic and political realities of indegenous nations”.

CWIS is an independent, non-profit indegenous research and education organization in the United States. The center pays a lot of attention to the publication and distribution of literature written by leading indegenous contributors from Fourth World Nations. Its purpose is to establish connections among nations and between nations and the States.

The CWIS website provides information on education programs for the First Nations in the States, including certificate programs and special institutes for the Indegenous People.

It has an archive for the Fourth World Journal. The FWJ contains events and activities among the nations and discusses environmental, political, historical, economical, and social issues/changes as well as arts and traditional knowledge.

It also has a book store where you can purchase books about indegenous peoples.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QlUcg_CqnA[/youtube]

“Children learn sterotypes and attitudes about race from their parents, caretakers and the world around them” (Linn & Paussaint, 1999).

There have been over 1000 movies about Native Indians produced in Hollywood for the last 100 years. Disney  also has produced animations about First Nations, such as Peter Pan and Pocahontas. Also, Charlie Brown and Popeye have some scenes that have American Indians in them. Most of these animations potentially produce negative associations with Indigenous people. In most of these films, the Indigenous people are portrayed as dumb, stubborn, and treacherous. In Popeye particularly, the Native Indians are portrayed as savages who don’t trust anyone and are violent.

This YouTube video introduces couple of animations that have American Indians depicted in wrong ways. They give wrong information to children and as a result, children who watch these animations could have stereotypes against the First Nations. I didn’t realize that the animations produced the stereotypes against the First Nations until I watched this clip. It’s a little shocking and sad that these popular animations can negatively affect children’s thoughts.

http://archives.cbc.ca/society/education/topics/692/

This website is a CBC archive of Canada’s residential schools. It has a total of 22 video clips from 1955 to 2002 which are related to residential schooling in Canada.

There is a brief description of what each video clip is talking about, some of the facts that we don’t know, and comments that people have left after watching/listening to the clips.

As I mentioned before, I would like to do some research on residential schools in Canada, so this archive will definitely be beneficial to my research topic.

More interestingly, this archive contains and suggests interesting writing topics for History or English classes. The topics are classified according to grades. It also provides brief history, the purpose and the outline of what students should expect to do, and the rubric. The CBC website is good for History/English/Social Studies teachers who teach the history of Canada.

http://bill-shiftingother.blogspot.com/

This blog introduces popular movies that have portrayed Native Americans.

As the only movie I watched from the list here is Dances with Wolves, there are some that I would like to include on my ‘must-watch’ list. 🙂

The blog was originally created to explore the connections between Native American history and cinema. I was surprised to see how many Native American movies have been produced since 1950’s. According to the blogger, representations of Native Americans in popular film have undergone a drastic shift. However, there still remains stereotypes against them in the movies. He also argues that the recent films created by Native Americans themselves can help people have less prejudice against them as well as provide an optimistic view, not just in a native community but also in general.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8N8isFZMs8[/youtube]

TechFeather Program is a program for Aboriginal youth to have access to technology, such as computers, software, and technical skills, to help bridge the digital divide.

This YouTube video introduces what the TechFeather Program is and who the contributors are through their speech.

For more information on TechFeather Program, you can go to the following website for support:

http://www.compucorps.org/index.php/lang-en/the-programs/techfeather

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMDpeRJsksI[/youtube]

The Georgia Straight interviews Sue Hanley, the coordinator of the First Nations Technology Council, regarding the digital divide. She answers the following questions:

1. What is the digital divide between First Nations and other British Columbians?

2. How will erasing the digital divide improve the lives of First Nations people in BC?

According to her, the digital divide is “whether or not a community has access to broadband connectivity”. It’s related to the availability of computers in the community, the availability of technical support, and the availability of user skills.

She also says that erasing the digital divide will help the First Nations have access to health services that they don’t have in remote communities and offer many opportunities for education. Most First Nations students leave their communities when they are in Gr.8 or 9, but the implementation of technology in their communities can help them stay in their communities and accomplish their education. This will provide a possibility for the positive future for them.

I like how she says at the end that “technology is a wonderful tool to revitalize culture and language and […] every aspect of community life will change when the digital divide is bridged”. 

Once I watched the video clip, I became curious about what the First Nations Technology Council (FNTC) does for the First Nations communities in BC.

Here’s the link to the FNTC website: http://fnbc.info/fntc

The Council provides connectivity, technical support, skill development, resources, and news that the First Nations communities can share with each other.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1RUesqalw4[/youtube]

Related article: http://www.straight.com/article-254208/first-nations-kids-need-net

This YouTube video clip has the interview with Denise Williams, a youth initiative officer for the First Nations Education Steering Committe. She talks about how Internet technology can help First Nations students to be better achievers.

She answers the following three questions:

1. How would you like to see Internet technology be used in First Nations education over the coming years?

2. How does the digital divide manifest itself in First Nations schools in BC?

3. How does Internet technology improve education for First Nations students?

Williams says that Internet technology can bridge gaps between students with more experience with technology and those with less experience with technolgy. Also, it can help connect to teachers all over the world to share resources and give Aboriginal students opportunities to continue their education. As education shifts from paper work to more technology, the First Nations students can now stay in their community and achieve their educational goals. They can also have information-based careers that they want. There are many opportunities given to them and Internet technology will build and show different aspect of the world.

http://culturerhetoricandtechnology.blogspot.com/2009/10/on-indigeneity.html

This is an article from a blog that I searched using the keyterm ‘Indigeneity and technology’. It was very interesting to read because one of the readings that we did for Week 2 was from Pamela Wilson and Michelle Stewart’s Global Indigenous Media: Cultures, Poetics, and Politics.

This blog was created in 2009 by one of the graduate students taking a graduate-level English Studies course at Illinois State University. The title of the course is “Technology in English Studies: Race, Rhetoric and Technology”. Although the focus of this course is mostly on English language, this particular article on indigeneity is interesting to read.

The article starts with a question “What does the word “Indigenous” mean?” and then gives the definition of the word described by Wilson and Stewart. Then, throughout the article, the author expresses her opinions and critiques the book.

Using this article, I can briefly get ideas of what the book is discussing. The article particularly focuses on the Aboriginal women using technology which could help me do research on Aboriginal gender issues with regards to technology.

[References]

Global Indigenous Media: Cultures, Poetics, and Politics, eds. Pamela Wilson and Michelle Stewart, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2008, 89-108.