Category Archives: Module 3

First Nations Technology Council

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The First Nations Technology Council is a section of the First Nations British Columbia website specifically focussing on the potential of technology in First Nation communities.  Although much of the site is dedicated to expanding technology, much of the time this is connectivity in the form of high speed internet, there are other technology related undertakings that are of interest.  The Youth Cafe area provides links to aboriginal youth and contains some interesting discussion related to ongoing projects.  This discussion includes youth working with elders to record Aboriginal culture and history as well as teach elders the use of technology.

There is much more info on this site relating to policy regarding implementation, community plans for technology implementation, technical support and application forms.  Overall this is a valuable site for Aboriginal communities who already have technology in place and even more valuable for those looking to implement technology into their communities.

Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education.

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Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education is on online journal focusing on global indigenous issues, particularly with regard to education.  I found a number of articles that may be of interest to students in ETEC 521 and module 3 in particular.

Here’s a link to an article in the journal: “Reclaiming Indigenous Representations and Knowledges” by Judy Iseke-Barnes & Deborah Danard.  This article discusses the use of the Internet by scholars, artists and activists to reclaim indigenous knowledge and to critique the “dominant discourse”.

Here’s another article: “Increasing School Success among Aboriginal Students: Culturally Responsive Curriculum or Macrostructural Variables Affecting Schooling” by Yatta Kanu.

This journal is a great resource. As well, some of the contributing authors (such as Judy Iseke-Barnes) are worth exploring for additional relevant content.

Illustrating post-secondary options and outcomes to Aboriginal Youth

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It is not uncommon for high school students to be unsure about their options after graduation. For Aboriginal students, who may not have seen traditional ways of knowing or learning reflected in their school experience (As per Dr. Marker’s Four Winding Paths up the Mountain), post-secondary options can seem even more murky and the benefits and outcomes of higher education might not be immediately apparent. For students who successfully achieve their high-school education (or to inspire students who may be faltering in the later high school years) there are various opportunities to inspire and connect youth to college experiences as well as showcase Aboriginal role models in higher education settings and the workplace. In British Columbia, the provincial government connects Aboriginal youth to internship opportunities through their Aboriginal Youth Internship Program. College Horizons is an independent program in the United Stats that supports both undergraduate and graduate students to help navigate the “jungle” of admissions process and related requirements of college.  Jared Whitney provides an article reflecting Indigenous perspectives on College admissions (via College Horizons). There are many other examples, many individual provinces and states have programs along with national-level opportunities.

NEC Native Education College in Vancouver

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The NEC Native Education College (formerly Native Education Center) in Vancouver opened it’s doors in 1967 and is British Columbia’s largest private Aboriginal college.  The NEC is governed by the NEC Native Education Society, a non-profit charitable organization that assumed governance of the institution in 1979. NEC provides an avenue for culturally responsive post-secondary education for Aboriginal students grounded in it’s physical setting as well as it’s philosophical underpinnings. in 1988/89, Dr. Celia Haig-Brown, currently faculty of York University, conducted fieldwork towards a critical ethnography of the institution to identify the meanings and processes of First Nations control of First Nations education. The published ethnography, Taking Control: Power and Contradiction in First Nations Adult Education (UBC Press) is a thorough read and I recommend it to any person with an interest in First Nations’ educational issues.

We Shall Remain

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We Shall Remain is a five-part television series (7.5 hours total) which portrays Native American perspectives in the teaching of American history.

The series includes details not commonly found in traditional American socio/history teachings, including violent resistance towards geographical expulsion and opposition to cultural oppression. You can stream the full series online. The website also outlines the program’s new media engagement strategy, involving web-exclusive videos on topics such as language revitalization, tribal sovereignty, and native enterprise. A teacher’s guide is also included to help bridge new media through to classroom learning.

Cultural Survival

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Cultural Survival is an organization that works worldwide with indigenous communities to help defend their lands, languages and customs.  Their website includes features of some of their work such as projects like “Celebrating Native American Language Revitalization in Film” as well as publications and opportunities to participate in some of their partnership activities with indigenous peoples.

Revitalization of indigenous languages is a big part of what Cultural Survival does. They help create small community-based radio stations that broadcast in local languages and also help aggregate language-based resources for indigenous communities.

This website does not have extensive academic articles, although these may be available by subscribing to their publications.  I think it has some value for anyone looking for examples of language and cultural revitalization to support their research into these areas.

DEB (M3-#3): Aboriginal Perspectives

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http://www3.onf.ca/enclasse/doclens/visau/index.php?mode=home&language=english

This website introduces features National Film Board of Canada documentaries by and about Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. It’s created especially for high school and upper elementary school students and teachers to assist them in understanding Aboriginal history, arts, culture, aspects, and life. One can also learn about past and current issues relating to the lives of Aboriginal People through excerpts or films. The archives are grouped according to the following themes:

  • The arts
  • Cinema and representation
  • Colonialism and racism
  • History and Origins
  • Indigenous knowledge
  • Sovereignty and resistance
  • Youth

What caught into my eyes was Our Nationhood under the teme, Sovereignty and Resistance. As I’m learning about sovereignty in the other course that I’m taking, the difference between the Trudeau government’s perspective and the First Nations’ perspective on the issue of Aboriginal rights is a very sensitive issue to discuss.

DEB (M3-#2): Terri Janke and Company

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http://www.terrijanke.com.au/

While searching for the IPR, I was able to discover this website by Terri Janke.
She is the Australian solicitor director of Terri Janke and Company Pty Ltd. who was born in an Aboriginal community in Cairns.
She regonizes that Aboriginal people all over the world “share not only common life challenges; but opportunities in sharing their traditional knowledge, culture and extraordinary talents with the wider community to mutual benefit”.
In this sense, her company’s goal is to build “a culture or respect where knowledge and innovation work together”.
She founded the firm in 2000 and it’s a 100% owned Indigenous company.

With others, she also wrote and published “Our Culture: Our Culture” which discusses and reports topics on Australian indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights. To tell you the truth, it consists of about 380 pages of information on IPR, so I just skimed through it but it gives valuable information on IPR.

This is the paper: OUR CULTURE: OUR CULTURE

SAY Magazine

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SAY Magazine is a magazine targeting Aboriginal youth (there are Canadian and American versions available).  Their has a variety of resources including the latest content from the magazine, news, and links among other things.  There are also biographies of the SAY Ambassadors.  These are Aboriginal youth and adults who have seen success in various areas (i.e. musicians, actors, filmmakers etc.).  This website is created to empower Aboriginal youth and make them aware of opportunities for their future.  I noticed there seemed to be a large emphasis on postsecondary opportunities.  The links section was probably the most comprehensive I’ve seen in any Aboriginal site I have explored in this assignment.  These were broken into smaller categories (i.e. career, health, arts, sports, education, etc.) and included aboriginal and non-aboriginal links for Aboriginal youth.

DEB (M3-#1): Aboriginal Art Online

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http://www.aboriginalartonline.com

Aboriginal Art Online is a website which introduces and sells contemporary Aboriginal art all over the world. They work directly with Aboriginal community art centres, so people visiting this website can select from authetic works at very decent prices.

If you click Resources and Links section, it also discusses copyright and IP protection for Indigenous heritage. As the issue of whether there is adequate protection for indigenous arts and IP is an on-going topic among the First Nations artists and communities, this section helps both Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people to gain some information on IP and how to protect indigenous IP.