Category Archives: Module 3

Hip Hop Storytellers

Leave a reply

Here is a link to Innovation Canada, specifically to a video titled “Hip Hop Storytellers” which showcases a project launched by Charity Marsh at the University of Regina where young aboriginals use new media (OK, moderately new technology like turntables are involved as well) to tell their stories.  It has similarities to the two videos presented in Module 3, and it is closely related to my research topic, which is urban aboriginals and identity.

This is another related page on the website: “An Aboriginal Spin on Hip Hop” as well as a few other topics that show examples of excellence in research in Canada, which is part of the mandate of this site.

Fedcan Blog

Leave a reply

Here’s a link to a page on the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences blog (Fedcan blog).  The article I have directly hyperlinked to was written by Martin J. Cannon and is called “Changing the Subject in Teacher Education: Indigenous, Diasporic and Settler Colonial Relations.”  It discusses a topic that I thought was relevant to Module 3 – namely decolonization as a non-indigenous issue where “settlers” are asked to confront their own relationship with colonization, instead of viewing it as strictly an indigenous concern.

This article is part of a series presented on this blog on Indigenizing the Academy and Indigenous Education and is loaded with indigenous content and links to resources.

Module 3- The state of Aboriginal learning in Canada: A holistic approach to measuring success

Leave a reply

http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/StateofAboriginalLearning.html

This website contains information on the current initiative of assessing Aboriginal students holistically.  The core focus of the site is the 2009 report whereby a set of criteria for successful Aboriginal learning was created.  Based on the findings of the Canadian Council of Learning, Aboriginal learning environments must be:

  • Holistic (focuses on the emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual elements of the individual while stresses the relationship with the Creator)
  • Lifelong (Skills that are learned at an early age will be used until old age and transferred to following generations)
  • Experiential (Learning activities enable students to make connections to their lived experiences while providing them with opportunities to participate in traditions such as storytelling, meditation, and cultural ceremonies.)
  • Aboriginal language and culture must be emphasized during all learning activities.
  • Spiritual based (Students must be presented opportunities to partake in spiritual experiences which serve as “the pathways of knowledge”.  Examples of such are ceremonies, vision quests, and dreams.)
  • Community based (Education must be supported at the community level by parents, elders, the Aboriginal community as a whole.)
  • Incorporates both Aboriginal and Western knowledge. (Activities and educational practices are rooted in the best practices)

First Nations Technology Council

Leave a reply

The First Nations Technology Council of BC is a comprehensive website that provides many resources and support for First Nations communities to incorporate and integrate technology into their lives.

In this course we have had many discussions about how technology can be beneficial to First Nations communities if that technology is selected, used and decided upon by the First Nations community that opts to use it.

This site is almost like a one-stop shop for everything related to Technology and First Nations. There are a series of links to blogs, a Youth Cafe and a link to the Council’s Youtube channel, among many other useful technical, historical and social resources.

This site reflects how BC First Nations communities are organizing themselves and determining where technology fits in to their respective communities.

Waiting for Superman

Leave a reply

When perusing the web, I came across this article “Aboriginal Youth Waiting for their Superman” around aboriginal youth in Canada and what the lack of funding for education is doing for the youth in schools.  This seems pretty common and relevant for all students in the education system as of late.  The article brings to attention the lack of funding for basic accessibility of the Internet, computers and other technology which are not readily available within communities.  Why does it seem to still exist, this dual education modality?  Regular students vs. aboriginal? It is frustrating to read especially from an educators stand-point, If I have been given the opportunity to teach students of all race, colour, gender etc, and provide them with the best education that I can deliver, why isn’t the government supporting this with the necessary funding to do so?  If we as teachers don’t have the resources or means to provide an acceptable education, than yes, we will be struggling and the trickle down effect occurs right to the students.

Waiting for Superman is a 2010 documentary that provides a glimpse into what is happening in the American education system, and relates to the above article.

UBC First Nations Programs

Leave a reply

Interested in First Nations traditional learning methods and all the First Nations engagement literature I have seen here at UBC in Vancouver, I searched First Nations programs at UBC and came up with this list of programs at UBC that are “Aboriginal-specific or Aboriginal-focused”: http://www.longhouse.ubc.ca/program.htm

I find the First Nations Forestry Initiative particularly interesting since it aims to include traditional knowledge into the forestry curriculum. Additionally, the roster of faculty for this program is dominated by people of First Nations decent.

Collaboration: Working Together

Leave a reply

I have come across a few initiatives and projects on the web through various searches and find it admirable that there are initiatives out there (many publicly funded) that are grounded in collaborative efforts between Western and First Nations methods.

For example, the Canadian Boreal Initiative’s mandate is to “support effective land use planning exercises using science and traditional ecological knowledge and participating with governments and Aboriginal people.”

Initiatives like these are critical for society as a whole. Collaboration is both effective and inclusive. Working together to solve serious issues should be performed wherever possible.

“First Nations Seeking to cross the digtal divide”

Leave a reply

http://www.straight.com/article-240587/first-nations-seeking-cross-digital-divide

Came across this article that discuss the issue of remote communities and the challenges of not having proper broadband connections. The article written in 2009, brings attention to the issue about how First Nations shouldn’t have to choose having clean water or access to technologies, and that both are important to the infrastructure of the community.

One of the video clips within the article showcases an advocate, Dustin Rivers, and how he is using technologies to bridge the divide and reach within and out of the community. By using podcasting and other resources, he is able to reach out in his native language and English to raise various issues.

Question: Albeit, this article was only 2 years ago, is this still an issue within communities? Was the issue of choice ever discussed?

Nunavut Social History Database

Leave a reply

http://nunavutsocialhistory.arts.ubc.ca/mainFrame.html

This website, created by UBC students and faculty, contains abstracts of archival documents dealing with the social history of the Canadian Arctic.  The database covers one of the most interesting and heavily documented periods in the history of the Canadian Arctic: a period when Inuit moved from traditional hunting camps to settlements. It can be argued that this movement, commencing largely in the mid-1950s and lasting until the mid to late 1960s, is unique in terms of the international history of Aboriginal people.  The documents that are abstracted in this collection are from a limited number of archival collections that have very extensive records. The database contains over 10,000 entries.  The limitation of this database, however, is that it contains only abstracts of documents. It does not contain the full texts of any documents – these being the property of the archive in question. Readers wishing to see the complete record or obtain copies of these documents are referred to the archive from which the record is taken.

Module 3: Indi ge nous?

Leave a reply

http://www.indigenousportal.com/Climate-Change/Indigenous-Knowledge-and-Climate-Change-We-have-the-answers.html

Here is a YouTube video about indigeneity clashing with government policy in Africa.  The issue at hand here seems to be that because the governments in Africa are run by ethnic Africans, they view themselves as indigenous and that all Africans are the same and should be treated all the same.  This definition of Indigenous is too liberal for African people who truly are still living in the traditional methods of their ancestors.  I wish the video was longer or that there was more information on this!