Category Archives: Module 4

Azkintuwe

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Azkintuwe is a newspaper that develops journalism from Mapuche Nation with a multicultural perspective. It is a network of journalists who address topics related to social activity, cultural, economic and political development of the Mapuche people in particular and the peoples in general. This newspaper is based on democracy and the right of peoples to communicate. It encourages media pluralism, tolerance and solidarity among peoples. For this newspaper communication, facilitated by new information technologies, plays an important social role.

 

Indigenous Education and Environmental Issues in Saskatchewan

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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!!!

Module 4- A relationship between science and the natural world

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Here are a list of videos that I found really interesting outlining Aboriginal astronomy.  The history of the relationship between oral tradition and astronomy is presented visually.  Such a resource would be useful within the classroom within activities that would require students to create visual representations of traditional narratives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAYwxZ4PRlo

Aboriginal Family Issues

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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!

Dr. Lorna Williams speaks on Aboriginal Education

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Dr. Lorna Williams is one of the leading experts on Aboriginal knowledge, learning, and teaching. She is currently the Research Chair in Indian Knowledge at U Vic. This audio recording is from the First Nations Education Steering Committee’s 2010 Conference.

In this powerful speech Dr. Williams discusses Aboriginal knowledge and ways of knowing. She discusses the ideas of: responsibility and relationship, and how these ideas relate to the holistic ideologies of Indigenous ways of learning and knowing.

She defines educational excellence as “knowing that one has the skills, gifts, knowledge, wisdom, and strength, to look after myself, my family, my community, and the land.”

She also discusses Aboriginal education’s cyclical, lifelong, communal nature. She explains how each and every one of us has gifts that need to be discovered and nurtured by all members of the community. Education is a responsibility that must be shared by all members of the community.

World Summit on the Information Society

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The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), sponsored by the UN and mentioned in Ginsburg’s (2008) chapter Rethinking the Digital Age, was held with two objectives at hand: to develop and foster a political statement and take concrete steps in establishing foundations for equal and equitable Information Societies across the globe (Geneva, 2003); and to implement the plan along with developing solutions and agreements for internet governance and mechanisms of financing the solution (Tunis, 2005).  The summit addressed the paradoxical realities of the unfolding digital revolution and the widening digital divide. Forums were held in 2010 and 2011 to follow-up on the implementation of WSIS.

Articles relating to the participation of indigenous peoples in the information society appear in the outcome documents for WSIS. The Statement of Principles notes that “In the evolution of the Information Society, particular attention must be given to the special situation of indigenous peoples, as well as to the preservation of their heritage and their cultural legacy.” Action items include developing ways to educate and train interested indigenous groups so they may participate in the information society, along with the creation of content that values and reaffirms indigenous knowledge and traditions, noting that this has the potential to strengthen communities. The plan also calls for action to enhance indigenous peoples’ capacity to create content in their own languages, and cooperation with indigenous groups to enable effective and beneficial use of traditional knowledge within information societies.

Module 4: Mythology Proving Science

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TEK and Science

This video is made by a caucasian biology teacher in Alaska who writes curriculum that integrates TEK and science.  He is a bit of a rambler, but near the end he links supposedly superstitious behavious and myths with scientific evidence.  The two examples he uses is that every 25/30 years, the Inuit Shaman would tell the village to burn all of their fishing gear at the end of a fishing season.  Given the scarcity of resources to make this gear, this would seem preposterous.  However, they would make new fishing gear, and not to catch the same fish.  They would alternate between crustaceans and vertebrates every 20-30 years as their main sustenance.  Modern science now shows that the Arctic ocean goes through 20/30 year temperature cycles that influence whether crustaceans or vertebrates flourish.  The Inuit would fish for whatever fish was plentiful.  This explains how the crab fishery is in ruins today–the Western market demanded it when the natural stocks were low.  Now they have been fished to the point where they may not recover. 

While I love the beauty of tradition and science corroborating each other, his description lacks insight into the spiritual nature of the myths and behaviours.  Many of the comments about the video are positive, but question the “superstitions” of the Inuit.  Being that he is caucasian, he likely isn’t versed on the spiritual nature of the myths and behaviours, but this is such an important concept for the Inuit, and given that it is brought up by viewers, it does need to be addressed properly so that the behaviours/myths aren’t “explained away” or commodified and dismissed as superstitions.

Aboriginal Education in Canada

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This two part series offers an hour long panel discussion on Aboriginal Education in Canada. While it is filmed in Ontario it discusses ideas and concepts of a national perspective. Part 1: Aboriginal Education Past and Present discusses the history of education for Aboriginal children in Canada, from residential schooling to current realities for Aboriginal students being educated in the Canadian public school system and the struggles they endure as a result. Part 2: Solutions for the Future looks at specific self-governed reserve schools, and also offers some good examples of how public schools can do a better job at integrating aboriginal curriculum into the daily curriculum.

Native Appropriations Blog

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Native Appropriations is a blog with sharp (sometimes witty) social commentary on the ways in which Indigenous peoples of North America are portrayed in the imagery and imagination of popular media. Written Adrienne Keene, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a doctoral candidate at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, the blog is updated on a regular basis and because it is a fairly well-read blog, the debate that occurs in the post comments is often rich and sometimes fiery.

Keene was recently featured on Al Jazeera English’s social media program The Stream, in an episode titled “Don’t Trend On My Culture,” discussing cultural misappropriation:

http://youtu.be/rPyPLmmtcig

 

 

 

Module 4-Empowering Aboriginal Youth with technology

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The Eel Ground First Nation community in New Brunswick does not only provide technology incorporated learning opportunities to their students, they empower them to take charge of their own learning and learn with technology by manipulating various technology tools themselves.  It is because of the focus on life-long learning with technology that warranted them one of Canada’s most technically advanced schools by the SchoolNet organization.

Here is a link tho the Eel Ground First Nation school:  http://www.eelgroundschool.ca/

Here is a link to a government announcement on the award:  http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/scr/at/nwrm/gn/efn-eng.asp