I decided to look at the Kamloops Indian Bands website in some more detail. The Kamloops Indian Band or the Tk’emlúps Indian Band are one of several groups that are part of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) nation.

Their website can be viewed below:

http://www.tkemlups.ca/

Tk’emlúps is the Secwepemc word meaning “where the rivers meet” because their territory is at the meeting of the North and South Thompson rivers. The fact that the Kamloops Indian Band (KIB) now has changed its name on its website to Tk’emlúps shows how progressive they are. Perhaps they are trying to redefine for themselves what was taken during colonialism by changing their name. The website refers to Tk’emlupsemc territory. I did some checking and their legal name according to the Government is still KIB.

The website is very extensive, well designed and contains a great wealth of information. This site is divided up into the following main categories:

1. Our Story – contains history, news releases, past events, reports
2. Social Sector – contains education, housing, finance, and other issues for member of the KIB.
3. Lands, Planning, Resources – This is the government part of the site that deals with plans, land, leasing, by-laws. These links are partly for land leases and administrational uses.
4. Events – upcoming events to participate in
5. There also links for the Chief and council and a secure login link for band members.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FTpilejpQM[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSaGo1Sk-Xo&feature=related[/youtube]

One thing I have noticed is that there is not alot of information on information on Secwepemc history on their website. They only have a few paragraphs and these are not critical of colonialism. In-fact, so far I have not found any parts of the site to contain information that is critical of the way the dominant culture historically teated the Secwepemc people. Why? I am not really sure, other than the front page has a focus on business development. I am also not seeing any maps showing their territory. I can’t help thinking that this has to do with something the Howe (1998) mentioned: publishing information on the web may hurt you case in court over unsigned land-claims.

There  is a link to the Secwepemc Museum on their site that takes you to http://www.secwepemcmuseum.com/. Here we find a little more detail on the culture; but again, I find little that is critical on whites. Again I have to ask why?

In the conclusion to Module 3 we are asked to consider holistic education ” beyond Indigenous communities ….. Indigenous education is not simply for Indigenous peoples”.

When viewing the challenges and concerns faced by the youths profiled in the module’s film’s it became apparent that these are challenges we all ought to be concerned with.

The Holistic Education Network of Tasmania stresses the notion that “every person and every student” can benefit from holistic education.

Holistic Education Network

This site provides information about holistic education principles and links to educational models.

I have been checking out the web sites for the two Indian Bands that are in Kamloops and close by the school I work at. They are:

Tk’emlúps Indian Band (TIB)

http://www.tkemlups.ca/

Whispering Pines / Clinton Indian Band (WP/CIB) home of the Pellt’iq’t People

http://www.wpcib.com/

In another post, I will examine these sites in a deeper way.

UN

The United Nations had the Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples adopted by General Assembly Resolution on September 13, 2007. This declaration of the General Assembly is not legally binding, but it does serve as an acknowledgement of how important Indigenous peoples rights are. It also recognizes that there have been many injustices that Indigenous Peoples have gone through in the past and present. The full text of this can be found at:

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/drip.html

Unfortunately there were four important colonial countries that voted against this: Canada, New Zealand, United States and Austrialia. In 2010, Canada has now given its support to the declaration. The Canadian government had previously said that it was not compatible with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that the Charter does not protect discrimination of Aboriginals anyway.