C.A. Bowers

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http://www.cabowers.net/
This is the web-site of C.A. Bowers who is the author of one of the reading materials for Module 1. The site provides useful resources for critical pedagogy and ecological education. C.A. Bowers seems to be as a key figure in critical pedagogy. His ecological and critical thinking is suggestive of indigenous education. To my understanding of some of his articles available on this site, Bowers’ critical pedagogy is in a unique and alternative position, even within the field of (Marxism-influenced) critical pedagogy, in that his approach aims to challenge Western-orientedness existing in the tradition of critical pedagogy.
Ky.

Module 1: Being Indigenous

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http://www.anth.ubc.ca.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/fileadmin/user_upload/anso/Faculty_Accounts/shaylih_muehlmann/Articles/Muehlmann-AA-2009.pdf

Here is an article that made me a little angry.  While it is from Mexico, the same mentality can be seen in Canada also.

The short of the long is that a group of indigenous Cucapa people had been denied their indigenous fishing rights on the Colorado River Delta in north west Mexico.  The government cited environmental devastation due to damming of the river upstream in the United States.  Despite clauses in the Mexican constitution about “indigenous rights”, the Cucapa continued to be denied fishing rights.  Finally, their lawyer suggested that it was their appearance that was causing them problems–they looked, sounded and behaved like Mexicans and not like the stereotypical Cucapas.

The article goes into the historical flip-flopping of expectations placed on the indigenous people of Mexico, and these expectations do parallel Canada and the United States.  An expectation of assimilation changed to a program of multiculturalism has indigenous people with one foot in the past and their traditional culture, and one foot in the present and mainstream culture.  This is a typical outcome for many minority groups in multicultural nations, but it’s particularly problematic for indigenous people because of the rights they have and the expectation mainstream society has on them.  Many people in mainstream society feel that if they receive special rights, they should look, behave and speak like their ancestors.  So once again, they are being dictated to by the mainstream.

Aiming for Culturally Neutral ET (Allen Module 1 #1)

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In Module 1, we were asked to consider whether or not technology is culturally neutral. My observations at this early stage suggest it is not. That’s not to say it cannot get there eventually or at least get closer.

Educational technology can get closer by embracing forms of inclusivity and including cultural variables. An article in the Australian Journal of Educational Technology (McLoughan & Oliver, 2000), provides design suggestions that include emphasis on flexibility and authenticity as well as variances for individualized learning goals and assessment tools.

On a more practical level, the Government of Queensland Dept. of Education Productive Pedagogies website provides a Classroom Reflection Manual with several concrete examples to ensure “recognition and value of differences” in learning activities.

The site identifies 5 important considerations that help teachers recognize and value difference.

  • Cultural Knowledge
  • Inclusivity
  • Narrative
  • Group Identity
  • Active Citizenship

Suggestions include having students decide what conceptualizations are most relevant to them in the context of their identity and surroundings. One example provided involves having students select and choose appropriate clip-art representations for a class Mother’s Day project. While this site is aimed at elementary educators, it appears to have application in secondary, post secondary, and informal adult learning environments.

Module 1: Indegenous Environmental Network

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http://www.ienearth.org/

The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) is a website that aims  to “protect the environmental, cultural, social, and human rights of Indigenous Peoples”.  The website is American, but is inclusive to all indigenous groups in North America, and could readily be used by other indigenous groups through out the world.  The site high lights key environmental issues in North America and provides users with scientific, cultural, spiritual and historical information on the area.  They also organize campaigns in order to prevent environmental problems or rectify wrongs of the past.

The current focus of the IEN seems to be the Alberta Oil Sands.  Several articles look at the different issues surrounding the problem and some articles discuss with the local First Nations populations are doing in attempts to rectify the situation.  Interestingly, they also document the work they have done in conjunction with similar organizations (not indigenous ones, but environmental ones) in Norway, Demark, Russia, Finland and The US to convince state governments to impose an international moratorium on offshore drilling for oil in the Arctic.  I wasn’t able to see what success they have had convincing these governments to leave the last untouched source of desperately needed fossil fuels, but with such international solidarity between the interest groups, one can hope that governments will listen.

KTA

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http://www.kta.on.ca/pdf/AboriginalCultureinaDigitalAge.pdf

KTA is a Canadian consulting and public interest research organization that provides advisory, facilitation and negotiations services for their clients and advances new policy thinking and ideas. Their clients include a number of organizations associated with Aboriginal peoples namely Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Foundation, Métis Nation of Ontario, Office of Indian Residential School, and Canadian Heritage.

One of its current projects is with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada on developing a research paper on coordination and policy alignment of early learning and child care. A document that I found pertains to Aboriginal culture in the digial age. The objective of this paper is to bring a holisti perspective to the implications of ICT for Aboriginal ways of living, thinking, and knowing. I am particularly interested in paper because there is a section that discusses technology and Aboriginal children. Although I have not stated my research topic at this point, I am quite interested in doing the area of Aboriginal school children and youth, and the effects of technology. With further research, I am hoping to be able to narrow down my topic.

Module 1: Endangered Species in Canada

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http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct0/index_e.cfm

This site has really grabbed my interest!  The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada has the daunting and important task of evaluating the health of the various species of wildlife in Canada.  It is a very interesting approach to what has likely always been a very hard-science based practice.  Scientists tracking the health of the species that we rely on in Canada likely realized very quickly that their data did not go back far enough to make informed decisions, but they also realized that for the health of some species, decisions had to be made!

Aboriginal traditional knowledge (ATK) is incorporated into their annual assessments.  The website has information on what ATK is, and even states that the meaning of ATK varies depending on what region one is researching.  The assessment process for determining the health of a species is listed and in that list is the protocol around using ATK.  This protocol includes cultural sensitivity due to the spiritual nature of the information.  The site is run by the Government of Canada and so this representation of ATK is in my opinion a grand tipping of the hat, so to speak, to First Nations cultures and their vast knowledge of the land.

Module 1: Aboriginal Mapping Network

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http://www.nativemaps.org/

Here is a website attempting to marry up the disparity between the affordances of the web with the indigenous connection to the land.  Using traditional knowledge and the Geographical Information System, hunting areas, fishing areas, ceremonial grounds etc. are being plotted and connected to the history and current practices they represent.  The site also provides scholarly information on the cultural importance of the land for the various First Nations cultures.  One contributor to the site sees the project as connecting people with the land and connecting the past with the present.

Keepers of the Earth

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http://www.firstpeoplesworldwide.org/default.asp      

While searching for the book Keepers of the Earth, by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac,  I found this website for a fundraising organization created by First Nations people to support First Nations initiatives world-wide.  While it seems to be in its infancy in terms of depth of resources, especially as it pertains to young children, which is what I’m looking for, it does present a great many articles, videos etc. on First Nations perspectives on climate and environmental issues.  This would be a usseful resource for high school students especially since much of it is created by and for First Nations peoples.  It also struck me that creating an online component to supportand update  the classic text, Keepers of the Earth, that I have found useful in teaching both Science and Social Studies would be an excellent project.

Caduto, Michael J. and Joseph Bruchac (1997 )  Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activites for Children.  Fulcrum Publishing.

Module 1: Miromaa

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Miromaa: Aboriginal Language and Technology Center

http://www.miromaa.com.au/

Every two weeks, an aboriginal language is lost somewhere in the world (Miromaa, 2011, May 22, 2011).  With this startling statistic, The Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology Center hopes to “reclaim, preserve, and maintain our traditional languages” through the use of software groups to record aboriginal languages in their oral and written form in one area.  It also provides information about training opportunities for users of the software.  People interested in this software would be language specialists of a given language (fluent speakers), language centers and academic linguists and researchers.

Claiming to be “modern technology for ancient times”, Miromaa may be an over exaggeration of the importance of this type of software in the quest to maintain aboriginal culture.  According to Howe (2000), “tribalism must be practiced.  It must be lived and experienced” (24).  Used to revitalize a language, and as a resource for speakers wishing to brush up or look things up, it is a necessary tool in today’s shrinking world, however, the language must still be used to stay alive.  It needs to be on street signs, spoken in homes, used in meetings and at ceremonies.  A website as an archive will do only that—archive the language so it isn’t completely erased from cultural memory.

Language Preservation and Revitalization Through Technology

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The goal of my research will be similar to Nicola’s: examining ways that indigenous groups are using technology to help preserve and revitalize languages. I had the opportunity to work for the Ktunaxa Nation Tribal Council for a year writing proposals to generate funding to support their wide variety of projects. A couple of the proposals were to support the preservation and revitalization of their almost extinct isolate language. Both proposals were funded: one for doing an inventory of fluent speakers and the other to initiate the development of a high speed broadband system to connect their five rural communities to support language preservation.  I ended up writing the final report for the fluent speaker project as the Ktunaxa researcher hired to do the work left the community after the interviews were completed and the data was compiled. At that time in 2002 there were only about 36 fluent speakers alive, however, today I understand the total has dwindled to about 20.

At the end of 2002 I moved back to Calgary and became involved in mainstream technical post-secondary education; however the challenge of the dwindling Ktunaxa fluent speaker population was always in the back of my mind. Now with my enrolment in this course, I started to think about how the Ktunaxa Nation language preservation and broadband project had evolved. I reconnected with my former boss and realized that finding out more about how indigenous people use technology to preserve and revitalize their languages is something that I would like to know more about.