Mapuche International Solidarity Network is a blog that seeks to inform, assist and connect with the Mapuche struggle and the political movement. The authors of this blog are helping local communities to make media, (videos and music) and share it on the Web.
Global voices: is a community of more than 300 bloggers and translators around the world who work together to share reports from blogs and citizen media of people who are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media. Its goals are:
• Aggregate, curate, and amplify the global conversation online. Through the site, they develop tools, institutions and relationships that will help all voices, everywhere, to be heard.
• Call attention to the most interesting conversations and perspectives emerging from citizens’ media around the world by linking to text, photos, podcasts, video and other forms of grassroots citizens’ media.
• Facilitate the emergence of new citizens’ voices through training, online tutorials, and publicizing the ways in which open-source and free tools can be used safely by people around the world to express themselves.
• Advocate for freedom of expression around the world and protect the rights of citizen journalists to report on events and opinions without fear of censorship or persecution.
Aboriginal Media Lab (AML) is an organization that intends to explore the aboriginal expression through media. It’s aim is to “promote aboriginal leadership and excellence in today’s knowledge-based economies” through the implementation of projects related to cultural expression of aboriginal groups and the promotion of aboriginal research methodologies. Their goals are:
As I have extended my research for my final paper to Indigenous Elders world-wide with a focus on Canadian Indigenous Elders, I came across this site and I was attracted to what this site had to offer. I was excited by what I found!
The site is sectioned and provides information about Australian Aborigines including their: History, Migration, Appearance, Clothing, Languages, Diet, Society, Marriage, Homes, Land, Culture, Flag, Government, Law, Games, Dance, Music, Art & Design, Tattoo, Death, Reincarnation, Spiritual, Magic, Initiations, Elders, Lore, Message Sticks, Caves, Bora Ground, Shaman, Aboriginal Dreamtime. The site also provides links to Australian Aborigines Google Videos. There’s also a list of links at the bottom of the page that allow you to explore further or direct back to the AUSTRALIA INDEX.
What I like about this site is the detailed history it provides; it allows you to picture what it must have been like for Aboriginals in the past. I also like that it includes all the relevant information for all four modules, not just Module 4. Really awesome site – definitely worth checking out!
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.
Radio Mapuche is a site where we can find podcasts about different topics related to the current situation between Chilean state and Mapuche people. Radio Mapuche presents different interviews to Mapuche people and academics that analyze the current situation of this culture, news and music. The podcasts are presented in different languages (e.g. German, English, and Spanish). The issues presented in the podcasts are linked to Mapuche demands for self-determination and protection of their rights.
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!!!
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.
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 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.