Author Archives: lindsayn

Weblog of Websites for Module # 4

Similar to the weblog for Module 3, this entry focuses on Ojibway First Nations peoples and their connections to the natural environment. It presents situations for various Ojibway communities in Canada and the United States, which I can use in my paper for examples and case studies.

Website # 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMghd-EEd1U&list=PL1F62E598A14A0EE6

This video shows an interview with an elder, Joe Chosa, who is a cultural historian from Lac du Flambeau band of Ojibway First Nations in Wisconsin. In this film, Joe speaks about respect. He indicates that if young Indigenous people respect their environment, they will improve their quality of life and begin to respect other individuals. He also tells of his interaction with a group of Indigenous youth who thanked the Creator when harvesting rice from the landscape, which reflects their respect for the land. After discussing the importance of respect for the environment, he explains some words in Ojibway. This video provides a valuable example of an Ojibway elder’s perspective on environmental stewardship and respect.

Website # 2: http://www.lacduflambeauchamber.com/culture.htm

Continuing with the Lac du Flambeau Ojibway, this website presents a description of the band. It includes their history, fishing and harvesting practices, and key cultural events. It also provides a link to the following website, which presents information about the Lac du Flambeau Ojibway: http://www.ldftribe.com. Through this link, there are numerous webpages on environmental issues concerning natural resources and land management procedures. This link provides helpful information on Ojibway fisheries, reserve land quality and environmental management procedures.

Website # 3: http://www.magnetawanfirstnation.com

The website for the Magnetawa First Nation community presents a variety of information relevant to its local peoples, including current news, announcements and job openings. The following section of the website about history and culture is of interest for environmental matters: http://www.magnetawanfirstnation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=4. This webpage provides an overview of Ojibway culture, their clan organization, structure and traditions. The descriptions contain information relating to the peoples’ environmental connections, including their use of animal symbols and their management of Ojibway land. The following link on the website provides information on land agreements, specifically the Robinson Huron Treaty, which is valuable context for Ojibway connections to the environment: http://www.magnetawanfirstnation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=16.

Website # 4: http://www.nmai.si.edu/Environment/ojibwe/GetStarted.aspx

This webpage presents a variety of information on the Ojibway peoples, particularly those from Leech Lake, Minnesota. It focuses on their relationship with the environment, including their use of natural resources, current land issues, environmental knowledge and resource protection methods. The website presents information in a variety of formats, including maps, images, texts and questionnaires. It also provides videos with Ojibway community members who discuss environmental matters, which are particularly useful for demonstrating their relationship with the environment.

Website # 5: http://www.sandybayfirstnation.com/index.html

The website for the Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation provides valuable communications and resources for its residents. The description of the history of Sandy Bay is significant for environmental matters. This section can be found through the following link: http://www.sandybayfirstnation.com/History_of_Sandy_Bay.html. This webpage describes essential issues regarding reserve land jurisdiction, particularly with respect to problems with natural disasters and land quality. It also explains Sandy Bay Ojibway land practices, such as hunting and farming.

Weblog of Websites for Module # 3

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I decided to focus my paper on the Ojibway, otherwise spelt Ojibwe or Ojibwa, First Nations communities. This weblog concentrates on their relations with the environment, which is the topic of my essay. It begins with technology-based media that represents Ojibway culture, including information on their traditions related to the land. It then provides links related to Ojibway treaty rights and land claims, which have significance for their connections to the environment and territory-based rights.

Website # 1: http://www.ojibweculture.ca

The website for the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation provides information on the people of the Robinson Huron Treaty area in Ontario. This organization aims to preserve and protect Ojibwe culture. It provides information on cultural events and workshops, and ways to learn about the Ojibwe peoples. It also has learning resources for children, particularly an animation of Nanabush, who is a figure in Ojibwe legends. These resources teach oral traditions and the native language and can be found through the following link: http://nanabush.ca. This website presents information relevant to the environment, such as hunting practices and seasonal changes.

Website # 2: http://www.ojibwe.org

This link provides six video clips from a television series that depicts the history and traditions of the Anishinaabe-Ojibwe tribe located in the Great Lakes region, which includes 19 bands. The majority of these videos relate to Objibwe cultural connections with the environment, such as the one entitled “We are All Related”, which describes pre- and post-colonial environmental interactions.

Website # 3: http://www.tribalyouthmedia.org

The Tribal Youth Media website enables First Nations children to showcase videos they created about the natural environment. In particular, the website focuses on the Ojibwe peoples of the Great Lakes region and includes information on their treaty rights and hunting practices. I found the following video about how climate change affects the Ojibwe culture particularly informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9y7er2ebQTE#at=25.

Website # 4: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100028667/1100100028669

This website, provided by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, has a link to the Treaty No. 3 document, which is the treaty that pertains to the Ojibway peoples. This treaty explains their land claim rights, which are of importance for Ojibway relations to the environment and their cultural rights pertaining to their homeland. In addition to the treaty document, this website provides an interpretation of the treaty, including a historical background of its development, an explanation of its negotiations and a description of its implementation. This interpretation also contains information on dealings with land ownership between the government and Ojibway peoples.

Website # 5: http://www.gct3.net

The link for the Grand Chief’s Office of Treaty No. 3 provides the Ojibwe perspective to the treaty, contrasting to the government standpoint provided in the above weblog entry. This website provides contact information for the bands applicable to the treaty and links to their community websites. It also explains the history of Treaty No. 3 and contains a document with Chief Powasson’s logs from the initial signing of the agreement. Furthermore, the website has information on laws that pertain to the treaty, including those related to land rights.

Weblog of Websites for Module # 2

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In this weblog, I decided to explore environmental issues relating to Indigenous people in Canada and management of these matters.

Website # 1: http://niche-canada.org/node/10509

This link is part of the Network in Canadian history and Environment website. It provides information on the history of the relationship between aboriginal health problems and environmental issues in Canada. It also discusses the impacts of colonialism, natural resource extraction and Indigenous-government relations. In addition to text-based information, the website provides an audio clip of a roundtable discussion by a panel of researchers, who examine these subjects in detail.

Website # 2: https://sites.google.com/site/atfeonline/

The Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment is a community-based Mohwak group that analyzes and manages ecological concerns, and aims to protect environmental resources. The website for this group provides information on the organization, the cultural history of Akwesasne, environmental contamination of Akweesasne and Mohwah and Iroquoian traditions. On this website, I found a link to the following useful website for the Environment Division of the Saint Regis Mohwak Tribe, which provides valuable information regarding the environment that is pertinent to their community: http://www.srmtenv.org/index.php.

Website # 3: http://www.fnhc.ca/index.php

This webpage provides information from the First Nations Health Council. The following is a valuable link that describes traditional medicine, particularly using environmental resources for traditional health practices and the resulting importance of preserving the environment: http://www.fnhc.ca/index.php/health_actions/traditional_medicine/. Another section of the website that is especially useful is the section on environmental wellbeing, which can be found through the following link: http://www.fnhc.ca/index.php/initiatives/community_health/environmental_health/. This section of the website briefly describes the significance of ecological health to the welfare of Indigenous people. In addition to those two links, the website provides electronic copies of the Spirit Magazine, which has articles that are relevant to the environment and Indigeneity.

Website # 4: http://www.fnen.org

This is the website for the First Nations Environmental Network, which is a Canada-wide non-profit organization comprised of Indigenous members. Its objective is to protect the environment and resolve ecological issues, in order to maintain and preserve Indigenous cultural traditions. Although the website has not been recently updated, the organization’s protocol, goals and vision have valuable information. They reflect traditional beliefs and practices, and provide insight into Indigenous cultural; for instance, their protocol dictates that members respect their animal relations and the offerings they provide, such as that the buffalo gives respect.

Website # 5: http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en

The Assembly of First Nations website provides current news regarding environmental issues that relate to Indigenous people, including videos, announcements and information bulletins. The Environmental Stewardship Unit is of significance and can be found at the following website: http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en/policy-areas/environmental-stewardship. This section of the website describes Indigenous connections to the environment, with details on Aboriginal culture, environmental policies and ecological problems provided through the links for earth, air, water and fire on that webpage.

Maintaining Connections to the Natural Environment with Computer Technology: An Indigenous Perspective

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I found the following quote concerning the Innu striking: “land, the country is the root of the culture” (as cited in Loring & Ashini, 2000, p. 175). I would like to concentrate on environmentalism and Indigeneity for my final paper because of the significance of the land to Indigenous peoples. Specifically, I want to focus on how technology affects Aboriginal relations with the land and its educational implications. I chose this topic because I have a deep respect for Indigenous spiritual connections with the landscape and am interested in learning more about the impact of technology on this aspect of Indigenous culture. I intend to begin my paper by providing a cultural background of Indigenous connections to the land. I then plan to analyze the positive impacts of technology on Aboriginal environmental relations, followed by its negative impacts. I will then discuss the implications of this analysis for education and provide recommendations for teachers in terms of how to support Indigenous students’ relationship with the environment. I hope that this paper will help teachers with Aboriginal students develop a better understanding of their needs for connections to the landscape. I also hope it will provide means for teachers to support this aspect of the Indigenous culture.

References

Loring, S., & Ashini, D. (2000). Past and future pathways: Innu cultural heritage in the twenty-first century. In C. Smith & G. K. Ward (Eds.), Indigenous cultures in an interconnected world (pp. 167-189). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Weblog of Websites for Module # 1

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For my final paper, I am thinking about concentrating on environmentalism and Indigeneity. A number of the readings for module 1 highlight the importance of the natural environment to Indigenous people’s identities (Marker, 2006) and the negative impact technology has on their relationship with the environment (Bowers et al., 2000; Cole & O’Riley, 2012). Cole & O’Riley (2012) explain that oral customs increase Indigenous connections with the landscape. In this weblog entry, I will provide useful websites that describe Indigenous relationships with the land and its inhabitants, specifically those that provide stories that are part of Aboriginal oral traditions, or information on that topic.

Website # 1: http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/Search.do?Ne=8797&lang=en&N=8249+8100+4294200467&ex=on

The website called Virtual Museum provides links to online exhibits from museums across Canada. It enables users to search, access and study the Virtual Museum of Canada, in order to develop a deep understanding of Canada’s culture and history through visual recourses. I refined my search for exhibits using the theme entitled “Aboriginal Art, Culture and Traditions”, which is the link I provided. I explored this website and found the following exhibit that provides stories from the Northern Tutchone people from Carmacks, Yukon: http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/histoires_de_chez_nous-community_memories/pm_v2.php?id=story_line_index&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000488&pos=1. A number of the stories on this website incorporate the natural environment, such as the chapter regarding traditional culture that discusses Crow and Salmon Woman.

Website # 2: http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/nwca/nwca01e.shtml

The website entitled Where the Sea and Land Meet provides paintings by the Canadian Gordon Miller and American Bill Holm, which have accompanying stories. I focused on the theme called “Spirits of Nature”, which can be accessed through the following link: http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/nwca/nwca_t3e.shtml. On that website, there are paintings and stories concerning Indigenous relations with the landscape and wildlife, such as one about the Haida’s legends regarding Raven.

Website # 3: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collection/stories/landscape-and-environment/inspired-by-nature/the-dreaming

After looking at Aboriginal artwork from North America and their accompanying stories, I wanted to explore paintings by Indigenous artists from other parts of the world. I found this website, called Landscapes and Environment: Indigenous Connections to Country. It provides pictures of art that is displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria. For each Indigenous painting, there is an explanation of its significance, the landscape it depicts and details about its artist. The descriptions also explain Indigenous spiritual beliefs and related stories.

Website # 4: http://www.aboriginalbc.com/stories/

The Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC created the website listed above to promote Indigenous storytelling. It provides short stories and cultural explanations from Aboriginal tribes across British Columbia and presents some of the information in video format. A number of the stories and explanations include environmental aspects. The following video is of interest because it describes the significance of stories and songs to Indigenous culture, and the influence of the landscape: http://www.aboriginalbc.com/stories/sharing-the-stories-of-our-ancestors/.

Website # 5: http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/storytel/introeng.shtml

Storytelling: The Art of Knowledge is a website that describes the traditions and significance of Indigenous storytelling. The stories this website provides are from the Algonquin, Mi’kmaq, Inuvialuit, Abenaki, Métis, Cree and Nisga’a. The tales describe Indigenous relationships with the natural environment and its inhabitants. They use some traditional terms and phrases, such as the Algonquin’s word Ni-djodjomnan, Aki that means Mother Earth. In addition to the stories, the website provides images of objects that are significant to storytelling and an explanation of their importance.