Author Archives: martinar

Establishing a Presence Online:The Stó:lō Nation website

The Stó:lō Nation website establish a community presence to provide services within the Stó:lō community. The various resources found within the site focus on education needs, human resources, health and elderly care, social development, and youth and early childhood services. The Stó:lō Nation website blends together the concept of moving forward in the 21st century to taking control of their own future with a need to understand and reconnect to their cultural heritage. The Stó:lō Nation website also provides an insight into the current issues surrounding ongoing land claims within their territories.

The link to the First Nations Education Steering Committee allows access to a provincial wide resource designed to steer education in the direction in the context that benefits First Nations across BC. I found the Aboriginal Tourism / link a mechanism to promote the individuality of First Nations a marketable community that provides and promotes First Nations culture on a global scale.

The reason I examine this site is to compare it to the Nisga’a government site, to see if any similarities and differences could be found. It also provides a glimpse into how each First Nations community is establishing a online presences that is unique to them

Website; The Stó:lō Nation http://www.stolonation.bc.ca/

Taking Control of Education: WILP WILXO’OSK WHL NISGA’A INSTITUTE

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The “WILP WILXO’OSK WHL NISGA’A INSTITUTE” (WWNI) website represents a community controlled educational institute that provides access to resources and information about quality post-secondary resources. In the mission statement, a reference is made to linking education to the “survival of Nisga’a language and culture.” Inherent in the WWNI website is the establishment of a community driven educational institute that provide accredited degrees and programs set in the context of the Nisga’a’s cultural identity. The WWNI website links its site to other University and educational institution in British Columbia, Alaska and Canada. The First Voices site helps First Nations in language teaching and cultural revitalization.

Jacob Mckay founding member of the Indigenous Adult and Higher Learning Association (IAHLA) and a Nisga’a hereditary chief stated that “Only by learning to share did the Nisga’a people flourish in our rugged and isolated corner of British Columbia. Today, we are forging full partnerships with other educational institutions in order to provide top quality, culturally appropriate post-secondary education to everyone who lives here in the Nass River Valley. Increasingly, we welcome students from other parts of the world as well.” My interest in focusing my project on the Nisga’a started when I read this statement. Central in Jacob’s statement is the importance of taking control of one’s own collective community identity. This is a central theme in my research project.

Webstie: WILP WILXO’OSK WHL NISGA’A INSTITUTE http://wwni.bc.ca/

Example of an National Online Presence: Questions of Validity

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The Assembly of the First Nations (ASFN) is an umbrella organization that represents all First Nations in Canada. The site provides resource for funding links for First Nations set against current press releases on all issues across Canada dealing with First Nations issues. This umbrella site is an excellent resource to start with when examining issues common to all First Nations across Canada, such as poverty and residential schools. The website acts as an informative dialogue into the current state of affairs and issues facing First Nations in the 21^st century.

The “Have Your Say” site provides a relevant real time platform for First Nations to discuss and interact with issues that are relevant to them. However, the website does not seem to be current, in the sense there is not information posted in 2013, with the last post in June 2012, and most of the information posted in 2011 when the site was published. Therefore, I would use this site as an example in my project to discuss the need to maintain a current presence online, as a website becomes subject to validity questions if not maintained.

Website: Assembly of First Nations Citizenship http://firstnationcitizenship.afn.ca/index.php/en

Resources on How to Establish an Online Presence

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The First Nations Technology Council is a initiative that supports First Nation Communities in British Columbia to use technology “in achieving goals in areas such as: language and culture, education, health, economic development, governance, land and marine stewardship and more” (First Nations Technology Council, 2013). The website is design as a community resource that brings provides a platform for each unique First Nations Community in BC to develop a presence online that represents their cultural identity.

This website provides evidence of the initiatives First Nations in BC are taking in using technology to clearly establish their own identity online, while connecting the past with the future on their own terms. Also, this website clearly provides a central justification in my project how First Nations in BC are using the internet to clearly define their sense of place in the 21^st century.
Project Raven is an initiative to provide computer training to First Nations communities across BC. Also, the First Nations portal site provides a rich set of resources for using technology to establish a presence online.

Webstie; First Nations Technology council http://www.fnbc.info/fntc

Nisga’a In the 21st Century

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The Nisga’a Lisims Government website clearly provides an unique insight into how they represent their cultural identity online. Although the home page, seems to be problematic as there is a YouTube video that blocks out the information, seemingly on purpose. However, the website provides a rich set of resources about Nisga’a culture, blended with resources ranging from legal aid to education information. The broad range of links within the site clearly demonstrates how a website can be used to provide a grounding of common identity within a community.

The examination of the menu bar with its various options creates a wide range of exploration. The cultural link set out the various beliefs unique to the Nisga’a, a link to languages, traditional law, and connects with their cultural today. This represents a moving forward to preserving and enriching Nisga’a culture. Furthermore, by using the social services link, it takes to a wide range of resources including k-12 and post-secondary education. In the post-secondary education, it provides information and links to educational opportunities, courses and funding. This clearly demonstrates how the Nisga’a are using this website to anchor their community to a prosperous future.

How the Nisga’a represents their sense of place through their website is central to my final project. Furthermore, by defining sense of place, my project will examine how the Nisga’a has blended the experiences of the past and the Internet to preserve and move their cultural forward in the 21st century. The link scholarships connects directly to a website with rich resources for post secondary education. The learning link within K-12 education site provides a rich set of resources for language and writing.

Sources:Nisga’a Lisims Government

http://www.nisgaanation.ca/

Nisga’a: Defining Sense of Place Online as a Mechanism of Reaffirming their Cultural Identity

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Overview: My project will combine a short movie presentation with a 2000 word essay.

Movie Title: The Nisga’a Struggle: Was it Apartheid or Assimilation?

Movie Theme: The movie will provide a historical context of the Nisga’a’s history from 1867 to the 1999 land claims. The movie will provide an insight into the continuous struggle of the Nisga’a to define their sense of place in the context of a Eurocentric environment.

Essay Title: Nisga’a: Defining Sense of Place Online as a Mechanism of Reaffirming their Cultural Identity

Research Topic: This essay will examine how the Nisga’a use the internet, specifically their official government website, to define sense of place in their cultural context. Furthermore, by defining sense of place, this essay will examine how the Nisga’a has blended the experiences of the past and the internet to preserve and move their cultural forward in the 21^st century.

Themes: All the themes are interconnected and will be examined to gain an understanding of how the Nisga’a use their government website as an anchor in preserving their cultural identity and moving it forward in the 21^st century, as part of a global community. The website also provides evidence that the Nisga’a’s cultural identity has been shaped by interaction with a Eurocentric world view. The essay will examine sense of place through the following themes:

Places have location,
Place have physical and cultural characteristics,
Places change,
Places interact with other places, and
Places are in regions.

Essay will answer the following question:

What is sense of place?
How does the Nisga’a government website represent sense of place?
Why is it important for the Nisga’a to use the internet to define sense of place in their unique cultural context?
Evaluate whether defining a sense of place on the world-wide-web is beneficial or harmful as the Nisga’a move forward in the 21^st century.

Sources

Nisga’a Lisims Government (2013). Retrieved from: http://www.nisgaanation.ca/

Steering the Course in Education: First Nations Goals

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Module #1 Blog #5

The “Sooke-Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement” examines the demographic make-up of the First Nations where 10% of students enrolled in the Sooke School District are Aboriginal. The agreement indicates an active role by First Nations in the Sooke School district in shaping and steering K-12 education to meet the needs of First Nations students. The comprehensive agreement, emphasis the need to address the Euro-centricness of education and re-connect First Nations student to becoming engaged by setting learning in a context that is relevant to them in their cultural experience. This website is found under the umbrella of the Sooke School district website.

As my project develops, this agreement is an indication of the active involvement First Nations are taking to ensure their cultural experience and education is set in the context of their cultural experience. Although, it does not mention technology directly, the emphasis is on the creating “sense of belonging” for First nations students. My research will investigate through the use of creating a sense of community through the use of interactive technology.

Website: Sooke-Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement http://www.sd62.bc.ca/Programs/AboriginalEducation.aspx

Interactive Technology: Examining the Shared Experiences of Residential Schools

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Module #1-Blog #4

The “Project of the Heart” website is a collaborative education journey of discovery and inquiry that provides education on the legacy of residential schools across Canada. Furthermore, this website provides a mechanism to collectively change historical understanding through a discourse on social injustice past and present. What amazed me in an examination of this site is the oral and visual records of shared experiences of the trauma of residential schools, and the will and determination for healing through sharing. The three main focuses of “Project of the Heart” are: Examine the history and legacy of Indian Residential Schools in Canada and to seek the truth about that history, leading to the acknowledgement of the extent of loss to former students, their families and communities

Commemorate the lives of the thousands of Indigenous children who died as a result of the residential school experience.
Call Canadians to action, through social justice endeavors, to change our present and future history collectively

This website blends in nicely with my theme of education and the use of interactive technology in First Nations studies, as mechanism of interaction through community involvement and shared experience. This website provides an insight into how interactive technology can be used to share experiences across Canada.

Website: Project of the Heart. http://www.projectofheart.ca/

Website for Classroom Resources

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Module #1 Blog #3

The rationale behind using the website for Yuklaanas, a First Nations owned and operated family business, is represents a resource teachers can use to bring interactive workshops into the classroom, thus creating an authentic experience for student in creating their own art artifacts. The site represents, First Nations in BC marketing their culture through the affordances of technology. This allows a medium to be used in a western-centric way to preserve and enhance First Nation experience by providing resource to the classroom. This website is directly related to my ever unfolding project, as evidence of using technology in a way to bring authentic, relevant First Nations experience to the classroom through accessing information from the internet.

Website: Yukallnas http://www.yuklaanas.ca/

Interactive Learning: Using Technology to Enhance Learning

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Module #1 Bog #2

Hi The website “Time Immemorial” site is in direct contrast to the “First Nations in Canada” site that I examined in the first blog. The contrast to the different sites provides an insight into using technology can enhance learning by placing in the context of oral history combined with text in an interactive Web 2.0 learning paradigm. Central in the “Time Immemorial” site is its complexity set in such a way as to draw the viewer into the story, thus using Web 2.0 to improve engagement. I was so engaged in the site, I spent 4 hours sifting through its various layers, without really inhaling its total content. I would definitely recommend it to anyone teaching First Nations Studies.

This website provides an insight into how to use interactive technology in the classroom as a mechanism of engaging students in Web 2.0 interactive technology set in a social constructivist learning environment. I believe, this site connects the oral history in such away it is a beneficial artifact, representing a stride forward in meeting the needs of First Nations education. As my final project develops around interactive technology, the center focus is how to adapt current curriculum to meet the needs of First Nations students in the public school system.

Website: “Time Immemorial” http://www.sfu.museum/time/en/flash/