Module 1 – Post 3 Creating a Place for Indigenous Knowledge in Education: The Alaska Native Knowledge Network

http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/articles/raybarnhardt/pbe_ankn_chapter.html

This article is chapter from the book Place-Based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity by Greg Smith and David Gruenewald. It describes a ten-year educational restoration effort aimed at bringing the Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of knowing to the forefront in the educational systems serving all Alaska students and communities today. It looks at the challenges native people struggle with living in two worlds and an effort of Alaska Federation of Natives, in collaboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and with funding from the National Science Foundation called the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI). AKRSI’s task has been to implement a set of initiatives to systematically document the Indigenous knowledge systems of Alaska Native people and develop school curricula and pedagogical practices that appropriately incorporate local knowledge and ways of knowing into the formal education system. This can serve as model for other native people that are struggling with the same problem.

Module 1 – Post 2: Education, indigenous knowledge and globalisation

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http://scienceinafrica.com/old/index.php?q=2003/march/ik.htm

The interesting thing about this page is that it presents a model for education that was developed through collaboration between young and old, and between rural Africa and the industrialised world, which might serve as a catalyst for other grassroots organisations to develop educational strategies appropriate to their own circumstances. This was done in an effort to counter the still a widely held view that anything associated with culture and hereditary values is pagan. It reminded of the efforts Inuit Broadcasting Company in the screen memories article.

Module 1 – Post 1: Ifugao Knowledge and Formal Education -Systems of Learning in the Philippines

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http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/philippines/ifugao-knowledge-and-formal-education-systems-l

This web site explores learning system of the people of one Ifugao village of Mayoyao in the Philippines. It serves as another example that highlights the issues that are at stake when we try to educate indigenous people from a western stand point in a way that would preserve as much of their cultural as possible.

Patason

Module 1 – Post 3: Tatul’ut tthu Hul’q’umi’num’

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Based out of UVic, Tatul’us tthu Hul’q’umi’num’ is a web-based introductory lesson series in the Cowichan dialect of the Hul’q’umi’num’ language. Included on the site, in addition to the expected written and oral record, are games to assist in the learning of the language. Among them are word searches, concentration, puzzles, flash cards and label makers.

Module 1 – Post 2: First Voices Language Archive

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For those interested in documenting or researching Aboriginal Languages, the First Voices website may be of value. The site is attempting document and archive world aboriginal languages, though its focus has primarily been North American languages, and is based in British Columbia. Currently over 60 communities are contributing to the project that includes written and oral examples of words, phrases, stories and songs.

Module 1 – Post 1: CBC’s 8th Fire Documentary

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The CBC recently produced a four-part documentary entitled 8th Fire that is intended to help the dominant white culture understand some of the basic tenets of aboriginal culture and why there is so much conflict, and how we might begin to go about restoring relationships in a positive way. The title refers to an Anishinabe prophesy of a time of peace and prosperity for all people where the destruction of the past will be healed if the white culture chooses a path of respect and spirituality. Anishinabe host, Wab Kinew, promises no guilt trips, and maybe even a few surprises in this informative and current series.

Here is a learning guide with to accompany the documentary.

Module 1 – Post 5 – Will Tribal Knowledge Survive the Millenium?

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http://www.learningshark.com/WebDocs/Web%20PDF/TribalKnowledgeSurviving.pdf

This essay is written by Paul Cox, an ethnobotanist (one who studies the plants and medicinal knowledge of indigenous cultures). I scanned the first page, thinking in disappointment that it was not relevant to this coursework, but I was wrong. If you read this, read it all the way through. The author affirms the value of tribal knowledge, giving concrete, firsthand, fascinating examples from a variety of indigenous cultures. He describes the threat that technology has had to these cultures’ knowledge, languages, independence, and even their land. This is a brief and relevant read for anyone interested in learning more about the preservation of language and other tribal knowledge.

Alana

Module 1 – Post 4 – An Opinionated Article

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http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3225&page=2

This site is an Australian ejournal that does not appear to be scholarly, so is not useful as an official source for research, but is still worth a read. The writer of the article is familiar with the history of government approaches to Aboriginal culture in Australia, and takes a vehement stance that although the government’s language is couched in political correctness, it is actually blatantly racist in the form of assimilation. He uses words that have strong connotations, such as ‘apartheid’, to incite readers to adopt his viewpoint but this excited tone does not make his viewpoint any less accurate. The article has a different feeling than many of the more cautious texts that I have come across and is quite an interesting read. In terms of usefulness for research, the article names many documents, decisions, and events that students could independently research.

Module 1 – Post 3 – Indigenous Cultures and Globalization

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http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/Indigenous_Cultures_and_Globalization

This wiki article is from UBC’s own ETEC510 wiki. It has been contributed to by five students since 2008, and provides up-to-date information in an easily accessible style on colonization, residential schools, self-determination, preservation of language and culture, effects of technology and globalization, and more. I found the writing balanced and well-informed. Visitors to this article can use it in two ways – as a source in itself, and as a signpost leading to other sources. Dr. Marker and Heather McGregor are quoted, and the reference list also includes twenty other scholarly sources related to the issues in module 1. In addition, there are hyperlinks to other articles on related topics such as indigenous knowledge, Aboriginal schools, government publications, etc. This is an excellent starting point for research in this course, regardless of your specific focus.

Alana

Module 1 – Post 2 – Aboriginal Culture in a Digital Age

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

This fifteen page document is a balanced and informed discussion of many of the issues raised in Module 1. It examines the dual possibilities for technology and indigenous culture: does technology offer a protection of language and culture, and a way to unite and strengthen different Aboriginal cultures, or does it offer a potential threat to cultural knowledge and traditions? The paper is organized around three broad points. The first is a recognition of the “renaissance” of distinct Aboriginal cultural identities. The second is a look at the pervasive nature of technology in contemporary life, and its effect on “economic, social, and cultural fabrics”. The third point is an acknowledgment of the crucial need to “mitigate the potential risks” of technology on Aboriginal “languages, ecology, and heritage”. The discussion is informed by voices from Aboriginal communities, the government, education, and the private sector.

Alana