I came across this proposal made to establish world cultural heritage hay to give indigenous people chance to ‘showcase their culture’ at the UN Department of Public Information News and Media Division New York branch web site. I thought it was a fitting way to end these post since it is the voice of the people themselves. The link is at http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/hr5132.doc.htm it summarizes the presentation made by representatives for indigenous people from all over the world.
Richardson, G. (2006). Singular Nation, Plural Possibilities: Reimagining Curriculum as Third Space . In Yatta Kanu (Ed.), Curriculum as Cultural Practice (283-301). Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
“The question arises of how to reconceptualize curriculum in terms that do not maintain colonial structures of privilege and dominance” (284). Indeed.
This chapter calls for a deconstruction of the current cultural biases that exist within curriculum, so that a new curriculum, “open to multiple discourses, and plural assumptions and strategies” (284) can be realized. This newly realized curriculum would be the Third Space, a place of cultural hybridity. I support the goal of classrooms that encompass multiple discourses and plural assumptions, but I’m not sure that I understand this author accurately – all the other essays and studies in this book resonate as sensitive and accurate arguments, but to me this Third Space seems like a reincarnation of the ‘cultural melting pot’ idea. I agree that there is a need to deconstruct biased curriculum and replace it with culturally sensitive/inclusive material, I just am not certain that cultural hybridity should be the end goal. The author states that with cultural hybridity, “national identity is seen to be [a] continual and dynamic process of encounter, negotiation, and dislocation among and between cultural groups” (285); to me, negotiation and dislocation sound like assimilative terms.
As I continue my ETEC:521 journey with renewed purpose I had to drop by http://www.culturalsurvival.org again with a different agenda this time as I am gathering information on indigenous people of the Caribbean. The first page on this quest was Reviving Caribs: Recognition, Patronage and Ceremonial Indigeneity in Trinidad and Tobago –. Wher I learned that aboriginals in my country “were never defeated in any war, nor were treaties ever signed, nor did they become extinct. Their numbers were drastically minimized, their lands usurped, their labor bought and sold, and they were intensely assimilated into Hispanic, Catholic and even urban society”. Because of this assimilation they are facing numerous problems as they try to reclaim their heritage. This is the plight of the indigenous people of Cuba as I found out in my next stop on the site at The Indigenous People of the Caribbean.This page is a review of a book of the same name. From this it can be gathered that even if the book is not perfect it does give valuable information on indigenous people of the Caribbean. To me the most important discovery here is that there are many indigenous communities that are struggling for recognition because of the errors that were written in history about them and the attitudes that resulted from this. Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic all have such indigenous people. The last stop of this log was at Our Land, Our Life, Our Culture: The Indigenous Movement In Guyana. Unlike the other countries mentioned here Guyana has recognised indigenous population. Here I found out that there are nine distinct Indigenous peoples in Guyana- Lokono (Arawak), Akawaio (Kapon), Arecuna (Pemon), Macusi, Warrau, Wapisiana, Wai Wai, Patamona and Kalina (Carib) – comprising 60-80,000 persons, approximately 8-10 percent of the total population. These all united recently to “redefine prevailing political, legal, economic and cultural relations with the state and thereby to transcend four centuries of colonial domination and institutionalized racism that remain firmly entrenched in Guyanese law, policy and practice”. It can therefor serve as an example of what other groups who are in a similar position can do to protect themselves from the present threat of colonisation.
My research question at this point “What African American societies can learn from the experience of indigeneous people in the world of education.”
Background
There are no indigenous people in most of the Caribbean, but here, like all of the Americas is settled primarily by a migrant population of people of many different origins. The migrants who descended from the colonists have emerged to be the domininant economical and political force of the Americas and as such has been able to dictate the way of life for most of the contries. The remaining migrants and the indigenous people in the larger north American Countries are usually lumped together as “minorities”
These minorities have a lower standared of living and a lower success rate at education than the “majority”. The dropout rate for minorities from poverty stricken areas are as follows 81% of Native American, 73% of African American, 66% of Latino, and 34% of Whites (APA, 2012).
Minorities such as African Americans and Native Americans are both stereotyped in traditional media with their heritage and culture ignored by traditional education.
So far we have looked at how indigenuos people are using media to present themselves to the world and the issues that sorround this from our stand point as educators. I suspect that the lessons learned here can be transferred to the classroom of those who teach minorities other than indigenous people
Reference
American Psychological Association(APA). (2012). Facing the School Dropout Dilemma.American Psychological Association . Retrieved June 1, 2013, from http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/school-dropout-prevention.aspx
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.
In order to research the generation loss of aboriginal languages due to the horrible suffering of First Nation students as a result of being sent to residential schools in Canada, I first need to research residential schools in general and read about the shameful way that Canada’s non-aboriginal government dealt with our Frist Nation people. This site even discusses the official apology, presented by prime minister, Stephen Harper, on my birthday, June 11th, 2008.
http://www.shannonthunderbird.com/residential_schools.htm
Sad story after sad story about how children were forcibly taken from their homes when they were 6 years old (abused and forbidden to speak their own language or celebrate their culture) and then returned when they were 14. Some never made it home and died at the schools (the reasons of death were covered up). Horror stories about what went on in these residential school took years before they reached the ears of those who could do something about it. (Hare, 2011) discusses the rigorous, religious indoctrination that went on and how students were punished for speaking their own language. One girl told her story, after leaving school, that her tongue hurt every time she spoke her langue. It was the result of the physical and psychological damage that had been incurred at school, when she had a needle stuck into her tongue every time she spoke her native language. The most tragic part was that when (and if) the children returned home, they lived divided lives since they could no longer relate to their families.
Module #1_Post #1
My final project centers on how to use interactive web 2.0 technology in a social constructionist’s approach in First Nation 12, as a means to gain an understanding of First Nations road from contact to Self-Government. As a Social Studies teacher for grades ten to twelve, revisionist history has always been central to my pedagogical approach in teaching. The central focus of my final project examines how the use of interactive Web 2.0 technology in First Nations 12 can be used to examine various artifacts in First Nations history and collaboration can be used to shape students’ understanding of history. Some of the open ended questions I may use, would focus on the Calder Case and the Nisga’a treaty and how this is related to the conflict between oral and written history. The Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AADNC) website (www.aandc-aadnc.gc.ca, 2012) would be utilized to provide a background into First Nations Studies, as an initial investigation into revisionist history.
The segment of the AADNC website I examined provides a wide overview of various elements of First Nations in Canada from pre-contact until present. This website is a good resource to understand assimilation, cultural genocide and the current land claims struggles in the First Nations’ road to self-government. Essential in my project is the development of resources that can be used by students in examining revisionist history. As a government website, it contains various links that clearly define terms, and links to supporting material under the umbrella of the government website. This website does not clearly examine the role western ideas of property play into assimilation and cultural genocide. I currently teach a segment of History 12 from India’s perspective on colonization, to provide students with an insight into how others view the British Empire. At the turn of the 20th century, our Premier McBride ran on the slogan “Keep BC white” in reference to Asian immigration. In my project, I would try to use this website as a basis to start my student projects in.
Website Address:
First Nations in Canada http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1307460755710/1307460872523
Other Links within this site:
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada www.aandc-aadnc.gc.ca
Comprehensive Claims http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100030577/1100100030578
A History of Treaty-Making in Canada http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1314977704533/1314977734895