Tag Archives: culture and learning

The shame of residential schools in Canada

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.

Secwepemc Cultural Education Society

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Still on topic of the Shuswap people and the importance of conserving aboriginal languages, I came across this site which is excellent because there are many newsletters (in English as well as the Secwepemc language). This site contains archives of newsletters and currents issues that are posted and can be easily read on-line. The Secwepemc Cultural Education Society (SCES) is a non-profit organization devoted to preserving and promoting the language, culture and history of the Secwepemc people. It is vital for the Shuswap to maintain their language and values (before they are lost forever), and I feel that societies such as this are the key to helping to support this endeavor. This reflects the reading by (Hare, 2011), where it is quoted:

“Indigenous languages are important. When talked about in English, you miss out on the meaning. Language has a direct relationship with the land”. In order for the Shuswap to hang onto tor their values, it is vital that they know their language.

Their Vision Statement

The vision statement of the Secwepemc is Metéltwecw-kt Es Knúcwetwecw-kt
“Everyone come together to help one another.” This emphasizes the concept of family and community instead of focusing on the individual, which (Hare, 2011) also discussed in his article.

http://www.secwepemc.org/node/61

Within the site I came across this declaration (written in both English and in Secwepemc). I am very interested in the topic of collecting and recording the memoirs of the elders. This has now given me some more ideas to see if I can find some podcasts to listen to and to see what fluent Shuswap sounds like. Also, in this declaration, are the signatures of 17 Shuswap Band Representatives, our local Canim Lake Band included. It’s fun to see that Elsie Archie is the signature here from Canim, probably the grandmother, mother or aunt of the incumbent chief, Mike Archie.

http://www.secwepemc.org/files/Shuswap%20Declaration%2004.pdf

Reference

Hare, J. (2011). Learning
from Indigenous knowledge in education. In D. Long and O. P. Dickenson
(Eds.), Visions of the heart, 3rd Edition (pp. 91-112). Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.

Adams Lake Indian Band

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In furthering my interest into the Chief Atahm Shuswap Immersion school, I wanted to look into some general information about the Adam’s Lake Indian Band and to read up on their history.

http://www.adamslakeband.org/?q=node/1

Within this site I checked out some of the upcoming events on their calendar. One that caught my eye was the Dream catcher conference that is held in September. The conference this September will be their 5th annual meeting. I have included a Youtube video link that shows some highlights of the conference which is aimed towards aboriginal youth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTAD-9WqXU8

When watching this video, I realized the overwhelming influence of the English language and how, especially in the popular entertainment industry, our First Nation youths are totally immersed. Many of them chose to perform popular English language songs at their fun talent show. There were some who sang in Secwepemc and played drums and sang, which offered and eclectic, comfortable atmosphere for the youth. One boy, who sang O Canada, even made fun of the words in the song by repeating after the lyrics “Glorious and Free”….”o so free”. Which got me thinking of the recent graduation ceremonies at my school in 100 Mile House just last weekend. When the chief of our local Canim Lake Band (also Shuswap), Mike Archie, got up to sing the traditional welcoming and play his drum, I was wondering why the non-aboriginal students didn’t know these traditional songs. Just then, I heard patches of voices in the crowd starting to sing along with Mike. It gave me shivers. I then looked up at the graduates and many of our First Nation grads (who were all easy to find since they are all wearing nice, white stoles with the Canim Lake Band symbol embroidered onto them), were singing their hearts out along with their chief. If everyone knows O Canada, then I’m sure that all of us could learn some traditional songs. I can just picture the graduation ceremonies with the entire crowd belting out the Shuswap welcoming song together. That would be amazing.

Also, what I liked about this conference was that it worked with youth on traditional Shuswap activities such as cleaning and smoking fish and paddling a canoe, which are so important when trying to allow these youth to discover their identities. This reflects the video discussion with Dr. Lee Brown, when he stresses the importance of “emotions organizing themselves as values, and values identify themselves as identity. Getting the youth emotionally and physically involved with their heritage with help them to feel good about themselves and how to develop healthy self confidence.

One final thing about this video from the conference that I noticed was that along with the traditional aspects of Shuswap life, students were welcome to use their modern western influences, especially with technology (working with cameras and video, using projectors, singing in microphones with music accompaniment etc.). I feel that this is extremely important because it allows these aboriginal youth to be proud of their heritage and also allows them to share with and participate in activities positively with the dominant, non-aboriginal mainstream culture.

Me7 qilqeltes te su7ec, have
a nice day

Aboriginal Territories in Cyberpsace (abtec)

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Module #1, post #1

http://www.abtec.org/projects.html

This week’s readings made me really think about what types of resources there are on the web for aboriginal peoples. Therefore, I conducted a simple search on Google and found a plethora of sites. A couple of the sites mentioned the abtec site and its components.

Resources available / Links to other sites

This site provides various projects for visitors to interact with such as TimeTraveller where you can immerse yourself in history, Skins which is storytelling in cyberspace, and CyberPowWow where visitors can interact via chat rooms.

Usefulness for research in IKMCR (indigenous knowledge, media, and community reality)

I believe that this site is useful because it provides a number of ways in which Aboriginal people to use new media technologies to complement their culture and for others to learn about their culture. Overall, I think that this site has much potential in creating a virtual reality for those that do not live near others, thus providing a safe and culturally rich environment.