Tag Archives: environment

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.

Module 3 Post 3: Orality of the Northern Cree Indigenous Worlds, C. Weber-Pillwax.

Leave a reply

Weber-Pillwax, C. (2001) Orality of northern Cree indigenous worlds. Canadian journal of native education (25)2. 149-165

I turned to this article to explore the concept of orality and orality consciousness that I struggled with in the Friedel (2011) referenced in post one for this module. E-mail discussion with Heather McGregor and Dr. Marker helped clarify, and post to was a recommendation by Dr. Marker, but I wanted to deepen my understanding further; this article was selected for that purpose.

Weber-Pillwax’s article connects well to the early modules of ETEC 540 where orality is explored, particularly through Ong’s (1982) work on orality as a (very) complex state of being, or consciousness, including thought patterns, ceremonies, story-telling, dancing and singing. Weber-Pillwax builds on this definition and concurrently critiques Havelock’s (1986) analysis of the transition from primary orality to literacy to build an understanding of the northern Cree world-view and sense of identity rooted in orality, especially the understanding of and participation in traditional society and spiritual events–even if the language is not understood!

A significant portion of this article is dedicated to the English translation of “wihkotowin” and “macisimowin,” which are different ceremonies but both typically translated as “tea dance.” The discussion of the translations is centred around “tea dance” for wihkotowin as an oral translation, because those requiring a translation could not fully understand the meaning held within the word and participation in the ceremony as outsiders, and “tea dance” for macisimowin as a literate translation, because it adequately describes what happens at the ceremony celebrating a special event such a as a birthday. A (better?) literate translation of wihkotowin would be “dance of the ancestors.” This ceremony includes the opening of a bundle to signify the bringing into consciousness and the community, the spirits of those who have gone before, grandmothers, grandfather and ancestral spirits.

Off topic of my immediate reason for reviewing this article, but more directly aligned with my research paper, is the notable absence of a place-based identity, as so eloquently described in Basso’s work (see Module 3 Post 2). Presumably, this is for two reasons. The first is that the intention of the article was to elucidate orality, though I am not satisfied with this as my understanding is that place-based identity is so central to most Indigenous world views that it could not casually be omitted from any sense of identity. The second reason, and one that I am more likely to believe, is hidden in the brief history of the northern Cree with which Weber-Pillwax prefaces the article. In this history, she describes the elders’ fascination with a small turtle that she brought back from the city. Though not native to the area, the turtle is an important part of the collective memory. How did it get there? The northern Cree people are part of a group of Cree that originated in Ontario and Quebec (turtles’ natural habitat) and moved west to Alberta, possibly with the fur trade, to displace the Blackfoot and Dene who inhabited the area first. Because the northern Cree have not inhabited their current region for the 5000+ years that other Indigenous groups have lived in their traditional territories, their oral histories do not reference the land around them in the ways that others do.

Havelock, E. (1986) The muse learns to write: Reflections on orality and literacy from antiquity to the present. New York: Yale University Press

Ong, W. (1982) Orality and literacy. London: Routledge

Module 3 Post 2: Looking for Learning in all the Wrong Places, Tracy Friedel

Leave a reply

Friedel, T. (2011). Looking for learning in all the wrong places: Urban native youth’s cultured response to Western-oriented place-based learning. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 24(5). 531-546.

In this article, Tracy Friedel analyses the response on native youth to an outbound place-based learning experience, which is ment to reconnect them with their ancestral territories. The analysis takes place within the greater context of the youth striving to be both “Aboriginal” and “modern” at the same time, stereotypes of the “Ecological Indian,” Western interpretations of place-based learning and the responsibilities of Indigenous youth to “protect and preserve their traditional lands, resources and sacred sites upon which indigenous cultural heritage and identity is based.”

Friedel finds the youths’ response to be neither apathetic nor rebellious toward hegemonic power, but a subtle and complex cultured response based in orality, kinship and community. Somewhat ironically, she describes the groups’ recognition of the most significant places to not be within nature, but in the van used to transport the youths between sites.

Additional concepts of note described in the article include: Indigenous youths’ sense of urgency in preserving their culture, particularly with respect to traditional languages; the false perception of Western ecological/environmental experiences as synonymous with place-based learning and identity; and the focus of educational research aimed at improving Aboriginal graduation rates juxtaposed with the youths motivations for significant learning

Weblog of Websites for Module # 3

Leave a reply

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.

Module 3- Post 5: The Indigenous Caribbean portal on Ning

Leave a reply

The Indigenous Caribbean portal on the Ning platform @ http://indigenouscaribbean.ning.com/ is a great example of how the indigenous people of the Caribbean are making use of technology both to reclaim and preserve their culture. The welcome message on the site encourages one to: create their own on-site blog; a new discussion on the network message board; music; video and photo slideshows that can then be played on any site across the Web. With so many options at their disposal the members of this site have produce a resource that has something for everyone from researcher to tribe member. For example Maximilian Forte is a professor of anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University who’s research interests have focused on the Carib Community of Arima, Trinidad is found here, so also is the Turabo Taino Jaguar Warrior Society of Puerto Rico are also on a quest to honor their Boricua warriors the Boriqueneers that fought for the US in world war two. Ignacio G. Rivera’s question “where do we fit in? It seems like we are constantly fighting to prove that the Taino exists” in one of the discussion forums speaks for many indigenous people of the Caribbean and the world. Finally the article Guyana Police batters Indigenous Family on their Traditional Land… mining is now a problem to indigenous peoples in Guyana uses video to graphically illustrates an encounter of one indigenous group with the police as they tried to protect their lands.

Weblog of Websites for Module # 2

Leave a reply

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.

Research Statement

Leave a reply

How is the Indigenous understanding of the environment different from western scientific understanding?

There are a few areas around environmental understanding and interconnectedness in which I would like to research further. I am passionate about the environment and see myself agreeing with a lot of traditional values that I have come across so far compared to dominant western science values. As a Grade 7 Science teacher in BC, I am obligated to teach TEK (Traditional Ecological Knowledge) when addressing ecosystems and sustainability. How teachers address this as well as the depth that we go into it is not consistent from what I’ve seen. I want to better my teaching practice by incorporating more TEK examples and activities in the classroom as well as further my knowledge on the topic. Furthermore, I want to see how technology, if at all, can help disseminate information of Indigenous knowledge to people via the Internet or other digital technologies. Looking ahead, I see that we will be addressing environmentalism and the Indigenous relationship to understanding the natural world compared to the western scientific approaches in Module 4 of the course. I have already found some research papers discussing environmentalism and Indigenous knowledge and have attached to Module 1 posts. I will continue to do this in further modules.

Alicia

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

Leave a reply

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.

Module 1 – Environmental Science Education

Leave a reply

Post 2:

As I am interested in researching about Indigenous Science Education, I am still looking for websites/research papers about Science, Technology, Math, Robotics, and Environment/Ecology. The first link that I have posted below is a research paper written in 2002 about the environmental concerns of Indigenous people in Canada. I haven’t given it a full read, but it seems to give an overview of environmental concerns of today that impact Indigenous education. It also discusses differences between mainstream Science education compared to worldviews about science from the perspective of Indigenous people. I look forward to reading this paper in more depth.

http://new-library.lakeheadu.ca/index.php/cjee/article/viewFile/271/160

Post 3:

This next article looks into Indigenous knowledge about science and how it differs from non-Indigenous views of Science. There are links to other research done in this area.

http://www.dialogueseminars.net/resources/Panama/Reading/B.-IPBES-related/comments-Y.-Vizina-IPBES-work-programme.pdf

Post 4:

Another article that is relevant to my interest in Indigenous science education is an article called “Discovering Indigenous Science: Implications for Science Education”. The authors are local and the focus of this paper is TEK – Traditional Ecological Knowledge. The authors make comparisons between Western or “conventional science” with Indigenous science and they take the reader through a sort of overview of science education and interest. I must say, I have not fully read this article yet, but I am excited to read it more thoroughly soon.

Here is the pdf: Indigenous Science Implications

Post 5:

This article was published in 2006 by Deborah McGregor, an Anishnabe woman and professor of geography and Aboriginal studies. Its main focus is on Traditional Ecological Knowledge from her perspective. She grew up in northern Ontario in a community that incorporated TEK but they did not place a name on it. She now teaches a course on Indigenous TEK at U of T and shares a lot of valuable information for readers to learn more about TEK.

Grade 7 Science in BC discusses TEK in many parts of the Ecosystem unit. Having taught this course for two years now, I value this part of the curriculum and I want to incorporate more Aboriginal perspectives in this course (and other courses that I will be teaching in the future).

http://www.silvafor.org/assets/silva/PDF/DebMcGregor.pdf

Alicia

Weblog of Websites for Module # 1

Leave a reply

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.