http://indigenous.athabascau.ca/ – Athabasca University

This webpage is actually a link to the Athabasca University page.

On this page it highlights programs and courses, resources, as well as the access to information on conferences, guest speakers and a public outreach and education program.  Since Module 3 has begun, we have focused on indigenous knowledge as well as the question “Can an Indigenous person who is educated in a mainstream research university ever be a representative of a traditional Indigenous community?”

This webpage shows the University’s initiative behind individualized study as well as many technology-assisted distance education programs.  This university is taking into account the difficulty of accessing all communities in a country.  They offer diplomas, bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees (with sufficient student numbers) in locations where university education is not ordinarily offered.  Their aim at this school is to foster the intellectual growth of students through the quality post-secondary education that is determined by the philosophies and values of Indigenous peoples. They mention that they keep indigenous contexts close with history, spirituality, governance, law and health being a main concern in their programs.  They believe in connecting world view and culture and note that indigenous education is a lifelong process which involves traditions and elements not normally reflected in educational settings or institutions.  Therefore to re-address the question above, I do believe that an indigenous person can be educated in a university and be able to hold onto their traditions and culture as well in order to bring new education back to their community.

http://www.unesco.org/most/bpindi.htm – Best Practices on Indigenous Knowledge

The Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education/Indigenous Knowledge (NUFFIC/IK)

This webpage is a database which concentrates in indigenous knowledge covering Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America and Latin America and Carribean.

You can see the specific page for Best Practices on Indigenous Knowledge in Canada by looking through the site here: http://www.unesco.org/most/bpik20-2.htm

Currently there are approximately 540 First Nation Bands in Canada with their own culture, dialect and traditional territories.  This site talks about the Generative Curriculum Model: A bicultural, community-based approach to building capacity for Early Childhood Care and Development in Indigenous communities in Canada.  The curriculum was made in partnership with the First Nations Partnership Programs. (www.fnpp.org). The FNPP focuses on Elder Involvement, Community-based delivery and Community-Appropriate training.  The curriculum focuses on community development, cultural identity, education, ethnic groups and teaching.  The program is created to reflect different indigenous knowledge and goals.  This site would be a good reference for corresponding practices and partnerships involving the expertise of different indigenous groups in Canada.

http://www.indigenousmedia.ca/ – National Indigenous Media Association of Canada (NIMAC)

This is a newly formed association in Canada – (Formed in 2012) to represent common interests of Indigenous broadcasting and telecommunications in Canada.

This website was created to strengthen the indigenous communication sector by making sure that indigenous communication service providers are heard and addressed when there are changes to legislation and regulations.

This website identifies key issues concerning indigenous broadcasters, telecommunications, and areas that are under-served by modern broadcasting/internet services.

The website has multiple resources for history of indigenous peoples in broadcasting sectors of Canada.  It also has a timeline of Canadian Indigenous history of media.  Since this Module asked us the question: “Can technology be useful in supporting Indigenous communities’ efforts to de-colonize values and thoughts?” I feel that this website can help answer this question… specifically in the media/technology area.

https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100037493/1100100037495 – Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada

Community reality was touched upon in Module 3.  This really dives deeper into what is the Canadian arctic and how indigenous peoples interact with it.  This website provides information and brings into context the continuing challenges that certain indigenous peoples of Canada face in remote northern regions.  This page provides statistics on percentages of indigenous populations up north as well as issues with economy, physical geography, politics and more.

http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/?id=9432 – Indigenous Foundations (University of British Columbia)

This is a webpage for a class called Indigenous Foundations through the University of British Columbia.

This page provides information on terminology, aboriginal identity, land rights, government policies, community and politics, culture, and global indigenous issues. What is really important on this page (which ties us into our thoughts on Module 3) is the relationship between assimilation and western education.  This dives deeper into the residential school system (also off the webpage – http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/the-residential-school-system.html) which has been a large focus in our last week on Module 3.  This webpage does not only provide a lot of basic and important information on indigenous peoples, but also supplies multiple references, video resources and guide pages into future study of indigenous cultures.