Weblog 1 – Marijke Henschel May 27,2013

(http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en) Assembly of First Nations Website:

The ASF website is one made by an organization that represents all First Nations Citizens in Canada.  On the site there is access to latest news and current issues of the First Nation Citizens in Canada at this particular moment.  There is access to information on topics such as health, residential schools, population statistics and more.  There is a lot of information on government interactions, funding and more in order to deal with misconceptions about First Nations people.  There are also posts by the National Chief Shawn Atleo expressing topics such as the latest federal budget, letters sent to the Prime Minister of Canada and more.

This site would be very valuable for research of First Nations issues as it has current and past issues on the site, and in general has a large variety of information on various topics such as; Education, Ending Violence, Finance, First Nations E-Community, Land Rights and Claims and Parliamentary Relations.

(http://www.dickshovel.com/www.html) First Nations: Issues of Consequence

This particular site’s link will send you to the index for the site.  This site seems to be a collection of different opinions and writings from the internet and includes historical pieces and interviews.  This site seems to focus on the atrocities committed against First Nations People in the past and the stereotypes and misconceptions they have had to endure.  Since the site is not from scholarly journals it may not be directly useful for research material but there is so much content on this site that it could definitely be used as a starting place for research ideas.  If you are interested in residential schooling, there are many resources dedicated to this as well as the American equivalents of residential schools.  As this site contains thought-provoking and controversial matter it can definitely be used to find a direction for research.

(http://www.iwgia.org/) International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)

This website focuses on many different types of topics surrounding the Indigenous community such as: Poverty, Racism, Development, Intellectual Property Rights, Identification of Indigenous Peoples and more.  The main focus of the site seems to be on the rights of Indigenous peoples.  This site would be great for research in international Indigenous affairs as links are provided to organizations around the world (United Nations) and other subcommittees.  This site has scholarly references and academic citations which would be a great asset when looking for research on International Indigenous people’s Issues.  There is also the ability to search different publications for articles on the site.

(http://firstpeoplesvoices.com/index.htm) Native History – Native Experiences – Native Voices of First Nations People

This particular site has many different types of topics.  One tab on the left hand side (Invented White History and Imagery) was quite shocking as it shows examples of American Indian people as being portrayed as wild and savage in the “darkness” through old paintings and other examples in history.  This site provides access to Western beliefs about First Nations as well as how western society and beliefs were basically forced upon them.  Other tabs with great amount of information would be the “Native Values” tab on the left.  “Cultural Genocide” is also very eye-opening as well.

This particular site would be beneficial for research on the trials and tribulations of Indigenous people and how western culture has taken them over.  If you read “About the Author” of this site, you will find that it is written by a non-First Nations woman.

(http://www.fnuniv.ca/) First Nations University of Canada

This particular site is a University web page.  This University was founded in 1976 with connection to the University of Regina and has multiple campuses in Saskatchewan.  The site has a list of programs, as well as job opportunities.  Some examples being a Health and Science Camp Supervisor, Community Based Program Coordinator and Business and Public Administration position at different campuses.

Although this site has less research on Indigenous history and knowledge, this would be a great example of First Nations support towards post-secondary education.  This also may provide insight into possible techniques in order to motivate First Nations students to pursue education beyond high school.