Posts from — September 2010

http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/news-views/city/bringing-back-blackfoot-3495/

The article from Fast Forward Weekly Magazine provides insight into the challenges facing the survival of the Blackfoot language. The story centres around a 75 year old elder from Siksika named Rachel Ermineskin. Having endured residential schools, she has been able to maintain her language. Before moving back to her home on the reservation (just outside Calgary’s city limits), Ermineskin participated in Blackfoot language courses at the University of Calgary.

The article also discusses how difficult the language is for people who grew up speaking English. From my own experience, I have seen many young people who can understand Blackfoot, but who are unable to speak it. Many of my students know the “slang” words in Blackfoot, but that is all.

The story also discusses the future of the language. With over 3,000 people speaking the language today, it has the potential to survive. In my area, the Kainai board of education has introduced Blackfoot immersion classes for young students. I recently attended an event where a chorus of children from grades one and two sang O Canada in Blackfoot. That definitely gives hope for the future.

At the end of the piece, Ermineskin is quoted as saying, “We have the technology to preserve these kinds of things, so why not?” Even though she is on the reserve and can not commute to the university for classes, she can still participate through the use of a computer. While Bowers (2000) may be right in saying that technology is not culturally neutral, it can still facilitate interactions. An application of technology such as an elder using a program like Skype to communicate directly will not have the same bias as the printed word.

Bowers, C., Vasquez, M., & Roaf, M. (2000) Native people and the challenge of computers: Reservation schools, individualism, and consumerism.” American Indian. 24(2), 182-199.

This Australia-based article discusses concerns around reducing the amount of time spent teaching in the local (Aboriginal) language down to a mandated one hour/day. Several reasons for doing so are listed, including the argument that Aboriginal employment is very low because education levels are very low because education is primarily conducted in English. It is argued that forcing students to learn in English will increase English literacy rates along with providing students with an education.

The author of this article disagrees with this strategy, noting that there are flaws in the logic, including the fact that low education levels are not the only reason for low employment. There are other reasons that can be cited, such as bureaucratic regulations requiring completion of literacy courses prior to gaining access to certain jobs.

Some of the areas of concern cited for moving to a one hour a day education in English are:

• Poor attendance will likely become lower
• Parental support may drop
• Turnover of teachers may increase
• Indigenous languages are further at risk

The article goes on to discuss the importance of preserving Aboriginal languages.

For those interested, several responses to the article follow it.

http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/11/20/classroom-english-will-be-the-death-of-aboriginal-languages/

I came across the “Indigenous People’s Literature” site while searching the word “indigenous”.  It’s a little different from some of the other sites in that it contains information and links for Indigenous people all over the world.  There are external links as well to continue the research process.  I liked how it is a global site.

I live next to the K’omoks First Nation Reserve #1 an would like to learn as much about my neighbours as I can. As such I did a google search (natch). Here is what I found: www.comoxband.ca

I think this site is an example of the difficulties of technology not just for First Nation’s but for any organization or business that commits to the web. Although it is an adequately designed site and does quite a good job of highlighting several areas of the Band’s interests, especially its gallery, it is sadly dated. So anybody who comes to the site is going to nearly instantaneously see that there haven’t been updates in three-plus years. And, for better or for worse, if you don’t update daily, and more effectively hourly, you are out of date on the web.

Also, the history component also casts the K’omoks people as victims and clearly tries to boil an elaborate history down into a few poorly written paragraphs that raise more questions than they answer. More space is given to trying to portray the business interests than anything else, which is fine, but considering how dated key parts of the site are, these interests are discredited to a certain degree as well.

I have found the “The First Nations Languages of British Columbia” site.  It has a variety of other links to external sites and a database of the actual languages found in BC.  There are references to development intiatives and dictionaries available.

http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) is a department of the federal government of Canada whose mandate is to “make Canada a better place for Aboriginal and northern people and communities.” The website is a comprehensive overview of programs and projects INAC currently has underway. Information (including research reports, statistics, and success stories) is available for both First Nations and Inuit populations. Notable links include:

• INAC Mandate (http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/arp/mrr-eng.asp), which covers the ministry’s structure, roles and responsibilities, and applicable legislation, as well as information on challenges, partnerships, sustainability, and finances.
• Statistics (http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/rs/pubs/sta-eng.asp), including census information, comparisons of socio-economic conditions from census year to census year, and demographics.
• Education Initiatives (http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/edu/index-eng.asp)

Another useful link from this site is to the First Nations Profiles website (http://pse5-esd5.ainc-inac.gc.ca/fnp/Main/index.aspx?lang=eng), which includes an interactive map (http://fnpim-cippn.inac-ainc.gc.ca/index-eng.asp) showing geographical locations of the 615 first nations bands in Canada.

I wanted to learn more about the Snuneymuxw First Nations (SFN), as they are the local band here in Nanaimo. Their website (http://www.snuneymuxw.ca/) is well established and very up-to-date. It was interesting to read through the content and learn about not only the current issues facing the band, but all the projects and programs they are working on. The pride in their community is evident from their 20 page bi-weekly newsletter, Snuneymuxw News (http://www.snuneymuxw.ca/news-archive-2010.html), as well as the variety of community support groups and programs available to band members. These include:

• Parent Club (http://www.snuneymuxw.ca/members-information/)
• Youth Centre (http://www.snuneymuxw.ca/youth-centre/) and
• The Breakfast Club (http://www.snuneymuxw.ca/the-breakfast-club.html)

Additional links and information are also available on health and wellness programs, employment opportunities and training, local cultural archives, and even a photo gallery.

NativeWeb

http://www.nativeweb.org/

Native Web is a resource centre and database for cultures from around the world.

It has a link to hosted sites: http://www.nativeweb.org/hosted/ which provides the user with a rich resource database. Numerous ideas, topics and articles can be researched in a variety of ways. It is an abundant source of international and national news, events and resources.

Indigenous Knowledge: Local Pathways to Local Development is a document that was published in 2004 from the Knowledge and Learning Group, Africa Region; The World Bank.

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/ikcomplete.pdf 

This is a publication from the World Bank outlining “solutions for local development.” It highlights a number of successful initiatives that have included the local people. Its mandate is: “We recognize that knowledge is not the exclusive domain of technologically advanced societies. We need to give a new meaning to empowering poor people and helping to give them voice—not as recipients of knowledge, but as contributors and protagonists of their own development.” 

What I found interesting was one of the chapters titled: Indigenous Knowledge and Science and Technology: Conflict, Contradiction or Concurrence?  which has an excerpt that I found enlightening:

“Indigenous knowledge is today considered relevant in the social and human development domains. Its contribution to science and technology is often underestimated or not known. For example, the Maasai pastoralists actively immunized their herds by inoculating healthy animals with saliva froth of freshly diseased ones. Similar was the practice of English midwives, who stored molding bread with their delivery utensils and cloths. Yet, Pasteur received recognition for pioneering vaccination and Fleming for the discovery of penicillin.” 

At the end of the publication there is a table entitled: Institutional Constraints in Adapting Local Knowledge Innovations, that lists some of the barriers that are encountered.  It is a very interesting read.

Admittedly, I don’t know as much about indigenous peoples, culture, and issues as I would like. As a result, part of my recent learning has been around the history and the current state of affairs of indigenous peoples in Canada. The Amnesty International website had some interesting information on not just Canadian issues, but worldwide issues facing both indigenous people and the countries they live in. From this websites, users can access the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as a number of other resources in regards to indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world. For me, this was a useful site to learn more about some of the other issues facing indigenous peoples, which I hope will afford me a broader lens when examining possible issues between indigenous peoples and technology.

http://www.amnesty.ca/themes/indigenous_overview.php