Posts from — October 2010

Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC) as a national institution responsible for preserving and promoting the heritage of Canada, and contributing to the collective memory and sense of identity of all Canadians. I think what impressed me is that the The Canadian Museum of Civilization has an online exhibition component as well that explores the thousands of objects, papers and other items in its collections representing Aboriginal heritage, immigration history and French Canadian culture. Yet, there seems to be quite a heavy component of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.

In particular, the First Peoples of Canada page is an interesting resource.    As a virtual exhibition that looks at different perspectives of the history of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, “underlining their fight for cultural survival and indicating the wealth of their modern-day contributions,” the website draws on information and artifacts presented in the First Peoples Hall of the Canadian Museum of Civilization.   It doesn’t try to be a comprehensive presentation of the history of all the Native groups in Canada; instead, aspects of cultural identity are explored through four themes: (a) the diversity of Aboriginal cultural expression; (b) how the Aboriginal presence manifests itself within present-day Canada; (c) the adaptation of traditional lifestyles to different environments across Canada; and (d) the impact of the arrival and settlement of Europeans over the last 500 years.

I think this website provides an important “national” recognition of aboriginal peoples of Canada.   Certainly, there is still a colonial theme to the history presented, but it does try to balance this out with important historical artefacts from an Aboriginal peoples’ perspective.

http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/archeo/hnpc/npint00e.shtml

http://www.isuma.tv/hi/en/testimony-isuma/clara-quassa-testimony

This is a website which excited me a lot.  Perhaps the most interesting of the links I’ve provided so far. This particular video is a video very much in theme with “March Point.” IsumaTV is an independent interactive network of Inuit and Indigenous multimedia. IsumaTV uses the power and immediacy of the Web to bring people together to tell stories and support change.

In particular, the tools of this web portal allows Indigenous peoples to express reality in their own voices: views of the past, anxieties about the present and hopes for a more decent and honorable future.  The goal is simply to assist people to listen to one another, “to recognize and respect diverse ways of experiencing our world, and honor those differences as a human strength.”  As this module 3’s goal is decolonization and indigenous intellectual property rights, I think IsumaTV’s uses of new networking technology to build a new era of communication and exchange among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and communities around the globe is one way to break down the brick and mortar approach of Western imperialist research methodologies of researchers “invading” territories of indigenous peoples’ and gathering and categorizing information for their own needs and leaving abruptly.

In 2007, one of the focal points in CBC Television’s diversity plan was a web platform that tried to showcase stories and programs on Aboriginal life, issues, and artistic expression that have been produced by, or in association with CBC Television and Radio. As one of the CBC’s diversity strategies, the portal provides “better access to the volume of programming produced by the CBC which relates to Aboriginal life in Canada, creating a resource tool for schools, the larger community as a whole and Aboriginal communities in particular.”

What I found empowering about this website for Aboriginal peoples is the CBC’s intention to develop internships related to the site that will provide budding web developers with an opportunity to get to know the CBC, and its content. The website acts as connective fibre for other CBC initiatives that look to improve our capacity to connect with, and reflect Canada’s Aboriginal people. The portal was launched on June 21, 2007 and simply called “CBC Aboriginal.” The official website launch coincided with National Aboriginal Day on June 21st, 2007 and brought together CBC’s coverage of aboriginal issues on Television, Newsworld, Radio and CBCNews.ca.

http://www.cbc.ca/aboriginal/about.html

Looking for more information about place-based education, I came across this You Tube video describing the importance of securing traditional knowledge for the benefit of community and country. The 5 minute, 36 second video was created by Luke Stanford, narrated by Victor Steffensen and filmed in Australia.

Some of the themes discussed are:

• The importance of showing a visual of what the elders are trying to explain
• Understanding that different forms of language + body + verbal are all significant and must be preserved
• That Aboriginal knowledge is  not recognized by the mainstream and therefore an even greater sense of urgency to preserve this knowledge
• A sustainability theme where we’re not just saving this knowledge for Aboriginal people but for all – i.e. Aboriginal knowledge as a means to better understand global warming and other environmental issues
• People are currently detached from the environment but in reality “Man is not different from nature, Man is nature”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvEcjmTwH_0&feature=related

This research project by an Aboriginal Women’s Health Research Committee, supported by Prairie Women’s Heath Centre of Excellence (PWHCE) was designed to advance the current understanding of the positive impact of cultural identity on the wellness of Aboriginal women in Manitoba. In addition, an additional objective was to extend understanding of the ways that Aboriginal women have sought to heal themselves and their families through cultural values, teachings and knowledge.

The study included a literature review of the current research followed by group discussions and individual interviews with the women in the study. The study concluded that the women in the study take care of their physical and emotional health by maintaining balance between all aspects of their lives, including the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. The approach is very reminiscent of the medicine wheel approach to holistic health. The findings concluded that the women’s identities are inseparable from their family, history, community, place and spirituality, and understood in the context of their whole lives. The approach/findings were reminiscent of Lee Brown’s ideas around the emotional health and the whole person.

livingWell[2]

As a means to better understand how culture-based education is being implemented, I researched the Northern community of Yellowknife to view their school district page. The district Website reports that Aboriginal students account for approximately 25% of enrolment in Yellowknife Education District No. 1 and that they are spread out across eight schools.

The school district lists their YK1 Strategic Direction as:  

To ensure that students and staff are engaged in, and value Aboriginal Language and Culture-Based Education.

The following strategic goals indicate how the strategic direction will be implemented:

• To support staff to integrate culturally relevant learning opportunities into instructional programming
• To build capacity to increase the human resource base for the instruction of Aboriginal Language and Culture-Based programs
• To develop and support programs that promote the social and emotional well-being of Aboriginal students
• To promote and support Aboriginal Language and Culture- Based Education for all students
• To strengthen relationships with the Aboriginal community
• To revise Board procedures for the delivery of Aboriginal Education

 http://www.yk1.nt.ca/#Scene_1

In my travels as an educational consultant, I have come across two non-profit organizations that focus on Aboriginal initiatives and helping kids.

The Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative was started by Paul Martin, former prime minister of Canada.  The goal of the organization is to support initiatives that improve elementary and secondary education for Aboriginal people.  They have a literacy project in effect at Kettle and Stony Point Hillside School and a math initiative at Walpole Island Elementary, both in Southwestern Ontario.  A Promising Practices website, along with an accounting and a youth leadership project round out their current project portfolio.

http://www.maei-ieam.ca/index.html

The second initiative concerns putting books into the hands of young Aboriginal students and allowing them to build a home library with the hopes of developing a love for literacy.  The students also receive newsletters addressed to them at their home address with activities and information.  The initiative was started by James Bartleman (former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario) and Michaelle Jean (former Governor General of Canada).

http://www.clubamick.ca/

After viewing the Lee Brown video, I was particularly interested in reading more about linkages between cultural identity and educational success. During my reading I came across a Public Health Agency of Canada Website entitled: Aboriginal Children: the healing power of cultural identity.

This site describes several aboriginal initiatives across Canada that are working to promote cultural identity in Aboriginal children, the devastating effects of past injustices such as residential schools, how communities are working together to help restore identity, and the importance of elders to the processes. The site concludes byoffering the following list of suggestions aimed to foster a child’s sense of identity:

• Learn as much as you can about the specific culture of the child – its traditions, strengths and challenges. Aboriginal cultures are diverse (there are approximately 50 different Aboriginal cultural groups in Canada) and there is also diversity within each community.
• Try to balance the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions of the child.
• Support the child to learn and maintain his traditional language.
• Provide regular opportunities for her to take part in traditional activities. Fish, gather berries, prepare and eat traditional foods together.
• Provide regular opportunities for him to take part in community events. Attend ceremonial and ritual events.
• Encourage meaningful interaction with Elders from her community. Children can learn respect and wisdom from Elders.
• Support him to learn traditional stories and legends.
• Provide her with books, videos, traditional games, dance and music that reinforce her traditional, family and daily life.
• Speak frankly to him about discrimination.
• Network with other Aboriginal parents, colleagues and Elders to share experiences and ideas.

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/dca-dea/programs-mes/aboriginal-autochtones-eng.php

I enjoyed the video of Lee Brown and decided to understand a little more about what he does.  I didn’t realize that UBC had the Institute for Aboriginal Health with all of its programs.  It may be because I am not from BC, so sorry if almost everyone else was aware of it.

http://www.iah.ubc.ca/index.php

Ditto for the First Nations House of Learning at UBC.

http://www.longhouse.ubc.ca/

http://www.nativetelecom.org/

One of our readings in this module discussed the role that public telecom played in the effects of media over time.  This is the Native American Public Telecommunications site. The site has a lot of audio, video and resources and currently even has an open call for filmmakers for video projects with significant Native involvement.  You can listen to live radio, watch documentaries, view contemporary Native performers’ work or join one of the discussion forums. among other things.