I found the Aboriginal Healing Foundation while reading several research articles by Dr. William Mussell, one titled “Cultural Pathways for Decolonization” and another called “Warrior-caregivers: Understanding the challenges and healing of First Nations men.” The title of the latter reminded me about the Fraser River Journey film and Skyler’s father’s discussion about the importance of First Nations warriors and the warrior’s transition in modern culture. Several of Dr. Mussell’s articles are housed at AHF.ca.

The AHF has a very comprehensive and diverse board of directors and has received quite a significant amount of funding since its creation in 1998. More than $350 million in fact. Now it’s not exactly a $350 million website in terms of design and usability 😉 but the resources related to residential schools are particularly good and I recommend that anybody who is looking at residential schooling in more detail review the “residential school bibliography”in the publications section.

It is also interesting to note how important a role holism plays in mission statement of this organization. I must admit I hadn’t given much thought to the idea of holism before the start of this course but now find the idea playing a central role in my own everyday life.

Unfortunately, the foundation will be closed permanently in September 2012. Hopefully they will find a place to maintain these resources and keep them available to the general public.

While researching You Tube videos around the topic of Indigenous property rights, I came across a set of videos describing the Canadian Residential School experience. Although not directly related to this module’s topic, I had to include a couple of them. The second video poignantly illustrates the power of the technology. It is a devastating video to view.

Canadian Residential School Propaganda Video 1955:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_V4d7sXoqU&feature=related

Canadian Holocaust -Try Not to Cry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqPIh-267fg&feature=related

The power of the Internet is undeniably strong and tends to be a first point of reference when trying to learn about anything. Whether or not that’s a good thing I don’t know but it’s a fact. I have been looking at many band websites over the course of this course and I’m happy to say that I think Haisla.ca is definitely on the right track. Like many websites it’s difficult to maintain especially when you’re first starting out but I think this site has great bones. You can see there’s multimedia capabilities, forum capabilities, a newsletter etc. There are also links to local artists and their work, the local Haisla-run radio station and its archives, as well as links to important documents pertaining to things like treaty negotiations. The news and events are kept up-to-date and there are specific calls to action such as youth events and Council meetings etc. It’s not perfect by any stretch but I myself think it’s wonderful to see the Haisla maintaining authority over this space in cyberspace.

The aim of the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project (HRELP) is to document endangered languages, train language documenters, preserve and disseminate documentation materials, and support endangered languages.

HRELP is based at SOAS, University of London, and consists of three programmes:

• The Documentation Programme (ELDP) is providing £15 million in research grants to document the world’s most endangered languages.
• The Academic Programme (ELAP) Teaches postgraduate courses in language documentation and description, and field linguistics. It also hosts post-doctoral fellows, researchers, visitors, and conducts seminars and training.
•  The Archiving Programme (ELAR) is preserving and disseminating endangered language documentation, developing resources, and conducting training in documentation and archiving.

For more information: http://www.hrelp.org/