“Empowerment through knowledge” is the IDRC’s mission. It’s importance to educators and researchers is its funding and support.
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-9310-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Author: Ronna Hoglund
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Aboriginal Justice
I understand that some of Judge John Reilly’s comments and ways have irked a few people along the way, however, I happen to agree with his idea that Aboriginal Justice should be applied across the greater society. What does this have to do with education? Well, I think Aboriginal Education would do well being applied across the greater society as well.
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2010/11/08/nov-0810—pt-1-judge-reilly/
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Nation Talk
Touted as “Canada’s Premier National Aboriginal Newswire and Employment Service” this is a great resource for both the classroom and post graduation! The Nation Talk interviews were particularly interesting to me; Susan Aglukark’s work with the ACYF, and Ashley Iserhoff’s description of the fibre-optic infrastructure for Cree communities in Northern Ontario & Quebec – improved Internet by 2011 – yeah!
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Indigenous Education Coalition
” What we do and our Services Provided:
The member communities of the IEC determine the types of services that will be delivered, based on availability of funds and identified needs. These services may include the following:
- Special Education Support
- Institutional Relations
- Information Sharing
- Professional Development
- Special Projects “
Members of IEC include 12 First Nations Communities in Ontario (mostly SW Ontario). Descriptions of projects are available online as well as links to teaching resource websites.
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Indigenous Education Institute
“The work of IEI is focused on the boundaries between traditional Indigenous science and western science, sometimes places of tension, but also places where the most fruitful exchange of knowledge can take place. The work of IEI is centered on the task of helping young native people find their own sense of self-identity and self-esteem in the world today, based on a firm foundation of thousands of years of cultural knowledge.”
This website offers information and links to other sites providing information on Indigenous knowledge and its application to modern times in helping to preserve the planet (& space) for future generations.
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The Freire Project
The Freire Project The Paulo and Nita Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy
If there is something that I have learned from this course, it is that things need to change in the classroom in order for Aboriginal students to succeed. Many of us may have learned a little about Paulo Freire and his philophies of teaching. For those who appreciate his ideas or would like to learn more, this site offers valuable resources. Besides a space to communicate with other like minded individuals, there is also FREE access to the International Journal of Critical Pedagogy and it appears to be a journal that would benefit from the contributions of caring, thoughtful, hardworking, and interesting teachers like the ones I have met in this course. There is also a link to the Open Journal Systems for access to other no-cost journals.
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Indian Country Today
It’s important to keep up to date on current Indigenous issues and events and Indian Country Today is a great resource with which to to do that. The major focus is on national (American) stories in the U.S., however, there is coverage of global issues as well. The top Canadian story: “Government kills abalone project” in Bamfield, B.C.
I feel sometimes I get overwhelmed with the seemingly limitless amount of information on the web, so having a resource like this one to trust to keep track of things as they happen is somehow a relief.
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Listening to Our Past
“Listening to Our Past” is a collaborative effort about Inuit Culture in Nunavut involving the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Nunavut Arctic College, Association des Francophone du Nunavut, and Heritage Canada. There is a lot of information presented in a format that I think would be appealing to students – plenty of interesting pictures. Why is this important? Because teachers can create a group name for students to log in individually and complete questionnaires. An excellent learning resource.
Be sure to flip the pictures (bottom, right hand side) – I had been to the site a couple of times before realizing this!
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imagineNATIVE
So, it is over this year (October 20-24, 2010) and it was in Toronto, however, the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival is annual. In fact it just celebrated its 11th year. AND there is still lots to look at and discover on their website. Check out the short clip on the Best Dramatic Feature festival winner “Boy” – guaranteed to make you want to see the film!
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Biopiracy & the ETC Group
“Biopiracy refers to the appropriation of the knowledge and genetic resources of farming and indigenous communities by individuals or institutions who seek exclusive monopoly control (patents or intellectual property) over these resources and knowledge. ETC Group believes that intellectual property is predatory on the rights and knowledge of farming communities and indigenous peoples.”
Since I am directly involved in dishing out pharmaceuticals and training others up to do so, biopiracy is a concern that strikes home with me. I have taught the origin of aspirin (from willow tree bark) in the classroom for years and found it curious how some textbooks would cite indigenous knowledge as being the reason for its discovery, while others did not. Hmm. And what about Lakota arthritis therapy, who is profiting from that exactly? The ETC Group fights for issues related to Erosion, Technology, and Concentration (e.g. corporate) thus the shortform. There are many issues to focus on but there is also global representation on the board – Canada, U.S., Mexico, Africa, South America, Phillipines and U.K. – to help tackle them.
“What we do: We address the socioeconomic and ecological issues surrounding new technologies that could have an impact on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. We investigate ecological erosion (including the erosion of cultures and human rights); the development of new technologies (especially agricultural but also new technologies that work with genomics and matter); and we monitor global governance issues including corporate concentration and trade in technologies. We operate at the global political level. We work closely with partner civil society organizations (CSOs) and social movements, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America.”