Category — Module 1

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 And, for better or for worse, if you don’t update daily, and more effectively hourly, you are out of date on the web.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

The CASTS (Canadian Aboriginals in Science and Technology Society) website is updated sporadically at best, but features some information on their annual conference. What I thought was interesting about the conference information is the discussion about how technology impacts indigenous cultures, how it can be utilized in a positive manner, and how it can have negative impacts. The discussion is clearly an open one, even among the people it affects. I thought that this website would be valuable to share that this society and conference opportunity exists for any of us who may be interested in further study in this field.

http://casts.ca

http://www.adulterc.org/applications/ClassifiedListingsManager/inc_classifiedlistingsmanager.asp?date=1/1/2009

This website can be found as a link on the Adult Education Research Conference 

(   http://www.adulterc.org  ) under conference proceedings.  The link pages list and contain all the papers submitted during the Annual Conference, held each year in a major Canadian or US university.  UBC hosted the 2000 conference.  By clicking the detail button beside any of the submissions, all papers submitted that year are listed by title, in list form.  All postings are saved in pdf form making them easy to read and print friendly.

The list of submissions each year is both substantial and diverse.  Not every paper relates to the main topics in EDET 521.  Many, like “The Role of Language in the Preservation of a Culture “
Posted on Friday, January 01, 1999 by Dorothy M. Still Smoking which talks about work done preserving the language of the Blackfoot People in Montana certainly parallel the topics we are currently studying.

http://www.manataka.org

This is a very interesting website hosted by the Manataka American Indian Council.  The site is full of links to everything from the “Story of Manataka” to the monthly “Smoke Signal News”.  The Powwow Events Calendar lists 353 powwows for 2009, conveniently listed by State. 

This website embodies everything that is bad about the role that technology plays in portraying negative stereotypes in Native People.  Although there are links to “Native Stories and Traditions”, clearly the underlying theme of the website is a form of mass marketing, using “Manataka Sacred Seal” as a medium to sell T-Shirts, and yes we accept Papal, just hit the Add to Cart link.  If you need counseling, a free service for members and guests,  Annette Broken Owl Greene can be reached by email.

The website has the footprint of the technologically dependant dominant culture and does much to promote common stereotypes of Native people in North America.  And they are looking for a new webmaster.

http://www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca/acp/site.nsf/eng/index.html

This Canadian Government Website is a true Aboriginal portal.  The Teacher Resources under Education Topics is filled with countless educational links. http://www.innovationcanada.ca/en/articles/hip-hop-storytellers     is a video clip about how aboriginal youth are using modern technology and hip-hop in a traditional storytelling medium. 

Ukaliq, the Artic Hare link contains Inuit stories, told for generations following their oral tradition, likely written down for the first time.  Scientific studies stand beside tradition art and uses while a game and activity section is full of numerous activities and videos for a very detailed study of the Arctic Hare.  The website uses new internet technologies to show how the 3-D bone structure of the Hare is transformed into traditional soapstone and walrus tusk carvings.  The entire site, and especially the specific links are a great example of modern technology capturing and preserving traditional aboriginal culture, traditions, art and history

http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/07/best-native-films-by-or-about.html

 This website seems to encompass many of the major topics we have read and learned about in Module 1 of ECET 521, especially during week 2.  There is a listing of best Native Films ( by or about Indigenous people )  Many of the films are “Hollywood” big budget films, produced, directed and acted by Indigenous people.   The Blog section is extremely interesting were viewers have added to the list of films, and commented about the numerous appropriations depicted.  The blogs are really a must read.  Written by indigenous and non-indigenous people, they highlight how technology can unite a community of like-minded, like thinking people.  Blog writers engage is a unique form of sharing, about topics that have local relevance, at least to them. 

The website also contains substantial “national film board” style of documentaries about Indigenous people, how they have been exploited, and how technology has been double-edged, a helping tool in some ways and a culturally destructive tool in another. I leave you with a link to a full-length film about the standoff near Oka Quebec.  This site is sure to add much content to your digital video library.             http://www.nfb.ca/film/kanehsatake_270_years_of_resistance/

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/2003-01-27-native-usat_x.htm

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1122/p13s02-almo.html/(page)/2

http://www.nativepeoples.com/article/articles/174/1/COYOTE-GOES-HOLLYWOOD

Three separate websites with a common theme.  They offer a simple but pointed discourse regarding Native Americans in movies.  There is common belief that for many the view or knowledge they have about Native Americans is what they have seen in the movies.  To change these distorted representations is both costly and difficult.  People do not want to see aboriginal people as they are today, minus the headdress and the war-paint. With today’s enormous production and marketing costs, truform aboriginal movies, even with aboriginal directors and actors, are very risky business.  But that is not to say developments have not or are not progressing.  Robert Redford has been a leader in his Sundance Studios, and native director Chris Eyre has made huge inroads in contemporary portrails of aboriginal people in his movies.  The development of online streaming is starting to have huge impact on aboriginal film.  Production costs can be affordable, and the target audience, be it mainstream North America or a specific indigenous people in Southern New Mexico are becoming increasingly easier to access.