Category — Module 3

The December 2011 report of the Standing Senate committee on Aboriginal Peoples is entitled REFORMING FIRST NATIONS EDUCATION: FROM CRISIS TO HOPE This reflects the theme from “Decolonizing Methodologies” author Linda Smith and her discussion of how spaces of marginalization have become spaces of hope. This 80 page Senate document is also available online at www.parl.gc.ca and www.senate-senat.ca It is a document that explores historical periods of First nations education, and also examines the current situation. It discusses the need for further infrastructure, funding, and reform, and issues recommendations for a new framework for first Nations Education in Canada.
This document/website is one that I have encountered as I prepare to work on my paper looking at how best to benefit First Nations students in my classroom.

http://www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca

This is a Government of Canada site with a number of different links connected through it (hence: portal) From Aboriginal Math resources, to literature, resource guides and Native dancing. There is a section on just lesson plans, including tidbits on Louis Riel, Inuit sculpture and Inukshuk, short Metis plays, and Wellness handbooks. Extensive menus and sidebar tabs lead to many related resources and sites. While it is a Government sponsored site and political bias is always an issue we face, there is also a lot of useful material that can be used and implemented if we are looking to upgrade the First Nations and Canadian content in High School English and Social Studies (and drama, art….) classes.

Weblog 3.1

The conclusion of module three stated “…..how indigenous principles could be applied in mainstream and dominant educational settings to produce a more progressive and sustainable future for schools and communities. Indigenous education is not simply for Indigenous peoples.”

I found an Australian article arguing just this – that the Indigenous way of teaching can be a deep learning for all learners.

Tyson Yunkaporta, an Aboriginal Education Consultant, undertook a research project Aboriginal Pedagogies at the Cultural Interface that asked two questions:

1. How can teachers engage with Aboriginal knowledge?

Similar to aspects of Indigenous learning outlined by Marker (2011) and Barhardt and Kawagley (2005), Yunkaporta has developed an 8ways Aboriginal Pedagogical Framework comprising story telling, learning maps, non-verbal, symbols and images, land links, non-linear, deconstruct/reconstruct and community links, which all interact in multiple ways. You can view the diagramatic representation of the framework on the site.

He argues, in the Draft Report that there is a common-ground phenomenon when higher order knowledge from Indigenous systems is brought alongside similar western systems. p20 of the report  has this diagrammatically as a ‘Boomerang Matrix of Cultural Interface Knowledge’.

Yunkaporta states that “non-Aboriginality (is) not found to be a barrier to engaging with Aboriginal knowledge. …… Aboriginality in itself does not provide some kind of magic ticket for engaging with Aboriginal knowledge. Any person, regardless of their background, must have a sophisticated awareness of their own identity and must be engaging in local knowledge protocols in order to come to Aboriginal knowledge with integrity.” p27

2. How can teachers use Aboriginal knowledge authentically and productively in schools?

Yunkaporta’s solution lies in the application of Aboriginal processes rather than Indigenised content (which he outlines in depth in the second half of his report).

References

Barnhardt, R., & Kawagley,  A. O., “Indigenous Knowledge Sytems and Alaskan Native ways of Knowing” Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 36(1), 2005, 8-23.

Marker M. Teaching History form an Indigenous perspective. Four winding paths up the mountain.

Yunkaporta, T. (2009) Aboriginal Pedagogies at the Cultural Interface draft report

Decolonization: Idigeneity, Education & Society is a peer-reviewed, online, open access journal.  The journal is very new – it’s first issue was released on September 17, 2012.  The website states that the journal is “committed to decolonization work within education, as part of a larger project of decolonization in society.”  The panel of peer-reviewers is listed on the site and includes people from a number of countries and disciplines.  The first issue can be accessed here.

As this is a new journal, there was not much to review.  However, the initiative and the impressive list of peer-reviewers makes it worth looking at.  The first issue contains and editorial, articles, poetry and the cover page is a beautiful piece of artwork.  The journal certainly speaks to the main topic of Module 3.

Weblog Notes – Module 3

Site # 1

This time around I thought I would explore the different ways Indigenous people use media to cover one issue concerning the protection of their collective history. I chose to examine the village and Midden site of c̓əsnaʔəm of Marpople village and the Musqueam community.  The first means with which the Musqueam Community spreads the word about their plight is through Facebook where they have various news clips, photos and also a blog that describes their efforts to stop a condo development site from being built so that their ancestors are no longer desecrated. Here is a link to their Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/ProtectTheVillageAndMiddenSiteOfMarpoleVillage/info

By this means of communication they are able to get the public to react and support their cause through blogs and even a petition. There are quite a few supportive comments in their blogs, but it is unclear how many actually come from outside the community itself.

Site # 2

By continuing to explore this story and how the Musqueam community is using the Web and Internet to protect their 4,000 year old burial site, also know as the Eburne site, Manpole Midden or Great Fraser Midden, I found a 5-minuteYouTube video, here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbjl1mShtpo

I found that this video was powerful, the message is clear – the images are evocative.  The Musqueam community is really working together to save their historical site and they are willing to go all the way to protect their collective history.  I found this to be a very effective way to get the Musqueam message across.  Many people view YouTube and it can obviously help their cause.  I unfortunately saw no comments in the comment box, so I wonder who has viewed it . . . it has been posted since August 2012, so that gives it some time for others to view and comment on it.  The video is well made and I think could reach out to a wide public.

Site # 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aPOUgPsn1g&feature=related

This video entitled : The Musqueam Marpole Midden Vigil Interview, explains what the Musqueam community has done.  The steps that have been taken, from peaceful demonstrations, suggestions of swapping land to relocate the condo project, their efforts to talk to provincial and federal government, until their blockade on the bridge – which is sadly when the government decided to take note of the issue and begin talks.

The speaker makes a good case of  why saving this site is important to the Musqueam people and also of comparing the fact that digging up other Canadian graveyards is not allowed or done in Canada, why should it be different for them?

Site # 4

This site is an activist column where the petition to protect the Musqueam Marpole burial site can be found.  Up to date there are 1 347 signatures that support the petition. This web site offers more information on this issue and the Musqueam people’s struggle to protect this burial site since December 2011. It is amazing to me that despite the finding of ancestral bones, the building permit was not revoked and especially why it is so difficult for the government to act in good faith and accept the proposed swap.

At the bottom of the page there are 10 referers that link this site. I thought I would visit a few to see how a plight, such as preserving the Musqueam Marpole ancestral burial site could be linked with other similar plights, or find sympathizers to their cause elsewhere.

Site # 5

http://www.activism.com/en_CA/external/intercontinentalcry.org/urgent-action-needed-to-protect-ancient-marpole-village-and-burial-site-from-destruction/

Indigenous Media is a grassroots journal. This web site is an excellent example of using the Internet to connect with other Indigenous groups around the world. I explored several of the opinions, news and editorials that can be found on this web site; here are some of the titles covered:

–          Illegal miners in Venezuela

–          Blockaded dam in Malaysia

–          City council plan halted by tribal council (Gila River Indian Community)

–          The plight of the Bedouin of the Negev

–          Sacred Sites and Indigenous Peoples of the Altai

–          Brazil: Indigenous Peoples Demand Repeal of ‘Anti-Indian’ Decree

Each of these stories go into more depth and lead to further links and information on the subject.  This type of website offers all Indigenous communities who wish to do so, a platform for expressing their concerns about various subjects that affect their communities. I believe this type of media forum can serve to inform each other and the world about issues, and it can also be used to learn from each other.  Perhaps such a platform can also provide Indigenous communities with strength in number and offer them ideas and ways to protect their collective histories and ancestral ways.

Each web news segment also offers the opportunity to blog, and I read many comments supporting various causes.  It is interesting then that through this site the Musqueam people can get a worldwide audience to react to their plight. I found the story about the Musqueam Marpole ancestral burial site under “Canada”. It is here that I learned that after their struggle the Musqueam people won their fight and on September 27 the provincial government revoked the permits to build a 5 story condominium development at the Musqueam Marpole Village Site.

I believe that the Internet was an important tool for the Musqueam people in propagating their issue and in resolving the matter.  Thus I conclude that various forms of media: the Internet, blogs, videos, interviews etc. did serve to protect and disseminate their collective history. I also believe that other Indigenous groups can likely use this example as a guide for their own struggles and give them ideas about how to work with government entities to resolve issues.

Weblog 3: Entry #1

What a website! In my initial perusals this site takes on the issue of Aboriginal Title and Rights. With specific reference to the ‘Indian-Land’ Page and the ‘Disinherited’ Link, a magnifying glass is set upon the colonial actions of Queen Victoria and her Government in the role it played in promoting British settlement while subjugating FN culture and society in Victoria BC. The discussions and commentary, with specific examples of murals, buildings, statues and pictures etc. illustrates some of the foundations for present day frustrations and struggles for equality, on the part of FN tribes on the West Coast.

Site: http://www.firstnations.de/indian_land/disinherited.htm

I have posted a number of times about the aboriginal choice school in Prince George. The newspaper today featured an extended article about the renaming of the school – a long arduous process taking into account myriad stakeholders and language conventions. This changes from “The aboriginal choice school” or “Carney Hill Elementary” to Nusdeh Yoh (“house of the future”) in the langauge of the Lheidli T’enneh, on whose traditional lands the school is situated. The article talks about the curriculum covered in the school, and is a crystal clear example of reclaiming and advancing traditional values, an an environment that is not resonant of the Henry Ford assembly line model of education that the rest of us cleave unto.

From the article:
“Our students come from all over the place — we have Carrier, Cree, Blackfoot, Metis, Gitxsan, Kispiox, Tl’azt’en, we’ve had some Objibwe students, and some from areas I can’t pronounce,” laughed Gillis.

“These kids know more about language than I ever had the opportunity to learn when I was younger, and it was my mom’s first language,” said Gillis, part of the Saik’uz First Nation south of Vanderhoof… My mom never taught it to me back when I was younger because they didn’t see the value of retaining it. It’s exciting to see the kids learning it now.”
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20121025/PRINCEGEORGE0101/310259990/-1/princegeorge/found-in-translation

This is quite the site.  There is a great deal of current information on this site and it is an example of social media spreading the word.  The site can be accessed at  http://www.facebook.com/DKUBC.

I took a few minutes to look through the site and was impressed by the amount of information on it, as well as ongoing discussions and links to upcoming conferences, speakers, activities and current topics.  The site was started in November 2010 and its description states:

Decolonizing Knowledge is a student-led initiative that facilitates strategies to reconcile the cultural misrepresentation and appropriation that occurs on the UBC Point Grey Campus. By building inter-cultural relationships with organizations and individuals on campus, and spreading accessible information outside of the classroom, Decolonizing Knowledge seeks to equip staff, students, and faculty members with the tools necessary to create a campus that is welcoming to all. (Quote from FB page found at http://www.facebook.com/DKUBC/info)

Definitely well worth a visit.

A Transformative Framework for Decolonizing Canada:  A Non-Indigenous Approach is a speech written by a doctoral student at the University of Victoria.  I found it truly illuminating.  The author, Paulette Regan, uses a story to describe the differences in communication between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people.  Her argument is that while non-Indigenous people ask for open dialogue and communication with Indigenous people, we are really asking for it on our terms.  We want them to communicate to us our way but are not willing to listen and respect their way of communicating.  Regan (2005) states that:

It is the gap between what we (as non-indigenous people) think we are doing- which is engaging with good intentions in an intercultural dialogue, and how Indigenous peoples experience that same event as a manifestation of deeply ingrained institutional colonialism and attitudes.
In these situations what we are really doing, whether unconsciously or not, is asking Indigenous peoples to fit within our cultural paradigm- to have the intercultural dialogue on our terms, not theirs. (p. 2)

Regan continues on to argue that non-Indigenous people need to stop looking at decolonization as something that “they” (the “other”) needs to do to reclaim what they have lost, but rather something that non-Indigenous people need to participate in so that we can understand the Indigenous perspective and realize how pervasive colonialism is.

To get ‘unstuck’ the non-indigenous … must focus not, as we have done so often with disastrous results, on the problem of the “other” (that is, Indigenous peoples) but turn our gaze, mirror-like, back upon ourselves, to what Roger Epp calls the “settler problem.” In essence, we must begin to take a more proactive responsibility for decolonizing ourselves. (Regan, 2005; p. 6)

Regan then goes on to share her vision of a transformative framework that uses the past to help us learn and move forward.

Reference:

Regan, P. (2005).  A Transformative Framework for Decolonizing Canada: A Non-Indigenous Approach.  (Doctoral Student Symposium Speech)  Retrieved online at:  http://web.uvic.ca/igov/research/pdfs/A%20Transformative%20Framework%20for%20Decolonizing%20Canada.pdf

The full name of the paper is Decolonizing Methodologies and Indigenous Knowledge: The Role of Culture, Place and Personal Experience in Professional Development.  The pdf can be found here.  The paper discusses the attitudes of teachers to including Indigenous knowledge in their curriculum before and after a presentation on indigenous Hawai’ian science topics.

The paper was very hopeful, indicating that it is possible to change teachers’ attitudes towards including Indigenous knowledge.  What was even more interesting, was that the researcher cited Linda Smith’s (1999) book on Decolonizing Methodologies.  The author states that, “Linda Smith (1999), a Maori researcher, describes 25 decolonizing research projects to recover marginalized cultural knowledge, practices, and identity.” (Chinn, 2007; p. 1252).  Chinn (2007) then identifies five of these decolonizing methods that she used in the research.  A very interesting article and study on a variety of levels, and one that ties in math, science and Module 3’s theme of decolonization.

Reference:

Chinn, P. W. U. (2007).  Decolonizing methodologies and indigenous knowledge: The role of culture, place and personal experience in professional development.  Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Volume 44, No. 9, p. 1247 – 1268.  Retrieved online at:  http://www.d.umn.edu/~bmunson/Courses/Educ5560/readings/Chin07-CultEnv.pdf

Smith, L. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. NewYork: Zed Books Ltd.