Module 2

Site#2

In the spirit of placed based knowledge, I am gathering resources from my own geographic community. This website http://www.squamish.net/aboutus/ offers a clear, user-friendly reference about the Squamish Nation. It includes the history, direction and structure of leadership of the Nation. The website also describes the treaty negotiation timeline and its educational services and affiliations. The structure of the Squamish Nation leadership; hereditary and elected, is also covered.

Module #2

Source #1

“OUR WORDS OUR WAYS Teaching First Nations, Inuit and Metis Learners” is an Alberta based comprehensive education package for elementary learners. The document can be found at https://education.alberta.ca/media/307199/words.pdf .The program links cooperative learning and community, with sharing of traditional values. It includes a helpful section on things to consider when selecting of aboriginal content for your class. Infused throughout the document are stories, which act as illustrations and examples of concepts taught and “shared wisdom” of traditional teaching that underlines the concepts.

Carrier Sekani Tribal Chief Terry Teegee joins protestors outside the Joint Review Panel hearings into Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline Tuesday in Prince George

PRINCE GEORGE, Oct 14, 2012

There has been a lot of coverage of the proposed Enbridge pipeline in the news. What is surprising is that the current wind seems to be blowing against that mega-corporation.  Global news often seems to take a biased “big business” perspective, but they must see the writing on the wall. BC Premier Christy Clark is slowly becoming more strongly opposed to the pipeline.  She has stated from the outset that it is not an opposition based solely on financial issues. She is concerned with environmental issues as well. Enbridge is not looking strong globally, with spills taking a place of high visibility in the news (thanks Global!!) Hearings examining the technical specs and engineering have been taking place in Prince George, and so have the expected demonstrations. Carrier Sekani Tribal Chief Terry Teegee seems to be [temporarily] aligned with multiple levels of regional and provincial politicians. Teegee stated in the PGFreePress stated that the Joint Review Panel “is not taking the rights and title of First Nations people into account as it hears testimony and evidence from intervenors”. He also stated that “it baffles me why Enbridge would hang in there considering all the opposition to the project,” It does make me wonder several things:

• How many people are actually in support of this project?
• Can anyone/anything stop this project?
• Is Ottawa prepared to push this through regardless of the prevailing public opinion?
• Is the fact that First Nation concerns are not being addressed indicative of a larger problem, or is this an oversight?

See the article in its entirety at http://www.pgfreepress.com/news/173518791.html

Weblog #2: Entry #3

The Esquimalt Nation is presently building a Community Centre, which will be on the corner of Admiral’s Road and Thomas Way (see map below). The community plan is based on ‘Natural Laws’ which inform the ‘Cycle of Life’. A quick overview of these laws are linked on the site for those, like myself, who are unfamiliar. Of particular interest to me, as it relates to my research topic, is how will this community center enhance and support all of the surrounding communities. My impression is that this site will be intended for us by all and not just the FN communities but press on such details have not yet been released.

Weblog #2: Entry #2

In Victoria there is there is the Victoria Native Friendship Centre (VNFC), which lists the following aims on Community and Culture Relations page:

1. To create better understanding between Frist Nations people and the general public, and to promote planning with government, health, welfare, church and other agencies to improve the quality of services and facilities for First Nations people in the community; and
2. To encourage the public to take an informed interest in the promotion of these objectives and in the general well-being of First Nations people.

Implicit in aim Number 1 is the fact that there is a need to improve the understanding(s) between FN people and the general public. While there is no great surprise there, I did find aim Number 2 interesting in that there is a desire to engage the public involved in achieving aim Number 1. To me, it seems that there is a welcoming and inclusive tone to this second aim which hints that the creation of community is not to be looked at in isolation. A FN community is linked to the surrounding community and vice versa. My future searches need to revolve around tangible examples of such an interconnected relationship.

Web Log notes Module # 2

This week, I thought I would begin by exploring the Métis collective memories.

Here is the first source I explored:

http://metisnationdatabase.ualberta.ca/MNC/

Weblog #5

As part of my assignment I plan to look at patient education delivered by technology for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. To date I have found many websites but the vast majority are directed at health professionals and not the patients themselves. Also many initiatives do not use technology, but rather focus on visiting communities in buses, or creating festival days, Men’s sheds etc.

Beyondblue is a website that focuses on mental health disorders and provides information for patients and health professionals. It has an Indigenous section, but the use of technology for health is limited to the depression Yarns DVD – The Depression Yarns: Tackling Depression, Anxiety and Related Disorders in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities.

The DVD was developed for use by Indigenous Mental Health Workers and service providers working with Aboriginal people. The DVD focuses on postnatal depression and depression in men. It includes two mini-dramas on the topics, as well as interviews with:

• Project Leader Mibbinbah Men’s Spaces, Jack Bulman
• Indigenous ex-Rugby League player Nathan Blacklock who has experienced depression
• Darwin (NT) based social worker, Josephine Battaglini.
• beyondblue Board Director and Clinical Advisor, Associate Professor Michael Baigent

Weblog #4

Waabiny Time is a television series on pay TV (and also on DVD) that is based on the learning approaches of Sesame Street and Play School.

Waabiny Time is the first indigenous language program made for an early childhood audience from ages 3 to 6 and focuses on Noongar language acquisition. The Noongar people’s land includes Perth, an area to the north, and the whole south west corner of Western Australia.

Waabiny Time also aims to encourage pride and participation in Noongar culture, merging traditional and contemporary Noongar culture. It also integrates other messages including health messages.

As described by Smith, Burke and Ward 200, the mix of contemporary and traditional demonstrates the dynamic and flexible nature of Aboriginal people and challenges the stereotype that Indigenous people “live in the past”. It also parallels Zimmerman, Zimmerman and Bruguier’s 2000 use of technology to restore language but within a different context.

Both presenters of the show are Noongar, but the script, directing and production has been undertaken by non-Indigenous people.

One unintended outcome of the production of Waabiny Time is that non Indigenous children at an early are also engaged by the program. They learn Noongar language and about Noongar culture from Noongar people.

Link to Waabinny Time website

Short clips from Waabinny Time

As an aside – an interesting review on Using television to improve learning opportunities for Indigenous children. Australian Council for Educational Research 2010

 References

Smith C, Burke H and Ward GK. Chapter 1 in Indigenous Cultures in an INterconnected World. “Globalisation and Indigenous Cultures: Threat or Empowerment.”

Zimmerman KJ,  Zimmerman KP and Bruguier LR Chapter 4 in Indigenous Cultures in an Interconnected World, “Cyberspace Smoke Signals: New Technologies and Native American Ethnicity.”

Weblog #3

The discussions on stereotypes and maintaining cultural identities has led into discussion about ‘melting pot’ versus ‘mosaic’. This lead me to explore multiculturalism.

The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosphy has an excellent section on multiculturalism.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/multiculturalism/

It provides justifications for multiculturalism and critiques. The justifications include:

• Communitarian  –  individuals should be free to choose and pursue their own conceptions of the good life.
• Liberal egalitarian – based on the liberal values of autonomy and equality
• Postcolonial  –   based on premises about the value of tribal culture and membership, but also on what is owed to Native peoples for the historical injustices perpetrated against them.

The article outlines some of the critiques of multiculturalism but argues that the greatest challenge for multiculturalism is not from philosophical views but rather from political ones, and that the focus and debate currently is not on Indigenous people but rather immigants.

“There is little retreat from recognizing the rights of minority nations and indigenous peoples; the retreat is restricted to immigrant multiculturalism. Part of the backlash against immigrant multiculturalism is based on fear and anxiety about foreign “others” and nostalgia for an imagined past when everyone shared thick bonds of identity and solidarity.”

In Australia we lived through a period where the Prime Minister tried to cease the policy of multiculturalism. We have emerged from this period and reaffirmed multiculturalism in 2011.

In 2011, Bloemraad wrote The Debate Over Multiculturalism: Philosophy, Politics, and Policy.

In it she identified that multiculturalism has a number of meanings, as a:

• demographic multiculturalism
• political philosophy
• public policy

She describes how Canadian researchers have identified a multiculturalism policy index (MCP Index) that measures the extent to which eight types of policies appear in 21 Western nations. Australia, Canada and Sweden have scores over 7 in 2010, whilst the US has a score of 3 and France and Germany both fall between 2-3. The graph of the scores is interesting reading.

Bloemraad’s discussion mirrors that of Heath 2012 who describes three multicultural issues/myths:

1. multiculturalism has encouraged exclusion rather than inclusion, by siphoning minority communities away from the mainstream, and condemning them to live parallel lives.
2. that by living parallel lives minorities preserve their ethnic behaviours and values that run counter to broader society.
3. these separate communities provide fertile soil for radicalisation.

Bloemaard adds the impact of multiculturalism on the members of the majority group, suggests that some people are very alarmed about diversity, probably due to fear related to issues 2 & 3.

Bloemaard identifies that there are seven of nine studies tracking anti-immigrant attitudes over time, where  researchers have found stable or increasingly negative attitudes toward immigrants, especially in Western Europe, while only two studies reported more positive trends. This is interesting and seems to confirm the Western European research data.

In contradistinction Heath writes about the recent British report that clearly identified that the three main issues/myths identified above were indeed myths.

Heath A 2012. Has multiculturalism failed in the UK? Not really

The Australian Broadcasting Council (ABC) was in the last two weeks, discussing the concept of the Doctrine of Discovery and its impact on Indigenous people. This was not a concept that I was aware of and so explored this further.

Weblog #1

The UN Permanent Forum this year focuses on the Doctrine of Discovery.

This is a fifteenth century Christian dogma from the Catholic church Papal Bulls eg. Dum Diversas (1452) and Romanus Pontifex (1455). These allowed for non-Christian peoples to be invaded, captured, vanquished, subdued, and to have their possessions and property seized by Christian monarchs.

In the 19 century was used by the US to declare the right of territorial domination and has become embedded in international law and policy.

In Australia its impact was in the term ‘terra nullius” or wasted land. This allowed the colonisers to take over the land from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders because they did not ‘use’ the land.

In May the UN Forum debate continued, and argued for the doctrine to be repudiated by the UN. In response to calls on the Church for rapid action, a representative from the observer delegation of the Holy See, reiterated that Papal bulls were an “historic remnant with no juridical or spiritual value”.

UN Economic and Social Council 2012 ‘Doctrine of Discovery’, Used for Centuries to Justify Seizure of Indigenous Land, Subjugate Peoples, Must Be Repudiated by United Nations, Permanent Forum Told . 8 May.

UN Economic and Social Council 2012 Forum Speakers Say ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ Shameful Root of Today’s Indigenous Oppression, Remnants Still Evident in Many Constitutions Must Be Removed. 9 May.

Weblog #2 Religious responses

The World Council of Churches (WCC) met in February 2012 and developed the Statement on the doctrine of discovery and its enduring impact on Indigenous Peoples. It provides a good overview of the history as well as the WCC response to the Doctrine. Since 2007 many Christian churches that have studied the  Doctrine and  have repudiated it, and are working to ameliorate the legal, economic and social effects of this international framework. The WCC Statement denounced the doctrine, urged countries to dismantle the legal structures and policies based on this Doctrine and dominance, encourage churches to support Indigenous poples in their ongoing efforts to exercise their inherent sovereignty and fundamental human rights, to continue to raise awareness about the issues facing Indigenous Peoples and to develop advocacy campaigns to support the rights, aspirations and needs of Indigenous Peoples; and to continue development of theological reflections by Indigenous peoples.
WCC statement

From an Australian perspective Brett writes  a theological critique of sovereignity with a focus on some Australian aspects that I was unaware of.  He describes a theological concept of complex and storied space – which contrasts the concept of terra nullius. The ‘Clapham Sect’ who were involved in abolition of slavery, turned the eyes onto Aboriginal peoples and provided a base for a number of writers to ascert natural Indigenous rights. They had significant influence on the establishment of the colony of South Australia and the development of the New Zealand Treaty of Waitangi. He writes “as so often has been the case in asutralian hisotry, matters of principle were overwhelmed by ecomonic interest.” He calls for faith communities to go on to post colonial engagement with Aboriginal and torres Strait Islanders and not trust the “tides of Australian parliaments”.

Brett M. 2012. Making Space for justice after Mabo: Theological critiques of sovereignty