Web log #4

Entry 4

This paper, Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Aboriginal People in British Columbia is by Nancy Turner, an Ethnobotanist out of UBC. She looks at three main themes of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Wisdom (TEKW), sustainability, world view and communication of knowledge. She charts plant resources like edible mushrooms, seaweeds, alder and cedar and their harvesting practices. Then she takes a couple of specific examples (yellow avalanche lily and balsamroot) and traces the use, knowledge and history of the plant. It gives a non-native a food sense of the scope of knowledge held by Aboriginal Peoples.

1st Post

While doing research for my final paper I spoke with Outward Bound Program director, Julian Norris who, in collaboration with a high school teacher Jeff Horvath from Canmore Collegiate Highschool, has created a specialized program for Indigenous youth from the Nakoda tribe that has run now for 3 consecutive years and is designed in part to help increase the graduation rates among the Nakoda students at the school. The outdoor program has a philosophy that incorporates indigenous leaders and elders but also roots itself in a Framework created by the Search Institute, a youth development initiative. This comprehensive website, though commercially driven, describes their philosophy within a developmental framework based on building positive relationships and caring communities.

2nd Post

This is a website for a wilderness school run out of Hesquiaht, which is about an hour and a half boat ride from Tofino, BC. The program called Hooksum Outdoor School is run by a couple, Karen and Steve Charlson of the Hesquiaht First Nation. They offer programs for schoolchildren and adults with a philosophy based on a strong connection to the land. In an email with the co founder Karen Charlson she explained the following: “our primary aim has always been to  encourage/facilitate a person’s connection to the natural world.  It  is a connection that is the foundation of our daily lives and one that  is prominent in daily living.  Through activities and learning at  Hooksum, we hope to share that sense of connection with others.”  The site includes description of their programs, their philosophies and writings by schoolchildren and other relevant material.

3rd Post

I live in North Vancouver so the Squamish and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation are the groups who have lived here before my family came. Many of the Indigenous students I have taught have come from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Their website is a community portal which is used for all major aspect pertaining to their community including a description of their Band School and its philosophy.

4th post

My feeling is that we need to know what is going on in our own educational community. The UBC Aboriginal Portal includes support for students, instructors course navigation but for our purposes it includes teacher, community and faculty research which offers unique perspectives on aboriginal education. There is also a First Nations House of Learning (FNHL) tab which is a great support site for Indigenous Education. The FNH publishes a monthly newsletter “The Talking Stick” which provides documentation of events with relevant resources included.

5th Post

I have included this site in my research weblog, the report from The National Panel on First Nations Elementary and Secondary Education which has spent 19 months traveling the country at the request of the Federal Government and the AFN to assess the needs of First Nations Education on reserves. The panel has recommended that the Federal governments create a First Nations Education Act by 2014 which has created a great deal of controversy as First Nations are not interested in legislation. Beyond the controversy, the website includes the panel’s mandate, information on the authors, news links, a wide variety of First Nations leaders who were consulted, and of course the report itself.

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.