Author Archives: awhetter

Module 4:5 – iPinCH

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Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (SFU)

The Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage site (IPinCH) is a group primarily concerned with archaeology and “the theoretical, ethical, and practical implications of commodification, appropriation, and other flows of knowledge about the past, and how these may affect communities, researchers, and other stakeholders.”  The Publications section lists many interesting pieces such as: “Protecting Indigenous Cultural Property in the Age of Digital Democracy: Institutional and Communal Responses to Canadian First Nations and Maori heritage Concerns” and “Control of Information Originating from Aboriginal Communities: Legal and Ethical Contexts”. The website’s blog has an “Appropriation of the Month” series, exposing and critiquing specific acts of cultural appropriation in the media or popular culture.

Module 4:4 – “Well, I heard it on the radio and I saw it on the television”

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“Well, I heard it on the radio and I saw it on the television: …

A free PDF of this 1993 essay by Marcia Langton is available on the archived website of Australian Film Commission. It is a discussion of the issues about Aboriginal representation and self-representation, in film and television particularly.

Since it is “unrealistic” to expect that others will stop portraying Aboriginal people in film and television, Langton says that it is important that Aboriginal people “control the means of production and make our own self-representations” wherever possible.  She  writes: “Freedom in the world of film and the arts can only thrive if there is also a strong critique, and in relation to Aboriginal matters, if the critique is anti-colonialist.”

 

Module 4:3 – Blinding the Duck

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http://www.duckdigital.net/FOD/FOD0781.html

Blinding the Duck is an online essay by an Australian academic, Simon Pockley, that “explores some of the complex issues arising from the use of digital images of Aboriginal people and material in The Flight of Ducks (a participatory online documentary built around a collection of objects from a camel expedition into Central Australia in 1933).”

The Flight of the Ducks was the author’s online PhD “documentary”. Images from the expedition, such as those of people who have since died, are displayed online, and have provoked shock and anger amongst Aboriginal people in Australia. Pockley tells the detailed story of this controversy – how some see the project as evil cultural appropriation, and how the University removed the project from its web servers.

Pockley says “This paper is a description of the methods used in The Flight of Ducks to accommodate Aboriginal cultural sensitivities…. It seeks to work towards the development of a protocol by which Australian historical material with Aboriginal references can be used online without…cultural conflict…”

Module 4:2 – Digital Agenda for Europe

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http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/

The Digital Agenda for Europe is a broad program that “aims to reboot Europe’s economy and help Europe’s citizens and businesses to get the most out of digital technologies” and “deliver sustainable economic growth.” Some of the stated future benefits of the Digital Agenda for Europe would be ”increasing investment in ICT, improving eSkills levels in the labour force, enabling public sector innovation, and reforming the framework conditions for the internet economy.” ICT investment? Skilled labour? Internet economy? It all sounds good for business. Who’s driving the agenda? “Public sector innovation”?…meaning what? Online service delivery?

One of the seven goals of the program is “enhancing digital literacy, skills and inclusion” –  addressing the digital divide. The website makes some dodgy claims, such as “Some 30% of Europeans have never used the internet. These people – mostly elderly, unemployed or on low incomes – lack the skills, confidence and means to use digital media and are thus unable to participate in today’s society.”  I’d expect that the 30% of Europeans who don’t use the Internet would be very surprised to find out they are unable to participate in today’s society.

I don’t mean to question the importance of addressing the digital divide, but this website was an eye opener for me.  Tech savvy citizens are good for business and help the government to save money. It’s a good reminder that when assessing initiatives to help indigenous people bridge the digital divide (this is not one of them), pay close attention to who benefits and why.

Module 4:1 – “Who’s Not Online & Why”

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Pew Internet “Who’s Not Online and Why”

The Pew Internet & American Life Project published this report in May 2013 based on U.S. data from a survey of adults and Internet use. The study found that 15% of adults do not use the Internet at all, and 9% do not use the Internet at home. There was a 1% gender disparity. Education showed up as the most significant determinant: only 59% of adults with no high school diploma go online, whereas 96% of adults with a college education use the Internet. Though education was the biggest factor, household income was also an issue (low income adults are less likely to go online), as was location (rural adults are less likely to go online).

The people surveyed were identified as White, Black or Hispanic (no category for aboriginal people). Since aboriginal people in the U.S. are more likely than other groups to live in rural areas, and also face high levels of poverty and challenges at reaching higher levels of education, I think we can safely assume that aboriginal adults in the U.S. are more likely not to go online than other adults.

Module 3:5 – Minority Rights International

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Minority Rights Group International is a human rights organization whose motto is “working to secure the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples”. Its annual flagship publication is the State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – the 2013 report was released in late September, and focuses on the health inequities faced by most minority and indigenous groups worldwide.

The organization also produces the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, which has summary descriptions of the minority and indigenous groups found in all regions of the world. Canada’s entries for First Nations and Inuit are quite lengthy and describe the historical context of colonization as well as current land title issues, etc.

Module 3:4 – Participatory Methods

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The Participatory Methods website from the Participation, Power and Social Change team at the University of Sussex’s Institute for Development Studies “provides resources to generate ideas and action for inclusive development and social change.” In Module 3, we looked at the topic of indigenous knowledge for development , and how important it is to give real power to local people over decisions that will affect their lives and communities and homes. In development studies, “participation” is the widely used  term that covers the idea of locally based decisions and collaboration. This website is a great introduction to all these “participatory” terms and has links to key resources. It has a particularly interesting section on the importance of defining what we mean by the development buzzword “participation” – and how the term can be applied to methods to mask manipulation as well as those that facilitate real citizen control and transformation.

This website defines participatory research as such:

“In participatory research power is handed over from the researcher to research participants, often local people. They have control over the research agenda, the process and actions. They also analyse and reflect on the information generated in the research process. Empowerment of communities, to bring out local realities and to inform policy and practice are possible purposes of participatory research.”

 

Module 3:3 – Promise of Place

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Promise of Place: Enriching Lives Through Place-Based Education is quite a large website with many resources about place-based education, including a PDF manual called Learning to Make Choices for the Future: Connecting Public Lands, Schools, and Communities through Place-based Learning and Civic Engagement.  The manual claims that the trend of place-based education is a response to the alarming “growth of a youth culture that has turned away dramatically from nature and the outdoors.” It defines many terms related to place-based education such as service learning, environmental education,  project-based learning, experiential education, etc., which was useful for me. The website also has many examples of and links to place-based learning curriculum (mainly American) such as the Rural School and Community Trust  http://www.ruraledu.org/ and the Alaska Native Knowledge Network http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/publications/index.html

Module 3:2 – Orion Magazine

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As I was searching for resources about place-based education, Orion Magazine popped up. I was tempted to spend all day reading the articles – there are so many good ones. The focus of the magazine is nature and our moral responsibility to protect the environment. It includes an article about the use of a Native American stereotype in an ad in the 1970s (the Keep America Beautiful Crying Indian campaign) in service of the beverage packaging/bottling industry (see http://youtu.be/j7OHG7tHrNM for the original ad) as they diverted public attention about whether or not disposable packaging should be allowed in the first place, to the demonization of litterbugs (i.e. there is no problem as long as we pick up after ourselves). There is a short list of interesting articles about “Connecting Children to Nature” http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/mag/5420/,  including one called “Charlotte’s Webpage” that discusses the risks of disconnecting students from real life and nature as they spend more time with computers and other media. Orion is a fantastic  source of information and inspiration for place-based education that focuses on environmental sustainability and connection to nature.

Module 3:1 – Foxfire

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Interested in taking a look at the broader topic of place-based education (beyond the indigenous context) and in learning more about place-based education generally, I came across Foxfire, a U.S. non-profit educational organization that promotes place-based learning in the Appalachian region of northeast Georgia.  Foxfire encompasses a student magazine, a museum, and a teaching approach (“The Foxfire Approach to Teaching and Learning”). I would call the magazine, founded by high school students in 1966, an example of  “salvage ethnography” – its goal is to document the disappearing heritage of Appalachian elders and pioneer culture, and in this way (among others) is very different from a place-based Indigenous education that is part of a living culture. The magazine has been extremely successful, and is still published today. Out of this first initiative came a teacher training program that promotes the use of local resources (people, community, culture) in education. The teaching philosophy’s “10 Core Practices” espouse student-centred and active methods centred around local and student-initiated concerns, hands on approaches, reflection, and relevance beyond the classroom. The idea of relevance to an external community is an important one, I think, whether or not that community is strictly local.