Author Archives: NourK

Module 4.5. First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning

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The First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model “represents the link between First Nations lifelong learning and community well-being, and can be used as a framework for measuring success in lifelong learning.”

A living tree is the symbol that represents the process of holistic lifelong learning. The tree encompasses the different cycles and elements upon which individual learning experiences are based. The well-being of the community depends on these individual learning experiences.

According to the model, holistic learning occurs through a circular activity where everything is interconnected (as opposed to the classic “linear” theory of learning based on cause-effect dynamics): Learning is formed through language, tradition, nature, family, elders, ancestors, community, etc. All these elements are interdependent and the absence of one element would destabilize the whole learning process.

The trunk of the tree represents the linking segment that connects Indigenous knowledge with Western knowledge. The core of the trunk is made of a series of rings that symbolize individual development: spiritual, emotional, physical and mental. The rings symbolize the continuity of learning that starts at birth and continues throughout life.

Source: http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/RedefiningSuccessInAboriginalLearning/index.html

 

 

 

 

Module 4.4. Inuit Knowledge Centre

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Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) is an Inuit organization in Canada,  “representing four Inuit regions – Nunatsiavut (Labrador), Nunavik (northern Quebec), Nunavut, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Northwest Territories.”

The “Inuit Qaujisarvingat: Inuit Knowledge Centre at ITK” focuses on Arctic and Inuit knowledge through a variety of projects that:

–      provide information about Inuit culture in order to increase awareness and knowledge;

–      promote understanding of different aspects of climate change  in Inuit regions, as well as its impact on Inuit society;

–      organize Inuit health statistics and make them available for Inuit different organizations in order to support Inuit research; and

–      share Inuit perspectives on a variety of Arctic issues: lifestyle, environment, wildlife,  patriotism, safety, sovereignty, etc.

The website http://www.inuitknowledge.ca/ also provides an online library that contains research papers, reports, literature reviews and Inuit studies.

 

Module 4.3. Inuit Gallery of Vancouver

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Established in 1979, and located in Gastown Vancouver, the Inuit Gallery of Vancouver specializes in exhibiting Canadian Indigenous art of  both senior and contemporary Inuit and Northwest coast artists (mostly sculptures in stone and bone, graphics, masks and other ceremonial objects, and jewelry).

The exhibition archives of the gallery presenting art exhibitions from February 2011 to date can be found on http://www.inuit.com/.

 

Module 4.2. Inuit Youth in a Changing World

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Inuit Youth in a Changing World 

Condon Richard G.

CSQ Issue: 12.2 (Summer 1988) Hydroelectric Dams and Indigenous Peoples

In his article, “Inuit Youth in a Changing World”, Condon Richard G. examines the social, cultural and economic changes that have faced Inuit youth, namely the Copper Inuit of the Holman region in the Canadian Arctic over the past generation, especially pertaining to the shift from a nomadic to a more sedentary lifestyle. The author’s opening sentence emphasizes the “host of challenges and dilemmas” that face Inuit youth in a rapidly changing world, however, the body of his article gives almost equal weight to the possible advantages that said change has entailed. Of these advantages, the author particularly sheds light on the economic and educational. On the other hand, the author indicates that “many young people lack sufficient employment opportunities, are inadequately prepared for advanced high schooling and are unwilling or unable to relocate to larger northern communities where jobs are more available.” The author then carries on to trace said adjustment dilemmas, at least in part, to high rates of alcohol and drug abuse, suicide and juvenile delinquency, which, according to the author, “are characteristics of Inuit teenagers and young adults throughout the North.” I dare to say, the author has misread the misfortune of Inuit youth, and has placed the proverbial carriage before the horse. What the author nonchalantly describes as “characteristics of Inuit teenagers” in a matter-of-fact kind of way is, in my opinion, the elephant in the room. Such behavioral problems are not, as the author implies, the reason why Inuit youth find trouble adjusting in a rapidly changing world, but the effect of it. The author totally understates the potentially debilitating effect of a waning family and indigenous community ethos, and the endangerment of a rich and vibrant indigenous culture. The scholar’s disregard for the sense of alienation and socio-cultural disorientation cannot simply be redeemed by his subsequent overview of the Inuit’s social history, recent demographic, economic and cultural changes. At the end, the author concludes that more research is needed to better understand the implications of change on Inuit youth. However, I feel that no amount of research, data-collection and statistics can make up for a lack of a deep understanding and appreciation of Inuit culture and the extent of loss associated with its endangerment.

Source: http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/canada/inuit-youth-changing-world

Module 4.1. An interactive map of Canada’s native peoples

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The Interactive map of Canada found on http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/customcode/Media.cfm?Params=A3native-people.swf provides data on Canada’s different Native groups in a very informative yet succinct presentation. The map designates Canada’s parts not according to administrative provinces and territories, as one would initially expect, but according to natural regions and First Nations’ habitats. Each region is first described geographically and environmentally, before proceeding on to state facts relating to its indigenous people – a more organic, indigenous-people-centered approach to study, which implies the indigenous peoples’ elemental and profound relation to the land they have inhabited for centuries, and in many cases millennia.

Module 3.5 Online media by and for indigenous people

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I came across an interesting article ” A powerful year of online media by and for Indigenous People”. The article focuses on the importance of online media in voicing out indigenous issues and rights. Moreover, the article encompasses a list of recommended Indigenous films produced in 2011, made by indigenous people from the USA, Australia, Brazil, Panama, Columbia, Northern Kenya, The Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Source: http://intercontinentalcry.org/a-year-of-online-media-by-and-for-indigenous-peoples/

Module 3.4. Legacy of Hope Foundation

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The Legacy of Hope Foundation is an Aboriginal Canadian Foundation that addresses the long-term psychological implications of residential schools Aboriginal generations, both old and new.  The foundation’s main focus is to promote a process of reconciliation and healing in Canada, through a deep understanding of residential schooling issues, and their intergenerational impacts on both indigenous and non-indigenous Canadian people.

The Foundation established a virtual exhibition: http://www.wherearethechildren.ca/. The exhibition offers a Blackboard interactive forum, a map and timeline of the Residential School Era, a “bookshelf” that contains textbooks, a dictionary and a teacher’s guide, a 3D tour of Mohawk Institute Residential School, a “projector” of residential schools’ survivor stories and a museum-like exhibition.

 

Module 3.3 Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society: An online journal

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Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society is a peer- reviewed, open-access online journal, a publishing space for scholars, organizers and teachers engaged in decolonizing activity.

The journal allows online participation, discussions and debates, connecting academics, communities and students around the world. The blog site of the journal aims at building an online community where both guest writers and academics can share and exchange thoughts on indigeneity and decolonization.

The journal is funded by the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS) at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE); It encompasses articles, art, poetry and videos. It can be found on http://decolonization.org

Module 3.2. Video as Cultural Mediation

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Faye Ginsburg, in her essay ‘Indigenous media: Faustian contract or global village?’ discusses the importance of videos produced by indigenous people in pursuit of self-determination as an act of resistance with the intention of making their voices heard in the face of cultural domination be Western media.
One should note that American and Australian indigenous people began to make their own videos in the early 1970’s, which became more prevalent by late 1980’s. The films produced typically tackle indigenous cultural and historical themes, promote indigenous art (music, dances, stories), rituals, sports, health, elders’ biographies, and mostly, the contemporary life of those indigenous groups.
Faye Ginsburg proposes “that when other forms are no longer effective, indigenous media offers a possible means – social, cultural, and political – for reproducing and transforming cultural identity among people who have experienced massive political, geographic, and economic disruption.” (p. 94).

The article can be retrieved on: https://files.nyu.edu/fg4/public/pdfs/Ginsburg%20-%20Indigenous%20Media%20Faustian%20Contract.pdf

Below are movie trailers of two Indigenous documentaries, Croker Island Exodus, and Coniston, telling stories of struggle, survival, self-determination, love, and compassion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE1eKOMUkxg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnp3yZV4ZfI

Module 3.1. Indigenous Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights

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“What Protection Of Traditional Knowledge Means To Indigenous Peoples”, is an Intellectual Property Watch article, which combines two interviews with two indigenous groups attending the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).
According to the article, both indigenous groups reported that their knowledge (a part of which they consider sacred), had been published, used, and sometimes misappropriated, without their consent. These indigenous groups are demanding that their knowledge be protected through an agreement on international legal tools that prevent “colonizers” from placing their knowledge in public domain.
“When you receive it, you don’t receive it freely to do whatever you want with it, you have obligations to the land, to whatever it is referring, to the spirits or the ancestors. This is a real problem with the public domain. Tribes have often shared their knowledge in the past but they shared it with people who had similar views and concepts and understood these obligations. But now we are in this world with 7 billion people on the Internet”, says Preston Hardison, policy analyst representing the Tulalip Tribes.
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