Author Archives: Shuichiro Takeda

Module #4-5: Indigenous Portal

Indigenous Portal is a website that offers a broad array of resources such as articles, videos, and podcasts regarding Indigenous peoples from all over the world.

The Indigenous Portal is an outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which was a pair of United Nations-sponsored conferences about information, communication, and the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis (it was coincidentally mentioned in Ginsberg’s article in week 12). One of its chief aims was to bridge the global digital divide separating rich countries from poor countries by spreading access to the Internet in the developing world.

In the Portal, articles and resources are divided up into a number of regions and categorized by various subjects (culture, education, technology, etc.). Not only can visitors search for documents by regions or topics, but anybody can submit content (press releases or other text articles) to the Portal once they create an account. These documents provide guidance to Indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations, or academics who are interested in improving communications and the quality of life for Indigenous peoples around the world.

Module #4-4: Indigenous Women

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There are always minorities within minority groups, and women often find themselves in that place. They may face double discrimination, not only do they experience discrimination from the surrounding society but also from within their own communities.

The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Inc. (NIWRC) is a Native nonprofit organization in the United States specifically created to protect Native women from domestic violence. Their board of directors and staff consist of Native women from throughout the United States. They have extensive experience and commitment in providing technical assistance/training and resource information to safeguard Native women and their children.

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) is an international, non-governmental human rights organization staffed by specialists and advisers on indigenous affairs. IWGIA supports Indigenous peoples’ struggle for human rights, self-determination, right to territory, control of land and resources, cultural integrity, and the right to development. The IWGIA website presents their view regarding Gender and Indigenous Women as well. According to them, Indigenous women suffer from a range of problems related to the violation of their rights, such as lack of participation in decision-making processes and lack of land rights, lack of access to education, and domestic violence.

Module #4-3: First Nations Logos and Mascots

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On November 16, CTV News reported in “Staff at Saskatchewan university calls for end of First Nations logos, mascots” that the department of educational foundations of the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Education had issued a statement calling for the use of Indigenous peoples as mascots, logos, and slogans to cease.

The resolution, which was posted to a Facebook page, stated that the Department of Educational Foundations does not support the use of Indigenous peoples depicted as school mascots, in logos, slogans, or team names and the idea that such logos and mascots are positive representations of Indigenous peoples is false and constitutes century-old racism.

This type of controversy comes up in the media from time to time. In the article “Native names, logos have long tradition in sports” CTV News also presented the potential racist inferences of logos and mascots used by companies or sports teams. Honestly speaking, I am not sure if using these logos can always be designated racist and offensive to Indigenous peoples. That is something they should weigh in on. Sometimes such issues must be discussed among activists and the people concerned, who are sometimes left out of the loop on the discussion.

Module #4-2: First Nations University of Canada

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The First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) is a university in Saskatchewan. FNUniv, formerly Saskatchewan Indian Federated College until 2003, is open to students of all cultures and nationalities—not only restricted to First Nations descendants. According to the figures on their website, they have 750 registered FNUniv students and 4,000 students from other schools taking their courses in fall 2013. I was very interested in seeing the quota of Indigenous to non-Indigenous students at FNUniv but I could not find it.

The school’s vision is “to enhance the quality of life, and to preserve, protect and interpret the history, language, culture and artistic heritage of First Nations people.” They designed special programs in partnership with Aboriginal communities in order to meet the human resource needs of Aboriginal communities in areas such as health, education, and the environment.

FNUniv offers academic programming through the Department of Professional Programs (Indigenous Education, Indian Social Work, Business and Public Administration, Health Sciences and Nursing) and the Department of Interdisciplinary Programs as well (Indigenous Studies, Indian Fine Arts, Indian Communication Arts, Indigenous Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, etc.).

They also provide a unique opportunity to study in an environment that supports First Nations cultures, languages, and values. The students can participate in and learn through ceremonies with elders as well as through classroom-based experience. I think that FNUniv is a unique institution not only because they specialize in Indigenous knowledge but because they also know how to take advantage of the elders by letting them play a crucial role in propagating their culture.

Module #4-1: Board of Studies in NSW, Australia

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I have been searching through online materials about Indigenous education. One website I came across is for the Board of Studies in New South Wales in Australia, which has an Aboriginal Education section. Their website has many examples and resources of school-developed teaching and learning projects collaboratively developed by teachers, Aboriginal education workers, and local community members.

The website consists of different sections, such as languages, art, and support materials for primary and secondary education. The language section offers practical advice and lessons from various Aboriginal language programs developed in NSW since 2004, including examples of units of work, practical advice, and the experiences of schools and communities running these programs. The art section shows an Indigenous artists’ gallery of artworks, along with a Teacher’s Handbook that supports the teaching of the Visual Arts, a bibliography, and PowerPoint slide shows of Aboriginal artists’ works. In the support material section they provide examples of teaching, learning and assessment resources that demonstrate ways in which the Aboriginal and Indigenous cross-curriculum content. The website provides examples of processes that teachers might use to develop contextual classroom teaching units, which connect learning outcomes with the needs of students.

This website seems like a good resource for Indigenous education, especially for primary and secondary teachers and students. Teachers, schools, and communities can use the materials as a guide for their educational engagement to improve the educational outcomes of Indigenous students.

Module #3-5: Indigenous LGBT

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This week there was an article in the New York Times about two gay men of Native American descent in Oklahoma who are planning to take advantage of tribal law to marry although gay marriage is illegal in the state. Also on Advocate.com, I found another article about Indigenous LGBTs titled “Eight LGBT Native Americans You Should Know”.

If Indigenous peoples are a minority in our society, then Indigenous LGBTs are a minority within a minority. Just like other LGBT people, Indigenous LGBTs face various issues related to health care, discrimination, and identity but their situation may be made more difficult due to their remote location, lack of education, and so forth.

NativeOUT is one of the few organizations working on behalf of Indigenous LGBTs and “Two Spirit” people—those manifesting both masculine and feminine traits and who could be considered as transgender, found traditionally among many Native Americans and Canadian First Nations communities. NativeOUT was originally founded as a local social group and then evolved into a national nonprofit volunteer education, multimedia, and news organization actively involved in the Indigenous LGBT community of North America. Their main mission is to work for social justice in rural and urban communities that benefit Indigenous LGBT and Two Spirit people.

As for the Two Spirit, this website has some explanations and information about articles, books, movies, etc.

Module #3-4: Mental Health Issues

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After I saw Kind Hearted Woman which I mentioned in module 2, I started wondering about Indigenous peoples’ mental health issues. The woman in the documentary faced so many struggles in her life: poverty, career, relationship, drug and alcohol abuse, her own identity, and so forth. Indigenous peoples have to deal with different struggles, more than we do, due to the unique circumstances of their lives.

According to HeretoHelp, in some Indigenous groups in Canada, a survey shows the number of people seeking help was as high as 17%, compared to the Canadian average of 8%.

Health Canada, the Federal department, has some information about First Nations & Inuit health on their website. Also the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) states how to cooperate with Indigenous communities across Canada to help them overcome barriers and support their vision for improved mental health. MHCC also mentions what they have learned from Indigenous peoples in Canada through their work: acknowledging realities facing Indigenous peoples; developing close partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis (FNIM) communities; and appreciating culture roles in supporting well-being and recovery in FNIM communities.

In Australia, Indigenous Psychological Services (IPS) was founded in 1998 to contribute to the Aboriginal mental health field. They have three main areas of service delivery, including Aboriginal mental health training, cultural competency intervention programs, and Aboriginal mental health and suicide intervention programs. What they state in the website is similar to MHCC; it is crucial for service providers to recognize the uniqueness and diversity of Aboriginal culture. The “one size fits all” approach would never work.

Module #3-3: Education for Indigenous Peoples

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Education for Indigenous peoples is one of the most urgent issues. When compared with non-Indigenous peoples, Indigenous peoples tend to have a lower education level and hence a lower standard of living. In Canada, the Government is pursuing the important goal of providing Indigenous students with quality education because it will bring them broader choices and opportunities with which to follow their dreams.

There are some educational institutes with the same goal. The Indspire Institute is an online community where K-12 students, educators and parents can network, find resources, and participate in webinars. The institute offers online programs and resources for classroom use in order to raise high school completion rates among Indigenous youth. They choose to function as an online tool because the Internet has the most widespread accessibility for the greatest number of people in Canada. For many communities with no high-speed connection, Indspire sends out material in DVD format or uses audio-only delivery where bandwidth is a challenge. Indspire is the largest supporter of Indigenous education outside the federal government.

The Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative (MAEI) is a charitable organization supporting education for Indigenous students across Canada. Their mission is to improve elementary and secondary school education outcomes for Indigenous Canadians through the implementation of specific programs and the application of appropriate research. MAEI offers various programs to provide Indigenous youth with opportunities to learn in areas such as business, entrepreneurship, and accounting, and to encourage them to complete their high school education and continue on to post-secondary studies.

Education is critical to enhancing the social and economic strength of Indigenous people to a level enjoyed by other Canadians. These institutes aim to increase high school graduation rates, encourage completion of university, and support Indigenous students as they consider a variety of professional and business career options.

Module #3-2: Indigenous Wisdom

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Indigenous wisdom is developed by trying out what works and what doesn’t, i.e., trial and error. It is passed down from generation to generation rather than being inscribed in a book. Then the descendants value these wise ideas, paying their respects up to today, because they benefit their everyday lives.

For the Next 7 Generations is a 2009 documentary. It is the story of thirteen wise Indigenous women who came together at a historic gathering, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, to represent a global alliance of prayer, education, and healing for the earth and indigenous ways of life. Their concern about this world and planet in crisis spur them to share their visions and wisdoms of healing and to call for change that protects their lands, medicines, language, ceremonial ways of prayers, and the education of their children, before it is too late.

The Pachamama Alliance, the organization which empowers indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest to preserve their lands and culture, wrote a blog titled “Reconnecting with Indigenous Wisdom” and introduced their posts exploring the profound value of indigenous wisdom. These posts explain why reconnecting with indigenous wisdom is essential to creating a thriving and sustainable world.

Indigenous wisdoms traditionally represent the hope that connects the old generation to the new one. And, at the same time, resistance to the encroachment of non-Indigenous values and morals is a means by which they strive to preserve their identity.

Module #3-1: Aboriginal People in Canada

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This post returns to the basics. According to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC), the Canadian constitution recognizes three groups of Aboriginal people: Indians (commonly referred to as First Nations), Métis, and Inuit. More than one million people in Canada identify themselves as an Aboriginal person. These three distinct peoples have unique histories, languages, cultural practices, and spiritual beliefs. Their cultures are displayed online by numerous organizations and museums.

The First Peoples’ Cultural Council supports the revitalization of Aboriginal language, arts, and culture in British Columbia. They monitor the status of B.C. Aboriginal languages, cultures, and arts, and facilitate and develop strategies which help Aboriginal communities recover and sustain their heritage. They also provide program coordination and funding for Aboriginal language and cultural preservation and enhancement.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) is the national Inuit organization in Canada. They represent and promote the interests of the Inuit on a wide variety of environmental, social, cultural, and political issues and challenges facing Inuits on the national level. ITK does not deliver or fund programs and is instead a national advocacy organization.

The Metis Culture and Heritage Resource Centre Inc. (MCHRC) is a Métis managed and non-profit membership-based charitable organization in Winnipeg. They publish a quarterly newsletter, hold cross-cultural workshops, and offer various community outreach programs, etc. As for Métis culture, the Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture is a good resource. They chronicle traditional Métis history and culture and contain a wealth of primary documents such as oral history interviews, photographs and various archival documents in visual, audio and video files.