Module 3:2 – Orion Magazine

Leave a reply

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

Leave a reply

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.

Module 3 – Post 5 – Indigenous Ecotourism Toolbox

Leave a reply

Very interesting website assisting Indigenous Peoples in Australia with establishing their ecotourism venture.  One of the things that struck me about this website is that rather than just being text based, much of it has the option of being auditory, both in keeping with the oral traditions of the culture and minimizing the exclusion potential for people who do not have certain levels of reading ability in English.  Visitors  to the site select a region of Australia in which they are interested in establishing an ecotourism venture, and then are guided through a series of steps/case studies that helps them determine what has been successful in the area and possible issues that one might have to deal with.

https://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/toolbox/Indigenous/ecotourismToolbox/#

Module 3 – Post 4 – Aboriginal Ecotourism

Leave a reply

This great little website provides an interactive map with all 183 case studies on Aboriginal Ecotourism that were originally published in the book “Le Guide des Destinations Indigènes”.  Click on any of the markers on the map and you are taken to a page with a description of that particular Ecotourism opportunity.  For example, you can zoom into Nunavut and click on Bathurst Inlet Lodge where you find out that it is Canada’s oldest naturalist lodge, it’s history, a description of the rooms, contact information and a whole lot more. While I choose to look at an example of a ecolodge in Nunavut because it is in an area we have been studying more closely the last couple of weeks, you can choose to “visit” places all over the globe!

http://www.aboriginal-ecotourism.org/?lang=en

Module 3 – Post 3 – Review of Is the Sacred for Sale

Leave a reply

Grimwood provides a concise overview of the book Is the Sacred for Sale?  the premise of which is that “ecotourism is the greatest single threat to Indigenous Peoples.  Shielded by the doctrines of biodiversity conservation, the ecotourism industry creeps into the deepest recesses of culture and community life” and violates the full spectrum of Indigenous rights, culture and spirituality.”  Because government and industry continue to have control/interest in the development of these tourism initiatives, many are viewed as a way of alienating Indigenous peoples from their land.  Johnston proposes that this can be mitigated by the incorporation of  elders into the areas of governance and sustaining the integrity of sacred knowledge and grounded rituals.

Bryan Grimwood (2009) Is the sacred for sale? Tourism and Indigenous Peoples,  Journal of Ecotourism, 8:2, 217-220, DOI: 10.1080/14724040902786625

Module 3 – Post 2 – Journal of Sustainable tourism

Leave a reply

Ecotourism and the Myth of Indigenous Stewardship was published in 2008 in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism and caused a flurry of articles to published in response.  I think that this article will provide some interesting counter balances to what I will be investigating in my final project.  The authors question the claim that indigenous people are indeed more ecologically minded than non-indigenous people by following four main perspectives:

  1. survey of the ecotourism literature to gauge the sentiment behind indigenous peoples as wise stewards
  2. literature review in other fields (eg. Anthropology and conservation science) to provide a more complete understanding of the role that aboriginal people play as ecological stewards
  3. brief overview of the literature on social evolution from the biological standpoint
  4. discussion of the foregoing in the context of ecotourism.

David A. Fennell (2008) Ecotourism and the Myth of Indigenous Stewardship,  Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 16:2, 129-149, DOI: 10.2167/jost736.0

Module 3 – Post 1 – Transformative role of Indigenous Ecotourism

Leave a reply

In searching for academic articles for my final project, I came across an articled entitled Indigenous Ecotourism’s Role in Transforming Ecological consciousness, and it is available via the UBC library in the Journal of Ecotourism. With numerous indigenous communities around the world using ecotourism to educate non-indigenous people about indigenous values and ways of life, the article “offers a critical perspective on the capacity of indigenous ecotourism to foster more sustainable lifeways by transforming the ecological consciousness of participants and stakeholders in ecotourism.”

Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (2009) Indigenous ecotourism’s role in transforming ecological consciousness, Journal of Ecotourism, 8:2, 144-160, DOI: 10.1080/14724040802696031

Module 3 – Post 5 – Manitoba Music’s Aboriginal Music Program

Leave a reply

The Aboriginal Music Program (AMP) was developed to help Aboriginal people create careers in Manitoba’s music industry. It provides workshops about the music industry, career consultations, music showcases, as well as maintaining the aboriginal music.ca website.  This site has news about the Manitoba and Canadian Aboriginal music industry, artist and industry directories, and resources for Aboriginal people interested in a career in music.

Module 3 – Post 4 – First Nations Music in Canada

Leave a reply

First Nations Music in Canada is a publication put out in 1998 by the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. It is designed for children aged 8-11 and includes basic information about Aboriginal music in Canada. It discusses instruments used, singing styles, and how music is used traditionally by First Nations people. Contemporary artists such as Buffy Sainte-Marie are also mentioned in relation to the impact of First Nations music on Canadian Culture.  It also includes a quiz and a game as activities for children to do.

 

Module 3 – Post 3 – Aboriginal Multi-Media Society

Leave a reply

The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA) is a communications society that facilitates the exchange of information among Aboriginal People. They produce publications in a Newspaper style to most provinces as well as a national publication titled Windspeaker.  This is Canada’s most widely circulated Aboriginal news source. Windpseaker has been published since 1983 and includes news articles, current events, community event listings, job postings as well as a searchable archives section.