Tag Archives: Canadian Indigenous

Module 4 – Post 5 – University of Calgary Multimedia History Tutorials

The University of Calgary has a series of websites put together by The Applied History Research Group. This group is comprised of faculty members from the University of Calgary and other institutions. The research, narrative, and web design of the tutorials is done by honours level undergraduate and graduate students in the faculty of History. The website has a copyright date of 2001, so while the page is relatively old, the information is still quite valuable.

Most of the tutorials are a general history of Canada, but there is a section on “Canada’s First Nations”. This includes a history of the First Nations People from Antiquity up to approximately the 1870s when the numbered Prairie treaties were signed.

Module 4 – Post 4 – Metis Culture and Heritage Resource Centre

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The Metis Culture and Heritage Resource Centre is an organization based in Winnipeg that has a mandate to “honour the richness of Metis culture and history through preservation, restoration, education and sharing.” They provide a newsletter, a Metis genealogy service, workshops, community outreach programs and various other community and advocacy programs.

The MCHRC website has information about all of these, as well as an online version of the newsletter, Historical Maps of the Metis culture, lessons on the Michif language, and information on many important Metis landmarks.

Module 4 – Post 2 – RPM

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RPM.fm is a website that promotes itself as “a new music platform to discover the most talented Indigenous musicians from across Turtle Island and beyond.” The site provides music news, a curated selection of downloadable music, videos, interviews and artist profiles, all of Indigenous musicians. While it seems like a great site with very relevant information on current Indigenous music, there have not been any news posts since January 2013, and their Tumblr blog says they are about to “relaunch” so hopefully it will be active soon.

Module 4 – Post 1 – KAYA

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In researching urban music programs for aboriginal youth, I came across the Songweavers Studio in Vancouver, run by a group called the Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Asociation (KAYA). Their mandate is to provide advocacy for for the participation, representation, and voice of aboriginal youth. They encourage youth to communicate and make decisions with assertiveness and informed consent. They provide a mentorship program, career and educational workshops, and community events. The Songweavers Studio is a recording studio that provides free access to aboriginal youth aged 13-29, and seeks to provide them with an opportunity to empower their voices, preserve their culture and pass on traditions by using technology.

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.