Tag Archives: culture

Module 1 – Post 2 – Turtle Island Native Network

Turtle Island Native Network is a site with links to “First Nations, Aboriginal, Native/Indigenous Peoples News and Information”. I came across this site while searching for contemporary indigenous music, which is included on the “Culture” page. Also included are video clips of arts presentations such as basketry, totem pole raisings, storytelling, dancing and other cultural aspects of indigenous peoples. The music section includes links to youtube videos and websites by indigenous musicians from all over North America.

Module 1 Post 4: Breaking Down Stereotypes

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Examining modernized natives who describe the difficultly in relating to traditional and mainstream cultures, and trying to break down stereotypes of how they are portrayed in the media. One of the researchers in the below video describes: “It’s interesting how the media exploits native american culture and customs such as pow wows not realizing such events are religious and sacred… that its the only thing that’s relevant to outsiders when we learn that there’s so much more that their culture presents.”

The following video examines the effect of stereotypes on Native American students at a Los Angeles highschool produced in collaboration between USC students and students at Central High.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OvzvZ0YfJs

In relation to the theme of breaking down stereotypes, I found several videos of stories shared by natives who overcame odds and reached immense success, and they speak out about what they did to overcome.

Jordin Tootoo (NHL Player for the Detroit Redwings) – shares his personal story of empowerment to a group of Aboriginal highschool grads, overcoming addictions, and suicide. Sponsored by Aboriginal Education Program School District #23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76tEAoVUiXM&list=PL6CCCD79AB796922B

Adam Beach (Canadian Actor) – shares his story rising to success coming out of a life of gangs, drugs, fights, and prison. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oA4aYPlBVA

Paul Okalik (former Premier of Nunavut) – speaks out about his struggles that many of his fellow Inuit natives face. http://queensjournal.ca/story/2005-10-06/features/territory-torn-between-two-worlds/?flavour=mobile

These stories gives us a glimpse of pressing problems in their communities that are plagued by high rates of suicide, unemployment, and significant educational challenges. These leaders give hope and serve as role models for many youth in their communities.

Module 1 Post 3 – Aboriginal Outreach Programs

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Local and national Aboriginal Outreach Programs such as the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto and the National Aboriginal Outreach Program are charitable organizations that provide wide range of programs and services based on native cultural traditions and teachings. These programs share similar visions using community-based approaches to deliver confidence-building programming that is locally and culturally relevant to engage and ensure future prosperity within Aboriginal communities contributing to Canada’s workforce while promoting and celebrating Aboriginal culture.

Entry 4: Videos on identity

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The titles below offer links to two Youtube videos on identity.

The first video, Recognizing Aboriginal Language & Identity, is developed by the Human Early Learning Partnership Aboriginal Steering Committee in 2013. Speakers from various Indegenious groups promote the importance of language, culture and self identity among the youth. There is a certain respect, honour, pride and identity that comes with knowing who you are and where you come from.

The second video, The Threat of a Loss of Cultural Identity, is developed by Discovery Education in 2010. Dr. David Suzuki narrates a brief documentary on the loss of an Inuit culture . Alienation, suicide, drinking and confusion over identity are all threats to the way of life in Pangnirtung.

Entry 3: Culture and Closing the gap

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The Australian Governemnet offers programs that help to foster a “strong cultural identity [which] is fundamental to Indigenous health and social and emotional wellbeing.” This article highlights the initatives “strengthen Indigenous culture and languages.”

” Closing the Gap, which is a commitment by all Australian governments to work together to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and in particular, to provide a better future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.”

By strengthening the Indegenious culture and language, the government is woking towards reducing the disadvantage of the Indegenious people. Targeted areas include early childhood, health, schooling, economics, self governance and community.

This article indicates the many positive benefits that are associated with Indegenious people who know and are involved with their language and culture.

http://arts.gov.au/culture-and-closing-the-gap

Module #1-2: The Ainu in Japan

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When I was a student in Japan, there was little taught about the Indigenous peoples of Japan in any school. I believe that the situation has not changed much, unfortunately. Since I still don’t know much about them, I began researching to obtain basic knowledge about one of the two Indigenous peoples, the Ainu. The Ainu live mainly in Hokkaido, a northern region of Japan, and in part of Russia. There are about 25,000 Ainu living in Japan according to official population estimates (the unofficial number is upwards of 200,000 people).

In the mid-to-late 19th century Japanese settlers took over the indigenous land. The Ainu were forced to assimilate under pressure from various laws and the Japanese government banned their cultural traditions. The government’s assimilation policy resulted in many Ainu being ignorant of their own culture and history. For that reason the Ainu language is now considered endangered. The Ainu people also hope their living and educational standards can be upgraded. According to the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, 38.3 percent of the Ainu in Hokkaido are on welfare, compared with the local average of 24.6 percent. Moreover, only 17.4 percent of the Ainu receive a college education while 38.5 percent of the locals do.

Surprisingly, the Japanese government did not recognize the ethnic Ainu as Japan’s indigenous people until 2008; it must have been a major challenge for a country long proud of being ethnically homogeneous.

Probably because of this recognition, the description of the Ainu has significantly increased in the textbooks used for primary schools in 2010. Needless to say it was a big step forward since school education about them is important to raising awareness of the Ainu among the population at large. However, teacher knowledge is essential to teaching the contents of the textbook properly and the improvement of teacher training is crucial.

In 2010, the documentary film TOKYO Ainu was released. I believe there were few documentaries featuring the Ainu made before this one. This film features the Ainu living in Tokyo and its surrounding areas actively promoting their traditional culture. The promotional footage is available here on YouTube. For more information about the Ainu, the Ainu Museum website is also a useful resource for learning about Ainu history and culture.

Module #1-1: Charter of Quebec Values

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The Parti Québecois (PQ) charter of values has caused an uproar since its introduction by the Quebec government on September 10, 2013. If this charter passes the National Assembly of Quebec, it would essentially ban public employees from wearing religious symbols in all public institutions. Although the PQ assures that this charter would not affect the province’s relations with First Nations and Inuit communities, these two articles (1, 2) are skeptical for the following reasons:

For many indigenous peoples in Quebec, spirituality is inextricably linked to governance and this would bring them into conflict with the duty of neutrality imposed by the charter.
The history of Quebec involved suppression of the spiritual expressions of the original inhabitants land and now the PQ wishes to impose these same restrictions on the “settlers.”
Indigenous peoples are now in a unique position to support their friends (settlers) from other religions such as Muslim and Jews and other religions.

This charter could prohibit Indigenous communities in Quebec from wearing medicine pouches or any “ostentatious” religious symbols during working hours if they are public employees, including teachers and school employees. Up to now the religious symbols of Indigenous peoples’ have been ignored by the government, however this charter is an imposition that goes totally against the attempts by Indigenous peoples to preserve their culture, beliefs, and traditions for future generations.

Module 1 – Post 5 – Metis Museum

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One of the central themes of Etec521 investigates how technology can be used by Indigenous peoples to reconnect with, archive, and share their identities and culture. With that in mind, most of my posts for this module have centered around websites that provide online access to historical documentation and information on Metis culture. For my final post for this module I chose to feature the website: The Virtual Museum of Metis Hitory and Culture. This website is designed and maintained by the Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Reseach in Saskatchewan, Canada.

The virtual museum provides a wealth of information in the following categories:

Indigenous Voices – Contains video clips of Michif language interviews
Metis Celebration – Video and audio files celebrating Metis music, dance and storytelling
Metis Heritage – Oral histories, photographs, and Metis Resistance documentation
Learning Resources – Information on traditional Metis lifestyle and education
Artistic Expressions – Materials honoring traditional and contemporary Metis art forms
Moccasin Telegraph – Links to other Metis resources around the web

The website is very user friendly, and I think provides a wonderful example of how technology can be used by Indigenous groups to preserve and share the visible aspects of their culture.

The website can be found here: Metis Virtual Museum

Mod 1:3 Inside Out – Armidale Australia

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http://blog.ted.com/2012/08/16/a-ted-prize-wish-100000-posters-later/

JR is an artist whose TED wish is coming true. His wish is “that people around the globe have a chance to show the world their true face.” (TED Blog) His wish is literal with communities in more than 100 countries displaying huge posters of faces on walls. The video above is from an Australian Aboriginal group who are creating a wall with their faces on it for their town to enjoy.

Inside Out Project is a website created by JR about his project. Most fascinating is the Explore section of the website which maps every place in the world where Inside Out has been done. Armidale Australia is not the only Indigenous group that has participated in this project. In North Dakota, the Lakota Tribe printed posters of faces which were hung in New York among other places.

In the context of this class, the Inside Out project allowed (and continues to allow) Aboriginal communities to share their identity with the world. The posters are free to anyone who uploads a photograph to Inside Out. The project started out as an illegal art installation in Paris but now all around the world people are using the idea to promote their own communities.

Module 1 – Post 5 – The Altai and the Land

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A vivid examination of the importance of the local Indigenous connection with the land can be seen in the following video:

http://vimeo.com/7111821

The focus in the video is of the Altai people in central Russian and how they are seeking to rebuild their connection with their knowledge and customs that have suffered due systematic neglect and Russian colonization. This short documentary focuses on the environmental knowledge of the Altai, yet one of the most striking aspects of this piece is that it shows how differing types of knowledge is transmitted between members of the community as well as the profound connection that the speakers have to the place they live in. What is inspiring about this video is that it also represents a restoration of traditional knowledge and practice.

This film, sponsored by United Nations Diversity Project is a very effective reference tool in understanding the universal challenges confronting First Nations peoples globally and their struggle to reclaim their ancient heritage and traditions.