Tag Archives: history

Module 4 Weblog – Posting #5 – Community Storytelling

My final weblog post provides an example of an Indigenous community representing themselves through the use of digital storytelling.

The Georgina Island Storytelling Project is a project of the Chippewas of Georgina Island in Ontario. The site hosts a collection of existing stories and invites the contribution of new stories. The stories cover the history of the community beginning in the 1800s up to the present day. Viewers may search for stories based on a variety of topics such as commerce, island life, health, and governance and administration. The site itself also includes links to information regarding services in the community.

The combination of all of these stories provides a very vivid idea of each contributor’s personal story, and also of their sense of themselves in the larger community.  As a living project, the site also provides guidance and options for those who wish to share their own stories and add to the expressions of the heritage and identity of their people.

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 3 – Technology as a tool

Technology can be used for various purposes, but it is always inspiring to see it used for social good. The Surui people of Brazil have been waging a long struggle against logging interests that threaten to deprive them of their lands and habitat. However, despite being decimated by disease, they have not sat idly by. In cooperation with Google Earth Outreach, the Surui use this advanced tool to survey their territory electronically to see if any illegal logging operation is encroaching on their lands. Should this be the case, the authorities are called in to remove the problem. This video highlights how effective their use of the technology has been.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmlekZ–OWE

 

Module 4 – Post 1 – Canadian History a Distinct Viewpoint

“Canadian History a Distinct Viewpoint” is the website of Dick Garneau.  Dick is a researcher of both written and oral history of the Metis peoples, with emphasis on the genealogical roots of the Metis Garneau clan.  Dick has been researching his family history and the history of the Metis peoples for the past 60 years.  The bulk of this historical research appears on his website.  While the material was originally intended as a book, Dick decided instead to make the information available on the internet for free with the goal of supporting the education of young people to a different view of history,

The website includes written histories of many of the peoples of Canada including the Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Asians.  Histories are provided for many regions of Canada including New France, Central Canada, Alberta, and British Columbia.  Information is also provided on the genealogies of many Metis families.  While the provided information is quite text heavy, it is easy to read and navigate.  This resource is recommended for anyone who wishes to explore the history of Canada from a Metis perspective.

The website can be found here: http://www.metis-history.info/index.shtml

Module 3 – Post 4 – A Gesture of Reconciliation

People gathered from far and wide at Saskatoon City Hall on October 25th to witness the historic occasion of the raising of two new flags.  Two new Flags representing Treaty Six and the Metis were raised as a gesture of openness and good faith, and to recognize and honour the First Nations Peoples.  The ceremony included presentations from many different First Nations groups: singing, dancing, fiddle music and drumming.  Speeches from local representatives, First Nations elders and Lieutenant-Governor Vaughn Solomon were included as well.

You can read the full article here

You can see pictures from the ceremony here

Module 3 – Post 3 – Voices in the Wind Productions

Voices in the Wind Productions is the website of Dr Judy Iseke, who is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledge and Research and Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Dr. Iseke’s work is focused on “challenging the appropriation and misrepresentation of Indigenous Knowledge in mainstream art and media.”  Dr. Iseke received a $500,000 grant in 2012 for Michif language research, the results of which will be presented on the website.  The site also contains some short films (descriptions sourced from the website) with aspects of storytelling and traditional knowledge:

How the Spirit Moves – In this animated short film, we see the human beings who enter the lodge in their spirit form and the animal spirits who help them heal.

A Living History of Metis Families as told by Dorothy Chartrand – Dorothy Chartrand, a Métis grandmother, tells the story of her Metis families as their lives are affected by the political and social change that impacted Métis lives in the 1800s to today.

Grandmothers of the Metis Nation – This film shares Metis grandmothers stories and histories told by the grandmothers and a narrator, to understand the complex roles and responsibilities of Metis women in the past and today.

Understanding What Life is About – Storytelling with Tom McCallum – Tom McCallum (White Standing Buffalo), Métis Elder and storyteller, explains that stories are a history of our people from many lifetimes and that stories are real. In English, with some Cree, he shares 6 entertaining stories which have been animated.

Paper Mache Totem Poles – Misrepresentation, appropriation, and denigrating Indigenous knowledge is still common practice in educational institutions despite efforts of critical educators to challenge these practices.

If you have time for only one, I recommend “Paper Mache Totem Poles”, as it does a nice job of exposing problematic representational practices common to Western education

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Mod 2:4 First Nations Education Reform

According to a recent media release, First Nations education is funded at 40-50% less than non-First Nations education in Saskatchewan. The discrepancy is due to First Nations education being funded by the federal government while non-First Nation education is funded by the provincial government however the gap is putting First Nations students at a huge disadvantage.

The first link is to the media release. The second link is to the report on the state of First Nations education. The second link is valuable because part of the document sets the stage for the discussion on First Nations education with a section on history including pre-contact, the mission and residential schools period, and integration. I would be tempted to use this in a high school setting on First Nations history.

http://www.fsin.com/index.php/media-releases/894-first-nation-students-still-not-funded-the-same-as-provincial-counterparts.html

http://www.fsin.com/images/stories/fsindownloads/education/2012/Aboriginal%20Senate%20rep03dec11-e.pdf 

Module 2 – Post #2 – “Return of Treasures”

While contemplating the ideas of culture and commodification in this Module, I discovered a website that has been compiled by the U’Mista Cultural Society. The website associates the meaning of U’Mista with the return home of captives who may have been abducted in raids. It then identifies the return of artifacts or treasures of the Kwakwaka’wakw people from foreign institutions and collections as a form of U’Mista.

A wonderful link from this site is the Story of the Masks. This site uses text, images, video and simple games/quizzes to introduce and share the stories of the Kwak’wala speaking people of the Northwest Coast of B.C.  The site includes many personal accounts of how masks and/or regalia, along with their stories, have been passed along through generations.

This site is also part of a much larger, quite interesting institution known as the Virtual Museum of Canada. This initiative seems to me to be a wonderful way to allow a diverse range of communities and groups to share their stories and educate others about their culture while at the same time protecting the things most sacred to those cultures and ensuring that they are physically located in the places where they belong.

The Story of the Masks has given me much food for thought as I pursue my research regarding digital stories and indigenous knowledge and culture.

Mod 2:2 Video on Treaties in SK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhwZQdaPdo0

This link is to a youtube video about treaties in Saskatchewan. The video gives an explanation about how and why treaties were negotiated in Saskatchewan. It is short and easy to watch. The information is presented in a respectful manner. It should be shown to every Saskatchewan student in about grade six or seven as a great intro to treaties.

Mod 2:1 Mary Greyeyes

A popular representation of First Nations people is that of the “noble savage.”  The character of Nanook in Nanook of the North is a prime example of the noble savage who lives off the land using traditional tools against the elements of nature. The noble savage is a romanticized representation that serves to contrast First Nations peoples with modern western culture. At best, the noble savage image makes us gaze in awe at a long-gone past, at worst it is a deliberate misrepresentation that reinforces a stereotype.

There is a photo in the Canadian War Museum archives once labelled,  “Unidentified Indian princess getting blessing from her chief and father to go fight in the war.” and currently, wrongly, labelled, “Mary Greyeyes being blessed by her native Chief prior to leaving for service in the CWAC” Neither is accurate. It is interesting to think of the purpose of this picture with the captions originally given it. I’m not sure that I would have questioned the second title (the first does seem far fetched) but it certainly serves to paint a rosy picture of First Nations people in the second world war. The story of this picture does not belong to me so I will let you read it from the source.